Tag: Speeches

The speech made by Peter Hain, the then Minister of State at the Foreign Office, in Antwerp on 17 July 2000.

To anyone expecting me to ‘name and shame’ those responsible for using illicit diamonds to fuel wars in Africa, I am sorry to disappoint you. Today I come not to ‘name and shame’ but to ‘name and praise’. To praise the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA) for the leadership it is giving to the industry to tackle the problem. To praise De Beers for the steps it has already taken to block diamonds from conflict zones.

To praise Antwerp’s leading diamond banks: ABN-AMRO, the Antwerp Diamond bank and Artesia Bank for deciding to terminate relations with any client dealing in ‘conflict diamonds’. Other banks may have made similar moves: all should do so. To praise recent moves taken by the Belgian, Indian and Israeli trade associations to clamp down on the small minority of rogue traders in conflict diamonds who discredit the vast majority.

I hope we can all join together to find workable solutions and agree concrete ways forward. Because this will make all the difference in reassuring increasingly worried consumers. Everyone wants to be sure that that diamond ring for the finger of their loved one has helped create prosperity not war.

It is vital that we take urgent action to stop this. Vital because that will help block the money that finances brutal rebellions in those countries. Vital because we must safeguard the prosperity and jobs of tens of thousands of people world wide dependent upon the legitimate diamond trade.

BREAKING THE WAR-DIAMONDS LINK

We can – and we must – work together to break the link between war and diamonds in Africa and deny these ‘conflict diamonds’ access to world markets.

We have all been shocked by the brutality of the RUF rebels in Sierra Leone. They, like the UNITA rebels in Angola, finance their murder and mayhem with diamonds. Angola is the worst place in the world to be a child, yet it has the mineral and agricultural wealth to be the most prosperous place in Africa. We have a moral obligation to act. We also have a commercial obligation to protect the reputation of the industry.

Because there is no necessary link between diamonds and war in Africa. Diamonds can, and should, mean prosperity for Africa. Botswana – with one of the highest growth rates in the world last year – is a shining example of the benefits that diamond wealth can bring.

I was born in Africa and was involved in the anti-apartheid struggle. As Britain’s Minister of State for Africa I am determined that the resolution of the ‘conflict diamonds’ problem must in no way harm post-apartheid South Africa and Namibia.

What we all want are prosperity diamonds: for Africa’s people to experience the prosperity that diamonds can bring. But to do so, we must first bloc the ‘conflict diamonds’ which fuel the suffering of people whose lives are being decimated by war in Angola, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

I know that many of you feel it is unfair that politicians like me, and NGOs, have been vocal on the issue of ‘conflict diamonds’. And unfair in getting a strong media spotlight on ‘conflict diamonds’. After all it is not the diamonds that cause the wars, but the men who start them; who illicitly mine and trade diamonds in order to buy arms.

And you are right that it would be unfair, if we focused solely on diamonds. But we are not. The British Government is actively supporting the United Nations in stopping those who break sanctions on the supply of weapons and fuel. And we are very actively involved in international efforts to stop the proliferation of small arms and leverage up standards on arms export controls. We would like the international community to go further and stop the supply of weapons to non-state actors.

But this issue just cannot be wished away. The African producer countries had the wisdom to see that by launching the Kimberley process, in which Britain is an active member.

The British Government has done the right thing in galvanising action on ‘conflict diamonds’. With the Americans, we have got the issue high on the agenda of the G8 countries, which represent the bulk of your market.

We have engaged with the leading producers: Russia, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Canada and the war-afflicted states. We have supported the unprecedented activism of Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Robert Fowler, in making sanctions against UNITA bite.

A few weeks ago we convened a meeting of the importing countries in the British Foreign Office. I was able to welcome representatives of the trade from Antwerp, Tel Aviv, Bombay, Russia, the USA and Canada to discuss how to move forward together. Most recently we have led the way in the UN Security Council to get a ban on all uncertified diamonds from Sierra Leone, with the adoption of Resolution 1306 on July 5.

The proactive stance which IDMA, and others in the industry, are now taking can only work to the long-term benefit of the legitimate trade. And I wish to pay tribute to the leadership of individuals in this room who have acted as the catalysts for change.

I am struck by how the mood now contrasts to nine months ago. Then, I was told by some in the industry that the there was little prospect of a new approach, of promoting greater transparency and accountability, of starving the illicit diamond trade of its pickings. But look where we are today.

The newly agreed UN Security Council resolution 1306 on Sierra Leone requires both governments and the industry world wide to enforce the ban on all uncertified diamonds. I am very keen to explore with representatives of the national associations and companies here how we best work together to enact this.

How can we learn from the experience of imposing sanctions on UNITA diamonds? What can we do better this time and do more quickly to help deprive the Sierra Leone rebel RUF of the means to wage war?

What can we do together to address the wider problem of ‘conflict diamonds’? I very much agree with your President, Sean Cohen, that it’s unrealistic to expect your members – the manufacturers down the supply chain – to resolve the problem by themselves. It is clear that you can not. You need action ‘upstream’ and you need governments to be prepared to introduce the necessary controls. I think you are right that we need to strengthen the ‘front line’ of the problem by tackling the trade in ‘roughs’.

DIAMOND CERTIFICATION

That is why my government is actively backing attempts to introduce a certification scheme for rough diamonds. I hope the G8 Heads of Government will endorse work on this at their summit later this week.

We are active in the Kimberley process, where industry, governments of producing and importing states and representatives of civil society are developing proposals to stop the import of all uncertified roughs.

I am delighted to learn that leaders of the IDMA have formulated their own proposals that closely follow our thinking on the need for controls on the import and export of roughs from the producer countries. I am impressed by what you propose and I hope we can work together to achieve workable and pragmatic controls. And avoid unnecessary bureaucracies, or loading unnecessary burdens on producing countries and industry. Let’s make it simple and effective and get it in place urgently.

You are right to challenge governments to go beyond stating their concerns to taking action. Just as we are right to say that governments cannot crack this one alone. We need the industry. You need governments. Together we can work to get the best blend of government controls and industry self-regulation.

