AFRICAN CHARTER
for Popular Participation in Development and Transformation
The African Charter for Popular Participation in Development and Transformation was adopted in Arusha, Tanzania, in February 1990, at the end of the International Conference on Popular Participation in the Recovery and Development Process in Africa. The conference was a collaborative effort between African people's organizations, African governments and United Nations agencies. It emerged from suggestions by non-governmental organizations to the 1988 mid-term review of the United Nations Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development, 1986-1990 (UN-PAAERD).
The document published here is an abridgement of the official text of the Charter, distributed by the United Nations as document A/45/427 of 22 August 1990. The wording is taken directly from the official text. Omitted words or phrases are indicated in the text by ...; transitional phrases inserted by the editor for clarity are set off by brackets.
The complete text should be available in libraries that are depositories for documents of the United Nations.
(Arusha 1990)
The International Conference on Popular Participation in the Recovery and Development Process in Africa was held, in Arusha, the United Republic of Tanzania from 12 to 16 February 1990, as a rare collaborative effort between African people's organizations, the African Governments, non-governmental organizations and the United Nations agencies, in the search for a collective understanding of the role of popular participation in the development and transformation of the region. ...
The Conference was attended by over 500 participants from a wide range of African people's organizations - including, in particular, non-governmental, grass-roots, peasant, women and youth organizations and associations, trade unions and others as well as representatives of African Governments, agencies of the United Nations system, non-African non-governmental organizations, regional, subregional and intergovernmental organizations, bilateral donors, multilateral organizations as well as specialists, both from within and outside Africa. ...
The Conference was organized out of concern for the serious deterioration in the human and economic conditions in Africa in the decade of the 1980s, the recognition of the lack of progress in achieving popular participation and the lack of full appreciation of the role popular participation plays in the process of recovery and development. ...
We, the people, engaged in debate and dialogue on the issues involved over the span of five plenary sessions and 15 workshops during the five-day-long International Conference. In the light of our deliberations, we have decided to place on record our collective analysis, conclusions, policy recommendations and action proposals for the consideration of the people, the African Governments and the international community.