OSSREA Holds Its 7th Congress in Khartoum
The 7th Congress of OSSREA was held in Khartoum, Sudan, from 15-19 December 2002. The Congress was attended by about 100 participants. The theme of the Congress was “The Quest for Social Peace in Africa: Transformations, Democracy and Public Policy”. There was also a special panel on “Social Science and Society in Africa: Past, Present and New Visions”. The last couple of sessions were devoted to the business agenda of the Congress, where OSSREA members discussed and made important decisions on various issues relating to OSSREA’s leadership and the Organisation’s activities.
Opening address
The Congress was opened by His Excellency Prof. Mubark El-Magzoub, Sudan’s Minister for Higher Education, on behalf of the Minister of Science and Technology. In his address, Prof. Mubark welcomed the participants to Sudan and complimented OSSREA for its achievements in advancing social science research in member countries. Referring to the issue of the Congress, the Minister recalled the conflicts raging in Africa, especially in the 1990s, the scepticism these caused about the viability of African states, and the failure of the various discussions held by international, regional and national bodies to produce tangible results in maintaining social peace in Africa. Prof. Mubark noted that a meaningful comprehension of terms like “peace-building”, “early warning”, “preventive diplomacy”, “peace-keeping” and “post-conflict reconstruction” cannot be attained without relating them to the following six principles:
Ensuring the principle of ownership,
Focusing on prevention,
Focusing on public policy,
Setting priorities,
Creating an enabling environment, and
Ensuring coherence and co-ordination.
The Minister summed up his address by drawing the attention of the participants to the following pressing questions that need tackling: What role can the African intellectuals in general and the social science community in particular play in this endeavour? How can social scientists direct their research efforts to strengthening the movement for democracy, defence of human rights, and African peoples’ quest for peace, stability and a better life? Wishing the participants fruitful discussions, the Minster declared the Congress open.
Congress Papers
There were 29 papers presented at the Congress. The great majority of the presentations dealt with the issue of conflict from various angles:
Types of conflict: inter-ethnic, inter-state, intra-state;
Causes of conflicts: political marginalisation and violations of human rights, competitions over scarce resources, proliferation of small arms, politicisation of pastoral communities;
Impact of conflicts: on economic reconstruction, on nation-building, on regional integration and cooperation, on the democratisation process, on environmental conservation and rehabilitation, on women and children;
Role of various actors and processes in conflict escalation or prevention, or management, or resolution: the role of international bodies such as the United Nations, the European Union, the G-7; regional bodies such as ECOWAS, SADC, IGAD, COMESA; world super powers such as the USA and Britain; regional super powers in Africa such as South Africa and Nigeria; legal instruments such as UN human rights conventions, the IGAD Protocol (CEWARN), and national constitutions; destabilising economic activities such as proliferation of fire arms; international developments such as globalisation, terrorism, and religious revivalism; governance structures such as ethnic federalism; national institutions such as schools and higher education institutions, the South African Truth Commission and the Sierra Leone Truth Commission; local actors such as civil society, NGOs, and community elders;
Post-conflict recovery: child-soldier reintegration; environmental rehabilitation; economic recovery programs and conditionalities imposed by donor/lending institutions; peace-building policies and activities; enhancing democratic reforms and devolving political power.
Other issues on which the presentations focused include:
Spread of HIV/AIDS and its economic and social impact,
Poverty alleviation and market oriented reforms,
Social policy formulation processes.
Readers are advised to refer to the Synopsis of Seventh OSSREA Congress Papers (2002), which has already been published, to get a summary of the contents of the papers. Full-text documents of the papers are available online on the OSSREA website (http://www.ossrea.net).
Panel Discussion
The speakers in the special panel were: Dr. Alfred G. Nhema from (OSSREA), Prof. John O. Shiundu (Maseno University), Mr. Helmi Sharawy (Arab Research Centre) and Prof. Bahru Zewde (OSSREA).
The speakers dealt with the issue of “Social Science and Society in Africa” from different angles. Referring to the historical background of the social sciences in Africa, it was highlighted that colonialism used the social sciences to understand the African society so as to divide and rule it, and that the colonial views still influence the thinking and operations in the social science disciplines. It was further pointed out that in the present context, awareness of social problems is no longer the monopoly of the universities, as other organisations such as NGOs are showing interest in and awareness of such issues as conflict, empowerment, environment, poverty reduction, etc. Therefore, social scientists cannot afford to ignore addressing issues of governance, peace, and poverty reduction.
In the 1980s, Political Science as a discipline failed to consider the patterns of African states which cut across different racial groups and are devoid of a common political structure. Despite the fact that most states were relatively young, their attempts to espouse the liberal democratic model are unsuccessful, since the model presupposes preconditions such as a certain level of economic development, political culture and state development, which are non-existent in most African countries. This calls for social scientists to consider certain characteristics which can be used as benchmarks for African democracy while at the same time addressing the danger of marginalisation that is posed by globalisation.
