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By Pierre Schori*

During my latest visit to South Africa and Mozambique I visited the small township of Mphumalanga in the province of KwaZulu/Natal in South Africa. In the Zulu tongue this name means ‘the place where the sun rises’.

I was accompanied by representatives of the non-governmental organization, ACCORD. This peace support organization had awarded its peace prize to Mphumalanga. For years a fierce war had raged in Mphumalanga between the political rivals, Inkatha and ANC. Now peace had returned to the township and Meshack Radebe, the former ANC warlord, served as mayor working side by side with the Inkatha warlord, Sipho Mlaba.

I was taken to the spot where the fighting had been fiercest and was told that for a very long time every day when the sun rose over Mphumalanga it revealed new ruins. A heap of ashes marked the place where the shopping centre had once stood. The two chiefs were anxious for us to stop there, not only to show me the devastation in their village, but also to show me something else. On the other side of the road stood a tall new building - the new school. With great pride they informed me that today, all the children in the township attend that school.

I asked my two guides how peace had finally come to Mphumalanga. They explained that one day they had come upon the idea that they should both write down what they wanted for their township. When they exchanged these documents they discovered their lists were more or less identical. They wanted the same things - housing, water, jobs, schools and health care. And so it came that they began to talk, and soon found themselves moving across the dividing line which had previously marked a free-fire zone. Today, their children attend the same school, and they work for the good of Mphumalanga through politics.

Democracy and development, peace and security must start at home, in the hearts and minds of people. In Mphumalanga, the reconciliation between the ANC and Inkatha warlords has become a role model and marks a first step in the confidence-building that is so necessary for the reconstruction and development of the township and its civil society.

To me, this is a fine example of peace-building in daily, practical work. Nelson Mandela recently made his fourth and last visit to Sweden. President Mandela wished to express the gratitude of the South African people for Sweden’s support in the struggle that led to the abolition of apartheid and to peace and democracy in South Africa.

The liberation of South Africa was primarily the achievement of its people. However, international support undoubtedly played a major role. I would describe the 35 years during which Sweden supported the struggle against apartheid as our longest and most successful act of solidarity. During that period, solidarity found expression in many different ways and involved virtually all segments of society. Political parties, churches, solidarity groups and other NGOs all became involved in these activities.

‘My first political act as a student,’ Olof Palme said, ‘was to give blood in support of scholarships to black students in South Africa.’ One of the recipients of this support was Eduardo Mondlane, who was later to form the Frelimo liberation movement in Mozambique. Thirty-seven years later, the last major speech Olof Palme gave prior to his assassination was his keynote address to the Swedish People’s Parliament against Apartheid. That was in 1986 before an assembly of close to 1,000 representatives of political parties and NGOs.

To me, Swedish support to the liberation of South Africa is a clear illustration that solidarity work -even from a small country so far away- can play a significant role in building peace in the world.

Since then, the importance of the civil society and NGOs has been increasingly recognised. The role of the civil society and NGOs is highlighted by the many fascinating stories contained in this volume.

However, now, when the world has finally overcome apartheid and the Cold War, another gap is growing between countries and people, challenging peace and development. At the same time as globalization generates new wealth and rising incomes, the distribution of that wealth is becoming increasingly uneven, and more and more people live in poverty. We now face the risk of what I would call ‘global apartheid’

In an article in El Pais Carlos Fuentes, the Mexican writer, recently compared the world to a village of one hundred inhabitants. In this hypothetical village, 57 people would be Asians, 21 Europeans, 12 Americans and eight Africans. Half of the village’s wealth would be in the hands of only six, all of them North Americans. 80 inhabitants would have poor housing. 70 would be illiterate. 50 would be undernourished. Only one person would have a university education and not one of them would own a computer.

Not only is this situation grossly unjust, it is also unsustainable. Indeed, the major threats of our time - human rights violations, war and conflict, mass migration, international crime, drug-trafficking, terrorism and environmental degradation - are rooted in poverty and social inequality. Poverty is the prime enemy of peace and democracy in the world today.

If poverty is to be addressed, we must focus on the interrelation between political, economic, environmental and social development. Poverty is not just a lack of material resources. It is also to lack rights, education and influence.

The key to future development is to change the nature of the relationship with our partners in developing countries. Partnership should be based on a foundation of shared values and mutual trust. Such common values include respect for political and civil rights, democratic ground rules, gender equality, the rights of the child, social and economic rights, and concern for the environment.

This global code of ethics already exists. It is formulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and at UN conferences on the environment, women, children and social development. These global norms serve as a foundation on which we must continue to build. They have persuaded individuals, political parties and the civil society to work together across national borders.

Partnership should also be our guideline in the reconstruction of Central America after the devastating effects of hurricane Mitch.

No country could have put up much resistance to the heavy rain which followed in the wake of the hurricane, but its effects were exacerbated by poor or non-existent planning, a degraded environment, population pressure and wide-spread poverty.

Reconstruction must therefore be used as an opportunity for these countries to build a better society in cooperation with the international community.

Only through growth will Central America be able to generate and sustain the additional resources needed to provide better benefits for the poor and to improve the standard of living for everyone. But if this growth is not accompanied by continued efforts to improve democratic practices and economic equity, then sustainable development will not be feasible. Massive aid must thus be followed by maximum transparency and a crusade against corruption.

Half a century ago, the political leaders of the day restored peace and laid the foundation for a more prosperous and just world, building the United Nations, the European Union and the Bretton Woods Institutions. It is clear that international institutions and cooperation need to be strengthened and reformed. Global governance is necessary to take responsibility for issues that neither nations nor the global market are able to handle.

The most significant development in recent years, however, has taken place in the field of the civil society. The development of thousands of NGOs all over the world will perhaps be the most important contribution of our age to the achievement of a peaceful and just world.

I started by sharing with you a positive experience of reconciliation, compromise and consensus that paved the way for development and security in KwaZulu/ Natal. Let me end with an equally bright picture.

In Mozambique, for so long one of the poorest countries in the world, peace and development can be seen walking hand in hand - almost literally. Young men, former soldiers in the armies of Frelimo and Renamo, are today the ploughshares of peace, clearing the country’s soil of reminders of the past - the hundreds of thousands of landmines. They work there shoulder to shoulder, advancing metre by metre. The mistake of one man brings misery to another. Not far behind, the women wait ready with their pickaxes and spades to work the land as it is cleared, the land stolen from them by the war. There again you have a picture of everyday, practical work, where yesterday’s enemies are today’s partners for a better tomorrow.

* Pierre Schori is deputy Foreign Minister and Minister for International Development Affairs of Sweden.

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