Our thinking on how best to take forward a certification scheme is that:

• Producer countries would agree not to export rough diamonds without a proper certificate of origin;
• Importing countries would only agree to import roughs with such a document
• A credible monitoring system – simple, effective, but not overly bureaucratic.

I believe this is achievable and will ensure consumer confidence in the diamond industry. But we need to move fast. Building on the work done in the Kimberley Working group, we need to get agreement to an inter-governmental process to work out what such a scheme might look like and whether we are all willing to commit to it.

I can assure that the British Government will be active in putting its best efforts into making this happen. Working with other key actors – IDMA, the African producers (led by South Africa), fellow G8 members: Canada, Russia and the USA and Belgium and other EU partners.

I am delighted that IDMA is also pointing the way forward on what more the industry itself can do. The proposal that every diamond organisation adopts a binding code of conduct on conflict diamonds, labour practices and good business practices is excellent. Especially the proposal that the codes be given teeth, through the expulsion of any member who fails to comply.

I very much hope that the diamond bourses are thinking along similar lines and that the World Federation of Diamond Bourses will act in concert with IDMA this week. To make this week’s Antwerp World Diamond Congress an even bigger success story for the diamond industry.

A CREDIBLE AND EFFECTIVE CODE OF CONDUCT

Might I suggest some pre-requisites for a credible and effective code of conduct, to build on what has been proposed in the industry?

Firstly, expulsion from a manufacturing association, or diamond bourse, has little meaning if you can carry on trading regardless. I think the industry needs to decide that only licensed manufacturers and dealers can trade. In that way the threat of expulsion can be given meaning.

I suggest you also need to benchmark clear minimum standards and encourage best practice. On the latter, I am encouraged by the move of companies, such as De Beers, to make affirmative statements on all sales invoices that they are not dealing in ‘conflict diamonds’. If we can get meaningful controls in place to allow only certified roughs into the leading and bona fide diamond trading centres which you represent, consumers will surely demand that the trade gives them confidence through a voluntary ‘chain of warranties’. I would welcome discussion on how this might best be taken forward, with the onus on the seller to make an affirmative statement to the buyer.

It makes no sense to disrupt the normal pattern of the trade and the way that companies add value by mixing and selling on between the different marketing centres and traders. So we must go for workable ways forward.

But the 21st century consumer increasingly demands the right to know. The voice of civil society cannot be ignored. If NGOs are demanding greater transparency and accountability, we should all welcome their wake up call. And, like IDMA, not act defensively, but engage to get the best outcome for the industry and the consumer.

I believe that NGOs like Global Witness have earned their place at the table. Because they have been prepared to listen and learn. And because they have networked effectively and helped bring the different actors together. The Foreign Office has been happy to contribute funding to their research into identification and certification. But that does not mean we agree with all their conclusions. We do not.

So, I welcome forward-looking thinking in the IDMA suggesting that if an international diamond council is to be considered, it should be a tripartite body with industry, government and civil society representation. But let us avoid heavy bureaucracies, inter-governmental procrastination and look instead to light and effective models of industry self-regulation backed by both full transparency and the support of government legislation.

I am pleased to have been able to join you at what I’m sure will prove to be a successful conference for IDMA. I hope it will be an important milestone in our efforts to give a clean bill of health to the industry by eradicating the minority of war diamonds which discredit the overwhelming preponderance of prosperity diamonds.

The speech made by Peter Hain, the then Minister of State at the Foreign Office, to the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding on 17 July 2000.

I am grateful to you, Mr Chairman (John Austin), and to Sir Cyril Townsend, for this opportunity to address the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding, and the many members of the Arab community in London represented here.

You have invited me to speak on Britain’s policy on the Middle East. I hope, though, you will permit me to range a little further, covering – like CAABU – the whole of the Arab world.

The Middle East and North Africa remain central to British Foreign Policy. The region is our neighbour, our trading partner, and a strategic priority. We are in regular contact with Ministers and parliamentarians in every country. In the last year I have been to Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, and Qatar. The Foreign Secretary has visited the region. The Prime Minister has seen President Arafat, Prime Minister Barak, King Abdullah, Prince Salman of Saudi Arabia, and the Amirs of Bahrain and Qatar. Lord Levy, too, has been extremely active on our behalf.

PEACE

The key to the Middle East’s development is peace.

Over the past year we have seen Syria and Israel come desperately close to peace. We have seen Israel withdraw from Lebanon. And we have seen the Palestinians and Israelis edge closer.

I wanted to let you know how the Israelis and Palestinians were getting on at Camp David, but the Americans took away their mobile phones. So let me leave that until later, and start with Lebanon.

The end of the Israeli occupation of Lebanon was a major step towards peace. I hope that the Government of Lebanon will now take rapid steps to assert its effective authority in southern Lebanon, including by deploying the Lebanese Armed Forces.

There were many who refused to believe that Israel would ever withdraw. They were wrong. Israel under Ehud Barak has worked hard to comply with the requirements of the United Nations to achieve full implementation of Resolution 425. Of course, it was high time.

I look forward to the next step, also long overdue: implementation of UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, in Syria, and in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Syria will emerge this week from its 40 day period of mourning for Hafez al-Asad. The transition to President Bashar Al-Asad, completed today, has been very smooth, and I welcome the emergence of another leader of the new generation in the Middle East. I believe that, over the past year, Britain and Syria have laid the foundations for a new relationship between our countries. I welcome President Asad’s commitment to social and economic reform, and to the strategic choice of peace. Britain will, as an old friend, seek to help Syria in both.

As I speak, Yasser Arafat and Ehud Barak and their teams are meeting in Camp David. They both face enormous challenges. Britain recognises the pressures on both sides. President Arafat in particular bears the burden of many expectations, in the Islamic world and beyond. But I am very hopeful of a positive result, even if a full permanent status agreement is not achieved in the next few days. I look forward to the negotiations leading to the creation of a viable, democratic and peaceful Palestinian state. It has often been said that the consequences of failure – for both sides – are too great to contemplate. The prizes of success are also too great to be discarded.

