EDITORIAL
At the beginning of this year Kenyans were treated to some rather gloomy editorials by the mass media. The reason: seldom in the years since independence had the future looked so bleak for the majority of Kenyans. As we all know, the major causes for this gloom must be sought right in our country: bad governance and escalating corruption throughout the society are the main culprits. However, the fact that all over the world a host of countries are grappling with similar problems should tell us that the causes of misery for our people are not only internal. External factors, both economic and social, have made the world a place where rich countries and rich people are always getting richer and poor countries and poor people always poorer while, at the same time, the physical environment on which all of us depend for our very life is continuously deteriorating. It is very clear then that a change of direction is urgently called for.
But who will initiate that change in direction? It is obvious that no single international organisation can, by itself, be in a position to bring about the drastic changes which are necessary to set the world on a path which will lead us to a more just and a more sustainable world. Only concerted efforts towards a common goal can offer some hope in this direction.
We believe that the goals and the activities of the Alliance for a Responsible and United World are perhaps a pointer in the direction which we should travel together. In order to make this Alliance and one of its initiatives, the African Caravan for Peace and Solidarity, better known in this part of the world, WAJIBU decided to devote this issue of the journal to them.
In addition to information on the goals and the activities of the Alliance and of the African Caravan, we have our usual features on "Intercultural Experience" and "Making a difference". The intercultural experience this time is also connected to the activities of the Alliance. The column on "Making a difference" (which features the activities of the Nairobi Central Business District Association) fits in very well with the goals of the Alliance, namely to act locally while thinking globally. The article should help to dispel some of the gloom which greeted us at the beginning of the year.
The Alliance for a Responsible and United World
The discussions which gave rise to the Alliance were started in 1988 in Vézelay, France, by a group of nine persons supported by the Foundation Charles Léopold Mayer for the Progress of Humankind. They issued the Vézelay Call in which they stated that to manage the major technological dangers derived from nuclear science, biotechnology and ozone depletion, we must obtain a worldwide consensus that will guarantee that the earth's equilibria and the conservation of life are respected. To this end they proposed to organize a vast process on a worldwide scale to participate in the quest for references, values and rules that might allow us to meet the new challenges successfully. By opening up to other spaces, themes and cultures, it led to the drafting in 1993 of the Platform for a Responsible and United World and the launching of the Alliance. The Alliance dynamics are driven by a major ambition: to invent new forms of collective action at the local and global levels and bring them to bear upon the future of an increasingly complex and interdependent world.*
The African Caravan for Peace and Solidarity is an Alliance initiative for Africa. At the same time the other continents are having their own projects and activities. The African Caravan is a journey which started on June 26th last year in Cape Town and will culminate with a continental meeting and the launch of the African Charter for Peace and Solidarity on June 21st 2001 in Arusha, Tanzania. Between June last year and June this year the Caravan will have covered the five major regions of Africa, i.e. Southern Africa, Central Africa, West Africa, North Africa and finally Eastern Africa. The Caravan, which is now in its last leg and will stop in Kenya in May, represents a symbolic travel across the continent. Some of its objectives are: to highlight positive activities taking place in Africa; to promote peace on the continent; to create and develop a collective process of writing an African charter; to strengthen the existing networks of individuals and organisations. The African Caravan, as well as the jouneys and activities taking place in the other continents, will culminate in a global meeting in Lille, France, from 2-10 December 2001.
* If you would like to have more background material on the Alliance, read volume 11, no. 2 (1996) of WAJIBU. In this issue we discussed the beginning of this world-wide Alliance and also included the text of the Platform for a Responsible and United World. (See the verso of the backcover of the journal on where to obtain back issues).
