I’ve been meaning to for years, and finally went on Project Umubano this summer. As I’m not a teacher, nor a medical professional, nor a businessman, I was sent on the Community Project, where we worked with local charities and NGOs to boost their capacity to work effectively in Rwanda.
That all sounds quite fluffy, but it’s important for two reasons. The first is that when people achieve for themselves, they grow in confidence and in capacity, which means they can go on to achieve more. The second is that there is a new focus on how the aim of foreign aid should be to make itself largely redundant, and replaced by domestic governance, institutions, growth and resilience.
It’s not going to happen overnight, and there will always be a place for emergency aid and humanitarian intervention because unfortunately natural disasters and wars will always be with us. Of course, every nation is different, but the building blocks of secure, prosperous countries are clear – democratic governance, peaceful borders, effective and accountable institutions, cohesive communities, and a strong civil society.
I am currently working on a campaign for free and fair elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (www.freefairdrc.com) – because as outsiders, we have a duty to help young democracies on their way. It’s not enough to have the first election seen to be free and fair and then leave them to it. Young democracies need our help – to make their democracy work for them, to build strong and accountable institutions, and to grow into secure, responsible trading partners.
Democracy obviously has to come from within a nation – it cannot, to coin a phrase, be dropped from 40,000 feet, and for democracy to have a chance, a nation must first of all have peace and purpose from within. Sometimes, however, as we’ve seen withIraq,Afghanistan,Libya,Ivory CoastorRwanda, that has to be in some way boosted from outside. If the last 15 years have taught us anything, though, it’s that the international community can and must do more before we get to the point of needing military intervention to enable democracy to flourish.
There are many organisations around the world which do significant work with domestic institutions and civil society organisations. I am proud to have helped, in an almost infinitesimal way, a human rights organisation inRwandato raise funds and communicate more effectively, and to plan and deliver the work it is doing, right now, with victims of violence in the East of the country. It also works with the government ofRwandaon such vital reforms as land and property rights, women’s rights and legal process to instil universal democratic values within the country. We all know that no nation is a perfect democracy, every single one of us could do better, but democracy is an evolving process and it’s a moral requirement, particularly for us in theUK, to do everything we can to enable other nations to make their democracies a success.
Maintaining supportive links, a watchful eye and help where it’s needed are vital to building capacity within new democracies. That’s why I went to Rwanda. That’s why I’m working with the FreeFair DRC campaign. That’s why we all – as fortunate citizens of a rich nation – have a duty to press our government to support and challenge developing democracies around the world to deliver the best they can for their people.