Our efforts towards peace extend well beyond the Middle East Peace Process. You will all be aware of the terrible suffering in Sudan caused by civil war – a war that has lasted 16 years in its current phase alone. You will also be aware of Britain’s long and close association with the Sudan. That link remains strong, as I see from my mail-bag each week.

Only a negotiated settlement can bring sustainable peace to the Sudan. That is why we have been trying to bring the parties – indeed all stakeholders – to talks. We have provided political and financial support for a permanent negotiating secretariat in Nairobi and we are in regular contact with all the parties, pressing the case for talks and explaining the benefits that peace would bring to the civilian population.

Tomorrow I shall be meeting the Sudanese Foreign Minister, Mustafa Osman, who I gather will be visiting you at CAABU later this week. We have seen a number of positive developments in Khartoum recently, and I look forward to discussing with him the prospects for peace, and how we and the international community can help.

Nor will we forget the Western Sahara, sometimes called the ‘forgotten war’. We have supported the UN mission in the Western Sahara consistently and unswervingly, providing civilian administrators and peace-keeping contingents, and substantial funds to underpin them. We continue to believe that a just solution to the problem depends on the people of the western Sahara having the right to express their will at the ballot box.

A solution also requires all parties to be constructive, flexible and committed to peaceful means. We have been happy to support James Baker, the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, providing facilities for him to hold talks in London in recent months. We urge all sides to respond positively to what he has to say. I have carried the same message to Morocco and Algeria.

As you can see, much of our diplomatic and aid effort in the Middle East and North Africa is dedicated to promoting peace and understanding between communities. Another priority is promoting the observance of human rights.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Human rights are fundamental and universal. They are one of the foundations of the international community, which is why all members of the United Nations accept the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. How a state treats its citizens is a matter of legitimate concern to all states and all citizens, not just the West.

So I am wholly unapologetic about our desire to promote human rights, in the Middle East and North Africa, and right across the world.

There is real progress. The establishment of consultative councils in the Gulf, the elections in Iran earlier this year, and the formation of a human rights committee in Bahrain, all reflect changing attitudes. The increasing rights of women in a number of countries, and the development of the Arab media in the region, in particular Al Jazeera in Qatar, also reflect a more liberal and modern approach.

We shall continue to promote progress, through political channels, and by financing programmes – the Palestinian rights programme, for example, was the largest UK-funded human rights programme in the world last year. And we shall continue to consult Non-Governmental Organisations before visits to the region, and to raise individual and collective cases when we meet leaders from the Middle East and North Africa.

Increasingly we work on human rights in close cooperation with the countries of the region. We look forward to working with those recently elected to the UN Commission on Human Rights, including Saudi Arabia, Syria, Algeria and Libya; and with Qatar, which continues on the Commission. Together we can improve the human rights situation throughout the world.

PROSPERITY

In working together to achieve peace and secure human rights, we shall also increase prosperity. Because respect for individual freedoms and good governance permit the talents of individuals to flourish, and provide the secure environment needed for investment.

I am convinced that the Euro-mediterranean partnership, in particular the Free Trade Area, offers the best prospects for economic development. It is the agreed objective of the EU and nearly all our Mediterranean partners. I look forward to Libya joining us soon.

With the EU, the Mediterranean partners, and the countries which have applied to join the EU, the Free Trade Area will include more than 700 million people. That is more than one in ten of the world’s population, and a much higher proportion of its wealth – an incredible and diverse community and market which will benefit us all, and the Gulf as well.

The building blocks are gradually falling into place. Of course, much turns on progress in the Middle East Peace Process. At present flows of state money to the region are large. But following peace I am confident that investment from the private sector will dwarf aid from states. We have seen the pattern – starting from a much lower base – in Central and Eastern Europe. If the investment environment is stable and attractive, international capital quickly follows. The companies that invest bring know-how and create jobs. And it is better for the countries of the Middle East and North Africa that investment should come from a wide range of private investors, rather than as aid from a few states.

Britain’s bilateral trade relations with the countries of the Middle East and North Africa remain very healthy. Just a few weeks ago I was privileged to address the ‘Investing in Saudi Arabia’ conference, in the presence of Prince Abdullah bin Faisal bin Turki. The two pillars of British Trade International, Trade Partners UK and Invest UK, continue their efforts to promote investment in both directions.

Last year, no doubt partly because of the strength of the pound, and partly because of the low oil price, UK exports to the region fell, while our imports from it increased. I am pleased to say that our exports to the region are now rising again, and in January to March of this year were 4% higher than in the equivalent period of last year. Imports were a remarkable 34% higher.

The economic links between Britain and the Arab world are increasing steadily, a welcome trend which I am confident will continue.

IRAQ

Iraq is an issue of great concern to many of you, as it is to us. That is why we, the UK and the UN, intensified our efforts to look creatively at the situation, resulting in the Security Council’s adoption of the ground-breaking Resolution 1284.

This resolution for the first time provides for the suspension of sanctions in return for progress by Iraq short of full compliance.

It offers Iraq an unprecedented opportunity to make quick progress on sanctions – an opportunity we must all encourage Iraq to take. This does not mean the international community is going soft on Saddam’s aggression. 1284 makes clear that Iraq must allow the new monitoring organisation, UNMOVIC, full access to sites still of concern. That is an exacting requirement. But it is also necessary, if we are to prevent Saddam from once again threatening his people and Iraq’s neighbours.

As the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Kuwait approaches, none here will need reminding of the deadly results of those threats in the past. But we need to be looking forward. Resolution 1284 clearly maps out the way to the lifting of sanctions, and is the only way of doing that. I urge the Iraqi government to accept it.

The Iraqi government are fond of claiming that they have given up their weapons of mass destruction and that they have nothing to hide. If that is so, then they have everything to gain by seizing the opportunity offered by 1284.

In the meantime we strive to help those suffering in Iraq. Resolution 1284 contains a raft of humanitarian measures, providing a bigger and better humanitarian programme – none of it conditional on Iraq’s behaviour on weapons of mass destruction.

There has, for example, been no ceiling on the amount of oil which Iraq can export under the ‘oil for food’ programme since December 1999. That means that more than $10 billion should be available for humanitarian relief this year alone. This will make a real difference on the ground, prompting the UN Secretary General to underline recently that the Government of Iraq is in a position to improve the health status of the Iraqi people. 1284 has also streamlined the approvals procedures for exporting ‘oil for food’ goods to Iraq. More essential goods are arriving more quickly.

