China-Africa People’s Forum discusses new NGO cooperation model

The second China-Africa People’s Forum closes Wednesday in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, following two days of in-depth discussions on people-to-people exchanges between the two sides

Participants have called for the establishment of a new model for NGO cooperation between China and African countries.

About 300 delegates from China and 35 African states attended the two-day forum, which concluded on Wednesday in Suzhou, a tourist resort and economic hub in east China.

As one of the two associate events officially incorporated into the overall framework of the 5th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the forum attracted more than 300 representatives from Chinese and African NGOs who came to share their experience and opinions regarding new ideas of win-win cooperation, new measures for common development and new forms of NGO exchanges between China and Africa.

Delegates agreed that people-to-people communication will be the foundation for friendly and cooperative relations between China and Africa; and that NGO forum is playing a positive role in developing ties, promoting practical cooperation and advancing the Sino-Africa relationship.

The 2012 China-Africa People’s Forum opened on Tuesday and was co-sponsored by China NGO Network for International Exchanges (CNIE) and the African Union (AU) Commission. The theme of this year’s forum was “People’s Voice, People’s Friendship and Cooperation for the People.”

NGOs from China and Africa still face many challenges in establishing a long-term and effective cooperative mechanism, noted Deng Lan, an official from the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

Exchanges between the NGOs of both sides are imbalanced, said Deng, adding that China will study how to improve the management capabilities of African NGOs and ensure sustainable development of cooperative projects, as well as the stability of funding sources.

Some African media coverage of China has been affected by the prejudices of Western media, according to He Wenping, director of the African Studies Section at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. She suggested NGOs do more to help remove misunderstandings between the two sides.

NGO cooperation between China and Africa still needs further development to fully explore its potential, participants in the forum agreed.

NGO cooperation between the two sides needs support from all social sectors, including government, enterprises and the media, said Xu Wei, a scholar from the Development Research Center of the State Council.

Elmostafa Rezrazi, director of the African Center of Asian Studies in Morocco and Secretary General of the Civic Commission for Africa, said complicated domestic situations in some African countries have brought challenges in Sino-Africa cooperation, but he is confident China is capable of solving these challenges using its rich political and diplomatic experience.

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