Post-Summit: Elnari (Head of Government)

Three Reassuring Observations, Three Worrying Observations

Thinking back on the preparations, team-work, pre-summit experiences and summit negotiations, I made a few both negative and positive observations.

Let’s start with the negatives:

1. Aid talk

By now we should know that aid-donor relationships can be oppressive and misused to further the interests of the donor. Furthermore, merely pushing large amounts of money into a country in crisis can lead to corruption. This is not a sustainable solution to any problem and may leave the country with even more complex concerns to deal with such as an entitled rather than empowered population. Unfortunately, I heard too many ideas still underpinned by the notion of aid rather than sustainable development and/or empowerment during the course of the summit. The future lies in treating the causes, not the symptoms through quick “solutions”.

2. Old Cows

Yes, through-out history there were oppressors, oppressed, villains, heroes, failed ideologies, wars were waged and battles were both lost and won. Do we need to recall every bitter memory when resolving today’s issues at hand? I am not saying we should not be mindful of context, background and valuable lessons learned. But do we need to play the subtle blame game and let it influence the way we try to bring new solutions to the table so often? I think we should come to a space of understanding that the moment the oppressed were released from being oppressed in any situation, the oppressor was also released of their burden of being the oppressor. Not to say that you are immediately excused for the blood on your hands, but please do not bring past guilt or bitterness to the table when you should be bringing a sound mind and willing hands to work for solutions, rather than to dig up old cows.

3. Knowledge vs. understanding

I make a clear distinction between having knowledge about something vs. understanding an issue. To me, long-term solutions will only come from a space of understanding. Unfortunately, I found that people do not bother to understand an issue after attaining knowledge on it and then find their knowledge sufficient enough to propose solutions – which will only resolve concerns temporally given the lack of deeper engagement and understanding.

Now, the positives:

1. The African Union’s input was respected

For years, decisions have been made for Africa about Africa by non-Africans. And if Africa had a voice on international platforms, it was usually either as observer or merely the voice of one country pushing its own interests rather than using the opportunity to bring about change in the dialogue concerning the continent. With the Y8 summit, I found that young people understood the importance of including African insights to decision-making and that the inputs of the African Union were not only heard, but respected. I hope this sentiment is one that will continue to bring a richer understanding of issues to the decision-making tables in future.

2. Make tea, not war

Being the Head of Government makes you feel a tad more responsible for the level of representation of your team. Leadership responsibility, unfortunately, is something many young people avoid. However, I found that the panel I worked with are a bunch of serious minded, but hopeful, young people with a passion for resolving and finding solutions – people who do not shy away from responsibility, but who take the opportunity to develop as leaders and problem solvers. Furthermore, on this panel, I worked with a few women who understand that the days are gone that women refrain from traditionally male dominated decision-making tables. And even though we still have a long way to go to make women who sit around these tables to take courage in their inputs and actions, I found that the women I worked with at this summit to be constructive thinkers who embrace responsibility. Not only did we have tea while we shared stories about life and what matters most back home, but we found common grounds in the narratives we told – common grounds and shared narratives which can lead to understanding and mutual respect.

3. Coming back to what hits “home”

Every delegate is unique in the way he/she represents their study field/career, country, contextual background and understanding of the world. And the mixture of those unique insights is what makes international summits worthwhile. Maybe it has something to do about where we belong (whether it is a cause, community, town, country, continent or the globe at large). I, for example, am a young South African by birth. I am also a young African and a young global citizen. I have many national, regional and international concerns, but it is often what is happening closest to “home” which hits the hardest. And is this not what we each uniquely can contribute? Is this not what international dialogue and discussions are for? To hear what hits “home”, what has been done to address this, what can be done, what should be done, who can do what needs to be done. To hear fresh and objective (or even subjective) insights. Is it not about finding common ground, despite (and also because) of differences in order to make people not fear that which they cannot condone, but rather address that which they cannot condone?

I leave the Y8 summit of 2013 with more questions than answers. I hope this is the case for every delegate who attended, for in the search for answers we will continue to question and ask and engage in the hope of finding peaceful and sustainable solutions for causes and not only symptoms of a tired, still unequal, conflict-ridden world.