We are doing all that we can to help the Iraqi people. We urge Saddam Hussein to do the same.

Much too has been made of claims of a UK/US bombing campaign against Iraq. Let me say here categorically: there is no bombing campaign. Nor do current UK and US patrols in the No Fly Zones represent the continuation of Operation Desert Fox. That was a limited operation to diminish Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction capability. It ended on 19 December 1998. Our aircraft now patrol the NFZs, as they have for nearly nine years, to protect the Kurds, the Shias and others from Saddam’s attacks. The patrols are not without serious risk. Iraqi forces have attacked our aircraft on more than 820 occasions. Our aircraft only respond when they are attacked. If Iraq stops its aggression, we shall stop responding. But we continue the patrols because, as a visiting Kurdish delegation told us just last week, it is only these patrols which deter Saddam from repeating his past attacks on the Kurds.

The states in the region know the reality. We are grateful for the support of so many of our oldest friends in the Gulf. We have acted to provide a path to achieve improvement. Saddam must decide to go down it.

CONCLUSION

I want to end on a positive note.

The Middle East stands on the brink of a resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. We all hope that Yasser Arafat and Ehud Barak can find the strength to take the last leap to achieve it. We hope that President Bashar Al-Asad will soon be able to achieve the peace that eluded his father. And we look forward to the gains from Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon being consolidated through a Lebanese-Israeli peace agreement.

Increasingly the importance of trade, human rights and good governance in increasing prosperity is understood.

I look forward to closer cooperation between Britain and all our friends in the states of the Middle East and North Africa, in a world where, increasingly, the international interest, the national interest and the citizen’s interest are the same.

The speech made by Peter Hain, the then Minister of State at the Foreign Office, at Wilton Park on 24 July 2000.

Last year as the new Minister for Africa, I spoke at Wilton Park of my personal commitment born from my love of Africa to build a genuine partnership between the continent of my birth and my adopted homeland. I set out my policy commitments. We would back success and work in partnership with Africans to overcome failures. Britain would support Africans who stand up for democracy. We would help those who want economic reform. We would work with and support those who are striving for peace.

Since then I have travelled the length and breadth of Africa – from Morocco to Mozambique, from Kenya to Namibia, from Ghana to Tanzania. It has been hard but exciting work – though I have spent too much time in Government buildings, airport lounges and High Commission residences – and not enough time experiencing the real Africa.

A year ago, on the eve of the new millennium, there was a feeling of optimism in the air. The future looked bright. Africa had finally freed itself from colonialism and the divisive politics of the Cold War. It was ready to decide its own future. The talk was of an ‘African Renaissance’.

But, since then – at least if we are to believe the British media – Africa has suddenly taken a nosedive. Afro-pessimism once again rules supreme. Commentators call Africa ‘the hopeless continent’, riven by conflict, bad leadership and economic failure. They seem almost relieved. Why? Because it lets the international community off the hook. If Africa is ‘hopeless’, then nothing can be done. With a shrug of the shoulders, attention can turn away.

Of course it is hard to be an African optimist when Ethiopian and Eritrean armies battle it out pointlessly across barren land in scenes reminiscent of 1914 Europe. When there is a resurgence of brutal conflict in Sierra Leone. When conflict continues in the DRC and Angola, fuelled and sustained by the illegal trade in diamonds. When government-motivated political intimidation and violence mars elections in Zimbabwe. When there are devastating floods in Mozambique, drought in Kenya and forest fires in South Africa. When the terrifying plague of AIDS is engulfing the continent.

It is easy to see why Afro-pessimism has dominated the headlines over the past six months. As President Mbeki has said, what happens in one part of Africa affects the continent’s image as a whole. Unfair it may be. But it is also true. During the crisis in Zimbabwe all the caricatures of Africa – tyranny, violence, corruption, and devastation of a beautiful and successful country – were bounced back into international public opinion. President Mugabe single-handedly did more to undermine both investor confidence and Africa’s reputation than anything else this past year.

But what Africa needs is neither undue pessimism nor excessive optimism. It needs realism. I am an Afro realist. We need to look behind the sensationalist headlines of the moment. Africa is a huge, diverse and highly complex continent. The tragedies are great. The legacy is enormous: slavery, racism, colonialism, economic exploitation, crippling debt burdens and unequal trade terms. But the successes have not gone away. Britain’s policy of building on those successes is right. We remain committed to it. There is no place for complacency. But Africa’s future remains bright.

AFRICAN SUCCESSES

The truth is that 80 per cent of Africans are too busy fighting poverty to fight each other. Democratic pluralism is taking root. In 1973, only 3 African Heads of State were democratically elected. Last year the figure was 32 – ten times greater.

African leaders have shown they now recognise that there is no longer a place at the table for dictators. Last year’s OAU Summit in Algiers barred from future summits unconstitutional governments who had seized power. Cote d’Ivoire and The Comores were accordingly not invited to this month’s Summit in Lomé. This is a clear rejection of coup d’etats and juntas in favour of accountable and transparent government. I applaud this.

And there are many individual successes: Tanzania, Botswana, Senegal, Ghana, Mali, Uganda, Mauritius, to name but a few.

In Tanzania, Mwalimu left a unified country free from the dangers of ethnic rivalry. Under President Mkapa, Tanzania continues on the path of political and economic reform, at peace with its neighbours and itself.

Botswana and Senegal are models of democracy. Botswana has enjoyed 36 years of multiparty democracy since independence. In Senegal, after 40 years of one party rule, power passed peacefully to the new government on 19 March.

Ghana is preparing for elections in December. For the first time since independence one democratically elected leader will hand over power to another. President Rawlings’ legacy is a democratic, economically sound state serving as an example to the continent.

The Government of Mali is also quietly building a better future for its own citizens. It recognises that Africa’s future lies in regional and economic co-operation. As chair of ECOWAS and UEMOA, it is bringing the two organisations together. It is the author of the West Africa small arms moratorium adopted by ECOWAS. We have pledged £500,000 to help implement this far-sighted initiative. Taking its cue from Mali, the OAU is promoting an African small arms moratorium.