According to one of the speakers, organisations such as OSSREA are faced with four major challenges:
Ensuring the commitment of governments to the Social Sciences in view of the fact that government priority has hitherto been on science and technology. For example, there are no social science commissions in many African countries.
There is a need to address research themes and “survival issues” such as poverty reduction; diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis; and environmental degradation. In this context and an African framework needs to be developed.
There is a need for conducting multi-disciplinary research and promoting strong networking activities involving researchers form other fields.
There is a need for disseminating research results beyond universities and reach local communities where they should serve specific purposes.
The issue of dissemination of research results was given special emphasis by some of the panelists. It was stressed that policy makers need to have access to social science research results. At the same time, social scientists need to review the disciplines and syllabi in our institutions and re-design them in such a way that they will contribute to such issues as conflict resolution. There is also a need for a new paradigm which is African and to recognise and exploit indigenous knowledge to contribute to policy-making.
During the discussion of the above views of the speakers, participants made the following inputs:
On dissemination of research results and knowledge: The most effective way to do it is through the educational system. However, the challenge is to make such a system accessible to all sectors of the society.
On globalisation and the social sciences: globalisation has the effect of homogenising cultures and escalating the brain drain from Africa to the West. Since it does not appear that globalisation is avoidable, it may be necessary for Africa to adopt a common approach to global issues. Also it is necessary to overcome the challenge of creating an interface between research results and policy-making.
On the need for a review of the social science disciplines in Africa: History and Anthropology can be used to establish the role of social scientists in the development of the African society. It is also necessary for political scientists to establish the theory of the state in Africa, and to define democracy in the African context so as to facilitate its taking root in the society. The Social Science curricula need to be reviewed to establish relevance.
On the contributions of OSSREA: OSSREA has a vital role in securing funds for research, bringing together researchers, and disseminating research results. The challenge is to ensure the social relevance of the research. There is currently a shift towards consultancy, which is often donor-driven and this is affecting the pursuit of serious scholarship in Africa. There is also a need to facilitate the enrichment of the experiences of young scholars by using senior scholars as mentors. In this context, the problem of brain drain could be addressed by drawing back scholars from the Diaspora into the educational system through sabbaticals and other arrangements. More resources need to be allocated by these organisations to publication and dissemination activities. There is also a need to make the outcomes of deliberations at such congresses and other academic fora as well as research results available to African policy makers and political leaders so that the information can be used in policy formulation and development planning processes.
Business Session
The business session of the Congress held extensive discussions on various agenda items, including the activity report of the Executive Secretary, election of new OSSREA Officers, appointment of new external auditor for OSSREA accounts, and amendment of the OSSREA constitution. After the discussions, the Congress made the following important decisions:
The Executive Secretary’s report on the activities, programs and projects of OSSREA since the last Congress in Dar es Salaam was approved.
The newly revised constitution of OSSREA was endorsed;
The appointment of the new Executive Secretary of OSSREA was approved;
The new members of the Executive Committee were elected;
Following the handover of the positions of the Presidency and the Executive Secretary by the outgoing officers, the new President and Executive Secretary addressed the Congress. In her acceptance speech, the new President thanked the members of the Congress for their trust and confidence in her and pledged to serve OSSREA to the best of her ability. She also expressed her appreciation of the outgoing members of the Executive Committee for their dedicated service to OSSREA during the last six years and hoped that they would continue with their support for OSSREA. In addition, she commended the OSSREA staff and the outgoing Executive Secretary for giving their best to the Organisation and promised to work in close collaboration with the staff to score even better successes in the future endeavours of OSSREA.
In his acceptance speech, the new Executive Secretary thanked the Congress for choosing him to lead OSSREA in its striving to fulfil its mission. He pointed out that having seen over twenty years of growth and expansion to 14 countries, it was time for OSSREA and its members to reflect on its future course. He invited members to make their input towards the development of appropriate strategies and a structure to take it into the future. He expressed his vision for an OSSREA that would become the first “port of call” for academics, researchers and policy-makers, a respectable research institution that ensures the equitable participation of members in the region, and a decentralised structure based on efficiency, economy and effectiveness. He promised to marshal all his energy and time to the fulfilment of this vision.
Before the end of the closing session, the authors of the Congress papers were advised to revise their papers as per the comments and feedback they received during the discussions and to submit the final version to the Publications Unit of OSSREA before 15th March 2003. With these decisions, the 7th Congress of OSSREA was closed on 19th December 2002.
The Executive Secretary, Prof. Abdel Ghaffar M. Ahmed, and the President, Dr. Evelyn Sandra Pangeti, met on 30 – 31 July 2002 in Harare to discuss the progress of activities in the Head Office and the national chapters. The preparation for the 7th Congress was among the top issues discussed. However, most of the meeting was devoted to the shortlisting of candidates to be interviewed for the post of Executive Secretary. It was agreed that the interview should take place in the Head Office in Addis Ababa on 27 September 2002. The interview committee has been informed accordingly.