We have witnessed a western style democratic wave, with multi party systems and stronger declared independence of unions from political parties. Despite these positive developments, the problems facing working people are far from over. The democratisation process has not placed more food on the table of the average worker, in most countries poverty rates have risen, and there are serious questions about the extent of democratisation, its meaning in Africa and an absence of social and economic empowerment. Time has obviously come to set new targets, based on a new strategy. As for Africa, which receives close to 50 per cent of our total three million pound sterling budget, we have in close co-operation with our partners in the region to work out a new and more proactive strategy to change the trend we have witnessed.
Unions continue to struggle to survive.
Few countries can claim unionisation rates above 20 per cent, and many have rates as low as 5 per cent. This crisis and contradiction are so great that ideological foundations of many groups are being questioned. Our partners in development of such a strategy are the national centres in these countries, and their regional co-ordinating body, Satucc. In the future, strategy for a more aggressive union policy, Cosatu of South Africa will play an important role. Further institution building, economic self-sufficiency, and organising remain fundamental secondary goals.