by Mary Cullen

The bishops of Africa and Europe have told European foreign ministers that Africa needs justice, not charity.

They issued a joint statement ahead of the European Foreign Ministers’ meeting on 21 May in which they raised concerns about a ‘profound shift in European policies’. Five years ago, they said, Europe and Africa had the potential to reinvigorate multilateral co-operation by reinforcing longstanding ties marked by common roots. Today they fear that attention has shifted away from solidarity with the most fragile regions and communities towards a ‘more narrowly defined set of geopolitical and economic interests’.

They see this as a return to ‘patterns of the past’ when European corporate and strategic aims took precedence over the needs and aspirations of African people. The basic foundations of life – land, water, seeds, minerals – have once again, they say, become commodities ‘for foreign profit’.

Africa does not need charity, they conclude, rather, it requires justice and the development of a partnership grounded in ‘mutual respect, environmental stewardship and the centrality of human dignity’. They recall Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’, with its call to listen to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor, which they say, can be heard ‘loud and clear’ across Africa.

Mary Cullen chaired the Make Poverty History coalition in Scotland in 2005.

Photo courtesy of SCIAF.