In Uganda, President Museveni’s Government has led the way in fighting the scourge of AIDS. Uganda is now a model of how the threat of AIDS can be overcome. It is also a leader in poverty alleviation, working to develop an educational infrastructure to help children and the poor.

I visited Mauritius last month and saw for myself how it continues to enjoy impressive economic growth. How it is taking advantage of its natural position as a trading route to develop a free port, along with value added services in finance and IT. And how firmly planted is democracy and the rule of law. Mauritius could be to Africa what Singapore and the other ‘Tigers’ are to China: a platform for high quality investment on the mainland. And then there are Nigeria and South Africa. Nigeria has finally emerged from 16 years of military misrule to take its rightful place as a leader in Africa and internationally. We applaud Nigeria’s peacekeeping role in Sierra Leone and the steadfast commitment Nigeria has shown to maintaining stability in West Africa. We also see Nigeria working closely with South Africa to promote democracy, peace and economic development across the continent.

And the road of reconciliation that South Africa has travelled down since the dark days of apartheid remains an inspiration not only to Africa, but to the world. We all have much to learn from the South African experience. Cyril Ramaphosa, drawing on his experience as a chief negotiator in the peaceful revolution of 1994, is now playing a vital role in supporting the peace process in Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom is indebted to him. South Africa, not so long ago the pariah of the international world, is now a motor for African growth and a pillar of African stability and democracy.

These success stories disprove the Afro-pessimists. Africa is not the hopeless continent. And even in those countries beset by conflict, there is hope. You can see it in the ordinary people. The civil society activists in Freetown who courageously work towards healing their society riven by civil war. The people in Zimbabwe who voted in large numbers despite the ruling party’s brutal intimidation. The sheer energy and entrepreneurial talent of market women and traders all over Africa. The resilience and ingenuity of people determined to send their children to school and work for a better future. The generosity of governments in sheltering and welcoming refugees. The continent may stand on the shoulders of its Nigerian and South African giants. But it is on the shoulders of its ordinary men and women that Africa’s future success will be built.

THE WEST’S RESPONSIBILITIES

The record of corruption, economic mismanagement and conflict that has marred many countries in Africa is well documented. But we in the West must also accept our share of the blame for Africa’s failings.

Lack of access to rich markets is one of the main hindrances to African development. Agricultural subsidies among industrialised countries amount to $300 billion a year, equal to Africa’s entire gross domestic product. High tariffs, anti-dumping regulations and technical barriers to trade in industrialised countries cost sub-Saharan African countries $20 billion annually in lost exports – $6 billion more than they receive in aid.

Despite this, Africa’s economy grew for over 30 years. And the more liberal economic policies adopted in recent times have helped some African economies achieve rates of growth among the highest in the world. In the past five years Ghana, Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire and Mozambique have recorded average growth rates of well over 5 per cent. Botswana, Senegal, Mali, Mauritius, Mauritania and, recently with its reform programme, Kenya, are successfully attracting foreign investment. These countries show that despite the challenges, wider and deeper economic success is achievable.

But as an Afro realist I recognise that big problems remain: not only conflict, but AIDS and lack of skills.

HIV/AIDS

The horrifying scourge of AIDS kills 5,500 Africans every day. Of the 34 million people infected with HIV world wide, 24.5 million live in central and southern Africa. HIV/AIDS is already responsible for catastrophic falls in life expectancy. Behind each cold statistic there is a story of human tragedy. AIDS decimates families and communities. It leaves orphans. It leaves schools without teachers. It particularly hits the breadwinners and Africa’s productive sectors. It knows no boundaries – social or geographical. But – as Uganda and Senegal have shown – AIDS can be tackled and HIV infection rates lowered. Through public education. Through preventive measures. Through appropriate treatment.

Britain is already engaged with Africa in the fight against AIDS. We are providing £14 million over five years to accelerate the pace of global AIDS vaccine research. Developing a vaccine that is safe, effective and affordable to developing countries within 10-15 years. With UNAIDS we have also played a prominent role in developing the African Partnership Against HIV/AIDS initiative. We remain ready to work with African governments to help fight this devastating disease.

BUILDING ‘LION’ ECONOMIES

Despite all this, and as I said at the World Economic Forum in Durban in June, Africa has the potential to produce ‘Lion’ economies able to rival East Asia’s successful ‘Tiger’ economies.

A key lesson from the success of the Asian Tiger economies is the need to invest in people. As in Britain, that means education, education, education. Education must be one of top priorities. A continent which neglects its youth neglects its future.

Anyone who visits Africa, knows the thirst for education that exists. Families go to great lengths and sacrifice to put their children through school. But the opportunities for many to do so are declining. In some countries in Africa, school enrolment and literacy rates are actually falling. Less than 1 in 4 rural girls attend Primary School. In five years time Africa could have over 50 million children out of education.

This decline must be reversed. African Governments need to ensure that resources are allocated to education. So do donor nations. Education is investment. For those who think education is expensive, try ignorance. We, and the international financial institutions, need to define education as an investment not an expense. This is why more British development aid has been targeted towards schools.

Globalisation is happening fast. Africa should not be wary of this. It should instead seize the very real opportunities offered. In this era of globalisation Africa should not, and must not, build a wall around itself.

What are the opportunities? Global markets for goods and capital are considerably larger and more integrated today. Emerging African economies have a wider range of markets to export to. And they have a deeper pool of international capital – especially foreign direct investment (FDI) – to draw on. Governments must focus on delivering quality to international standards, and creating a political environment which attracts, rather than scares off, potential foreign investors.

Much progress has already been achieved in promoting economic liberalisation. But it remains hard to do business in Africa. Bureaucracy, red-tape and corruption often deters. The rates of return for multinational investors in Africa are the highest in the world. But the foreign direct investment per head in sub-Saharan Africa in 1998 was just $6, compared with $123 in Latin America. The deterrents have to be broken down. Greater export opportunities drive economic growth. Free the traders. Let people sell and the markets buy.

