Africa Focus: Africa unravels from shackles of war as world commits to new dev't goals

As world leaders meet in New York to commit to new development goals, Africa is striving to untangle itself from the effects of war have stalled its economic development.

From the Coup in Burkina Faso to the conflict in Somalia and now a possible return to peace in South Sudan, Africa either through regional blocs or continental efforts, has attempted to end conflicts that have left millions of people homeless and others dead.

Peace activists now argue that as the world welcomes the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are replacing the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), there must be renewed commitments to end wars on the continent.

Victor Ochen, the youngest ever African and the first Ugandan to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize told Xinhua in an interview on Thursday that commitments by world leaders must be more than just an announcement.

"Peace is a precondition to development and without it none of the goals will be sustainable," he said, noting that many communities on the continent are fed up of wars.

World leaders starting on Sept. 25 met at the UN Headquarters in New York to commit to SDGs over the next 15 years.

The SDGs are composed of 17 Global Goals and 169 targets to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice and reverse climate change. They seek to build on the MDGs which lasted from 2000 to 2015.

Critical to most communities in Africa is Goal 16 Peace and Justice. While leaders meet in New York, here in northern Uganda, hundreds of war victims gathered at Barlonyo Memorial Ground to welcome the SDGs.

Over 200 people were buried at this site after the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a notorious rebel group in 2004 overran an internally displaced persons camp.

To the war victims here like elsewhere on the continent, peace and justice is of paramount importance.

"Peace and justice will put Africa on fast track, a chance to leap frog our painful history" said Ochen.

To popularize the SDGs, the UN chose Uganda as one of the place across the world where a flag will be raised to represent a particular Goal. The awareness campaign aims at reaching seven billion people across the world in seven days. For Uganda it is SDG 16 - Peace and Justice.

Richard Curtis of Global Goals campaign said if people and politicians know and care about what has been promised, it greatly increases the chances of the Goals being implemented.

"If we can get the Goals into people's hearts and minds, we really can be the first generation that ends extreme poverty, the most determined to tackle inequalities and the last to live with effects of climate change," said Curtis.

For the masses here like in many other places on the continent that have faced war, regaining their livelihood is critical. They argue that if they are given the necessary support, they can be able to stem off the extreme poverty they are facing. Enditem