wfn.org | Reaction to Clinton's Africa Trip

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CONTACT: Linda Bloom					10-21-71B){186}
		    New York (212) 870-3803			March
26, 1998

Clinton must follow Africa trip
with substantial commitment, bishop says

		by United Methodist News Service

	President Clinton's trip to Africa is a good start, but must be
followed with a substantial U.S. commitment to that continent.
	That's the opinion of United Methodist Bishop Felton E. May of
Washington, D.C., who has helped provide denominational leadership on
African issues.
	Clinton opened a 12-day tour of Africa on March 23 in Ghana,
pledging more American aid and calling for a deeper commitment from
Africans to democracy and free markets. He also was visiting Uganda,
Rwanda, South Africa, Botswana and Senegal.
The Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, general secretary of the National Council
of Churches, was part of a high-level delegation accompanying the
President in South Africa and planned to attend Sunday church services
with the Clintons in Soweto.
May called Clinton's historic visit "a wonderful way for him to end his
presidency and also end the millenium."
Doreen Tilghman, a staff Africa expert with the United Methodist Board
of Global Ministries, said the trip demonstrates to Africans "that the
United States is concerned and there is a willingness or an openness
encouraging more private investment on the continent."
In May's opinion, Clinton needs to follow up by using his office to
promote a "Marshall Plan" for Africa, calculating the 1998 equivalent of
1945 dollars spent and providing "a comparable amount of money for
Africa as we provided for Europe."
United Methodist Bishop David Lawson, now retired and living in
Franklin, Ind., called Clinton's trip "critically important" since
previous U.S. administrations have long ignored Africa. "We've turned
our heads when things have gone bad," said the bishop, who has traveled
extensively on that continent.
Lawson expressed hope that the U.S. government will "try to identify the
genuine needs of people there" without getting caught up in African
politics. He also hopes the U.S. media will focus more attention on
Africa as well.
The United Methodist Council of Bishops expressed its own support of
Africa last November by launching a $12 million churchwide appeal called
"Hope for the Children of Africa."
African bishops on the council had made impassioned pleas for U.S.
action on Africa. "Unless you speak for us and call attention to your
government, we are doomed," declared Bishop Arthur Kulah of Liberia at
the time.
During the November meeting, the bishops also called upon Clinton to
help resolve the conflict in Sierra Leone and sent a resolution to the
U.S. State Department expressing concern over ethnic conflicts and
suffering in Burundi, Rwanda, the Republic of Congo, Uganda and
Tanzania.
May pointed out that the church - and the United Methodist Church in
particular - has been consistent in its aid to Africa. "The leadership
that is there is the result of our concern for education," he added.
The United Methodist-related Africa University in Zimbabwe has become a
significant resource for the redevelopment of central and southern
Africa, according to May.
In Congress, the Senate will consider the Africa Growth and Opportunity
Act, which was passed by the House on March 11. Critics believe the
trade-related legislation does not adequately address Africa's overall
economic crisis, but African nations are supportive, considering it an
opportunity for assistance, according to Tilghman.
May said the legislation "is a beginning, but it's not enough." He noted
that only 10 percent of U.S. foreign aid goes to African countries,
which is poor in comparison to assistance to other nations, such as
Israel.
The bishop also believes the U.S. government must:
* Turn attention to the refugee crisis in Africa.
		* Provide support for an African common market, along
with Canada and the European G7 nations;
		* Support a call for a U.N. embargo on the sales of arms
to nations involved in tribal or ethnic conflict.
"There can be no peace and democracy in Africa without economic
justice," May said.
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