Africa is also well placed to exploit exciting new technologies. Somali pastoralists using mobile phones to price the cost of goats in Jeddah, allowing them to operate in the wider world outside the confines of inefficient state-owned fixed line systems, is a graphic illustration of the possibilities. Mobile phone use is growing faster in Africa than anywhere else in the world. Using mobile phones and battery-powered laptops, Africans – whether from an isolated rural village or from a town or city – now have the potential to link into, and be part of, the global market.

Ten years from now the biggest difference between the world’s regions won’t be culture or climate, but participation in the knowledge economy. Africa must not miss this opportunity. Internet access is cheap and easy. African countries need to plan for their integration into the global e-economy, to create an e-Africa.

The African climate provides its own opportunities. One thing Africa is not short of is sun. Photo-voltaic cells can be used to provide electricity for rural infrastructure provision, for water pumping, vaccine refrigeration, lighting for rural schools and domestic power systems. Solar power offers real potential for rural social and economic development by providing enough electricity for lighting, heating and communications – and refrigeration for drugs health centres in remote rural areas. BP Solar is leading the way. It has installed lighting and vaccine refrigeration systems in Zambian and Ethiopian health centres. Of course it is not cheap. But pre-payment systems being pioneered in southern Africa can help to avoid prohibitive capital costs, as a joint project by Shell and Eskom has demonstrated in the eastern Cape.

The time is right for African economies to fulfil their economic potential. The opportunities are there. But the industrialised countries also need to rise to the challenge if the African lions are to roar.

Greater access to rich markets must be opened up. At British urging the European Union is now committed to granting duty and quota free access for essentially all exports from Least Developed countries by 2005. The UK is calling for free access for all products from Least Developed Countries over the longer term. We also support the early launch of a new round of trade negotiations, which should be broad based and sensitive to developing countries’ concerns.

On debt, 33 of the 41 countries classified as Heavily Indebted Poor countries (HIPCs) are in Africa. Debt is a heavy burden on African governments. We are working to ensure that the HIPC initiative is implemented effectively and quickly. But much more remains to be done. In the UK, we have taken the lead in pressing for debt forgiveness. Our pledge to provide 100 per cent debt forgiveness for the poorest countries which meet HIPC criteria, is now matched by all G7 countries. The world must not turn its back on Africa – Britain certainly will not do so.

HELPING THE CAUSE OF PEACE

Investment, development and aid will help. But Africa needs peace if it is to excel. Countries at war with themselves or their neighbours cannot move forward. Far too many sub-Saharan African countries are in conflict, causing an estimated 4,000 deaths per week.

We are doing what we can to help the cause of peace in Africa. In Sierra Leone we have led the international response to the appalling tragedy of a vicious civil war. We helped the Nigerian-led West African force, ECOMOG, resist the rebel onslaught on Freetown. We helped broker the subsequent peace deal. We are now helping the UN and the Government of President Kabbah to restore peace once again. A lasting peace that delivers the security for which ordinary Sierra Leoneans yearn. We will help rebuild the country, including the Sierra Leonean army so that it can assume its proper role as the guarantor of the security of its own people.

We have been active in supporting all those working towards a peaceful resolution in Africa’s continental war, in the Congo. We remain ready to support the Lusaka peace plan: with money, people, political support and a UN force.

I visited Angola earlier this month, a country of immense natural resources that has been ravaged by three decades of war. The most urgent priority is the need for an end to the civil war. That is why I have pressed for tighter enforcement of sanctions against UNITA, and engaged the international community on tackling conflict diamonds. I have named and shamed sanctions violators. I have welcomed the Angolan Government’s new diamond certification scheme, and stressed the importance of ensuring its credibility so that it might form the model for schemes elsewhere in Africa. I have also welcomed the Angolan Government’s commitment to badly needed economic reform and the fact that it has agreed a Staff Monitored Programme with the IMF. This is vital to take Angola forward and to eradicate not just war but corruption too.

Conflicts in Africa have been commercialised. Illicit diamonds are now bankrolling and fuelling wars in Angola, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We need to work to cut off the supply of conflict diamonds and deny the RUF and UNITA the means to wage war. But we also need to protect the legitimate trade in diamonds on which so many livelihoods depend, particularly in Botswana, South Africa and Namibia.

That is why I hosted a meeting in London in June of representatives of the diamond industry and government officials of importing countries. We agreed plans for a global certification scheme for rough diamonds and a plan to attach warranties to all invoices stating that no ‘conflict diamonds’ are included in any shipment. There will be stiff penalties for dealers violating the code. There will be pressure on banks and insurers used by the diamond trade to push for compliance.

The London meeting of importers complemented the African regional initiative and Working Group process set up at the Kimberley Diamond Forum. We will continue to work with African governments to find solutions to such problems and it is important that the Ministerial meeting of all the key players being held in Pretoria in September takes forward this agenda. The prospects look much brighter after the recent international conference of diamond manufacturers and traders in Antwerp. They agreed on tough measures against diamonds which fuel war whilst protecting the vast majority which fuel prosperity. The G8 countries, which import most of the diamonds in the world, have also just agreed a British initiative to tackle the problem together with a joint UK/Russian conference. Action must follow – and soon – so that rebel forces in Angola, Sierra Leone and the DRC are blocked from financing their wars by diamond sales.

GOOD GOVERNANCE

The theme of this Conference is the challenges for governance in Africa. A key plank of British policy towards Africa is the support and encouragement of good governance. This has been a consistent theme in my discussions over the last year with African leaders. Most recently I agreed with President dos Santos of Angola that if his country is to realise its huge potential it must promote democracy, human rights, transparency and the rule of law and pursue substantive economic policies.

This holds true all over the continent. Yet I have been struck over the last year at the lack of urgency, sometimes even complacency, among some African leaders about the need to address Africa’s problems. I say to them, these problems exist. Let’s work together to overcome them. The rest of the world is moving on, economically and technologically. If Africa is not to get left even further behind, it must move on too, driving economic modernisation and good governance.

So, I do not subscribe to the views of the prophets of doom on Africa. I recognise the problems. But my view is one of realism: Afro Realism. We will continue to support the success stories in Africa and remain ready to help those countries working to put behind them conflict and private greed in pursuit of peace and prosperity. If we can succeed, the 21st Century will truly be the African Century and Thabo Mbeki’s dream of an African renaissance will be fulfilled.

The speech made by Peter Hain, the then Minister of State at the Foreign Office, in Cardiff on 28 July 2000.

Wales has never been an inward-looking nation. Wales has been active in support of democracy and human rights through the last century. Welsh miners supported the fight against fascism in Spain before the War. Welsh men and women supported the struggle against apartheid. Wales has always been an internationalist nation.

Wales has traded internationally since the industrial revolution. Cardiff was one of the most cosmopolitan and multi-cultural cities in Britain in the early days of the last century – it remains proudly so today. International trade is vital for us. We do disproportionately well out of inward investment. Wales is part of the global economy. As the economic concept of globalisation grows in importance, engagement with the Government’s foreign policy becomes even more important for Wales. The four key objectives for our foreign policy are:

• promoting British prosperity through free trade and international partnerships;
• ensuring the security of the UK;
• enhancing the quality of life through global diplomacy on the environment, drugs trade and cross border crime;
• building respect for our values by supporting human rights, democracy and freedom.

Our active involvement across the world becomes more and more important as the phenomenon of globalisation shrinks the world, increasing the impact on us of events and decisions taken many miles away. Critical engagement in the world’s affairs – the pursuit of political dialogue wherever it can produce benefits – is the business we are in. With some regimes (such as Iraq and Burma), this may require sanctions. With others (such as China), involvement without illusions: boycotting these may leave us with clean hands, but is unlikely to provide their people with better rights.

Globalisation and new technology has had another impact on good governance. Regimes which govern by fear and repression will not achieve the creativity and innovation essential for successful knowledge-based economies. Respect for human rights is therefore not a luxury of growth, but the condition of that growth. Human rights make humans rich. Trade and investment require competition, transparency and the rule of law. Good governance wins international investor confidence.

Our policy can be summed up in 20 words: to promote British interests and pursue British values by supporting democracy and human rights, wherever we can, however we can. Our policy of diplomacy for democracy is in the best British tradition of standing for democracy, free speech and the rule of law. We support human rights and democracy for other people because these are the values we demand for ourselves.

And we reject the cynical view that, because we cannot make the world perfect, we should stop trying to make it better. We cannot put everything right, but we can make a difference. Because we cannot do everything, does not mean we should do nothing. Credit for our military intervention to protect freedom in Sierra Leone should not be withdrawn because we were unable to prevent atrocities in Chechnya.

The global interest is becoming the national interest. In the global age it is in Britain’s national interest to promote British values of freedom, democracy and economic modernisation. Indeed, promoting our values enhances our prosperity and reinforces our security.

Britain is uniquely able to pursue our national interests through our global interests. As the only state that is a member of the G8, the EU, NATO and the Commonwealth and with a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, we play a pivotal role.

We are internationalists, not nationalists. That is why we support the United Nations, World Trade Organisation, NATO, and the European Union. We are multi-lateralists not unilateralists. That is why we support international treaties on nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and press all other countries to do the same.

Promoting the international rule of law protects us. That is why we support the establishment of an International Criminal Court. We cannot protect Britain’s environmental interests without backing global action and international environmental treaties. It is through global engagement, not isolation, that we stand up for Britain and stand up for Wales.

Globalisation requires greater humanitarian intervention: we believe that when faced with an overwhelming humanitarian catastrophe the global community should act. It is our duty to do what we can to deter aggression and defend our values, by whatever means will make a difference, whether that is by constructive engagement, or by creative diplomacy or indeed by military muscle.

But this is not a perfect world. It is not a safe world. Nations have the right to protect their people and sometimes they choose to do that by buying British defence equipment. The British defence industry employs hundreds of thousands of people, many thousands of them in Wales. These are real people in real jobs in real places in Wales like Broughton, St Asaph and Sealand. We are not about to put them out of work by closing their industry down.

But there are too many arms in the world and this Government has made our arms exports more accountable and transparent than almost any other country. We have established for the first time:

• a tough code blocking exports of arms for either internal repression or external aggression.
• a European Union arms code doing the same thing.
• annual reports with 300 pages detailing the licences we have agreed – one of the most open exercises of its kind in the world. We have nothing to hide.

Under this Government Britain is leading the way on arms control by:

• banning landmines across the world.
• banning the sale of torture equipment.
• promoting a ban on small arms to conflict zones.
• ratifying the nuclear Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and seeking to strengthen the Non Proliferation Treaty.
• promoting new international controls on chemical and biological weapons.

EUROPE

And on Europe, I don’t have to tell a Welsh audience that Europe is our continent. Welsh is one of the oldest European languages. The stronger Britain’s standing in our continent, the greater the leverage we will have in the other six. If Britain is stronger in Europe, we are stronger in the world. There is no point in being half-in, half out. A half-hearted Britain would deliver only half our interests in Europe.

The European Union enables us to cope with an age in which nations are more interdependent than they are independent, more successfully than any alternative. That reality of interdependence is what underpins Objective One funding: the richer regions of Europe recognise their responsibilities to the poorer regions.

We also have a unique, pivotal role as a bridge between Europe and America. Under this government, we are shaping not shunning Europe. Our attitude to Europe is wholehearted, not half-hearted, committed, not carping.

Constructive engagement in Europe, as elsewhere, is best for us. Eurosceptics undermine our national interests. As we showed over Objective One, we have more influence at the heart of Europe than at the edge of Europe.

A successful Europe means success for us. Pulling out of Europe would pull the plug on millions of jobs all over Britain. Europe is good for Welsh jobs. Out of Europe could mean out of work. Wales is better off in Europe than out.

And, on a single currency, we could benefit from joining a successful Euro through:

• much lower interest rates and lower mortgages
• greater stability bringing greater growth
• lower costs for exporters and importers
• no need to change money so no commission charges for holiday makers
• greater transparency for consumers to compare prices across Europe

But under this Government we will only join if it is in our national interest, if it makes our economy stronger and more prosperous. The Euro will affect us whether or not we belong. It must be therefore in our interests to belong and be able to influence how it works and how it affects us. We would lose out by forever whinging on the fringe.

Europe’s future is not a United States of Europe but a united Europe of interdependent states. However Europe is also becoming a Europe of regions and nations, and they need a democratic voice so that their interests can be effectively heard within the European Union’s structures.

In the Foreign Office we are committed to ensuring that Wales’ voice is heard. We are determined we work closely with the elected authorities in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast in exercising our role in the negotiation and agreement of treaties. In our dealings bilaterally or in international organisations. In our involvement in the regulation of international trade. In our provision of international development assistance. And in our promotion of Britain overseas.

This is especially the case in Europe. Britain is a large and influential member of the European Union. By acting together Britain can use that strength to serve the interests of Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland or England, which are sometimes distinct, but which often converge.

Wales needs to be active in the EU too, establishing a high profile, advancing its interests, and supporting our effort for Britain as a whole. The Assembly’s exciting plans for establishing a presence in Brussels as part of the United Kingdom’s Permanent Representation – UKRep – will go a long way to achieve these aims. I understand that this new office will work in partnership with the Welsh European Centre, which has done so much for Wales in Brussels. Together the Assembly office, WEC and UKRep will enable the voice of Wales to be heard at the heart of EU decision making.

And Wales must be active on the economic front too. Economic power might have gone global, but companies invest on a regional basis and a national-regional basis. They look to the European market and decide whether they wish to invest – not just in Spain or Italy or Germany or France or Britain – but in Catalonia or Lombardy or Rhone-Alps or North Rhine-Westphalia or Wales. So regional and national-regional economic strategies are necessary to attract capital and to allow regions and nations within states to be competitive.

ENVIRONMENT

But enshrined in the Assembly’s constitution is a commitment to sustainable development, and economic competitiveness does indeed need to be balanced with its environmental costs. Traditionally our foreign policy has been shaped by the fact that we need a stable world, for our security and to provide reliable markets for trade and investment. But accelerating environmental stresses – climate change, deforestation, competition for water and other increasingly scarce resources – also threaten world stability.

So strong international environmental agreements protect our interests. This does not mean imposing first world environmental standards on third world countries. It means working with our partners to find sustainable solutions. It means that we put environmentalism at the heart of our foreign policy. Wealth today must not be at the expense of welfare tomorrow.

OUR COMMITMENT TO WALES

The Foreign Office is committed to serving the interests of the UK and all its constituent parts, including Wales. Indeed some of the most interesting and exciting public diplomacy opportunities to come the way of overseas posts have been courtesy of devolution, as host governments have been keen to question and probe the new constitutional arrangements. In Paris last year, our Embassy’s Queen’s Birthday party had a Welsh theme. Last November in Brunei, our High Commission – with the help of the British Council and the Welsh Higher Education International Liaison – organised a Welsh Festival of Culture and Education. In New Delhi, one of our more enterprising officers managed to organise a Welsh day at the High Commission with nothing more than a few leeks to add a Welsh flavour! And Rhodri Morgan has led very successful trade-oriented missions.

Our posts overseas are assisting official visits by Assembly Secretaries, Scottish and Northern Ireland Ministers and by Committees. We are working together with Team Wales to promote exports and attract investors. Foreign Office resources will continue to promote the whole of the UK in all its diversity. Our extensive network of posts, 221 in all, will continue to provide commercial services for Welsh companies and identify and encourage investors to examine opportunities in Wales.

Foreign companies wishing to use Wales as a platform for European exports will benefit enormously from the new Euro-freight terminal at Wentloog. One of my proudest achievements as a Welsh Minister was to have overcome the deadlock which had stopped progress on this for years. It will become a gateway into Europe for Welsh-based companies and both enhance competitiveness and bring environmental benefits in shifting freight off roads.

I am however disappointed at the lack of progress on another key strategic project opening up Wales to the world. I had worked hard to achieve a proper transport link to Cardiff International Airport. After months of negotiations we achieved an agreement in principle between the airport’s owners, TBI, the Welsh Development Agency with Welsh Office funding of around £10 million matched by an equivalent commitment from TBI. This would have produced a new park and ride terminal at the M4 Llantrisant interchange, with an extra station on the main railway line, linking freight and passengers along a new widened road directly to Rhoose. I hope that this exciting project will be picked up again by the Assembly and by the WDA, TBI and Railtrack. It could transform Cardiff into one of Britain’s top airports, drawing custom from South West England as well (perhaps via a hovercraft or jetfoil link across the Severn Channel).

To succeed, Wales has to think big and act big. As an outsider turned insider, I am continuously struck by the huge potential of Wales that is so rarely realised. We need more vision and boldness, not parochialism and caution. We have some of the most talented people in the world. But somehow that has not been collectively expressed across the nation in a way that could enable Wales to succeed in the way we deserve to.

CONCLUSION

I am proud to succeed many from Wales who have taken the world stage as British Foreign Ministers, including Geoffrey Howe, Selwyn Lloyd, David Owen, my friend Ted Rowlands and Peter Thomas.

Today, our experience of reform and devolution in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland helps inform my foreign policy work all over the world. There are lessons for countries facing seemingly intractable problems of conflict resolution, from Kashmir to Sri Lanka to Western Sahara. None of these conflicts will be resolved without addressing the competing claims for maintaining territorial integrity on the one hand and devolution of power on the other. In Northern Ireland we have achieved peace and moved forward after one of the longest, most bitterly entrenched conflicts anywhere in the world. In Wales and Scotland we have achieved a constitutional revolution with different models for devolving power. These examples show how demands for devolution – and sometimes, full scale separation – were eventually resolved with their peoples remaining citizens of the United Kingdom while enjoying substantially increased rights. They are examples for the world.

Over the past three years we have made bold and radical changes to the way Britain is governed. They strengthen, not weaken, our unity as a people. They are founded, not on a number of disparate nationalist ideologies, but rather on one fundamental commitment to spreading power and enhancing democracy, to involving people in the decisions affecting their lives, to giving them a voice. Devolution releases the potential for a strong Britain and a better Wales. A better Wales punching above its weight on the global stage for the benefit of all its people.