Human Rights and Sustainable Development in Contemporary Africa

More than at any other point in time, the approach of the third millennium of modern Western history1 heralds both significantly new and even radically different challenges and opportunities for the overall human rights situation on the African continent. On the one hand, a new African "renaissance" has been proclaimed in which the peoples of the continent are being called upon to assume their rightful place in the community of nations and to put the turmoil and tragedy of their past behind.2 On the other, internal and regional conflicts-even in countries that until recently appeared relatively stable and sanguine such as Namibia and Senegal-appear to grow not simply in frequency and magnitude, but also in intensity, viciousness and complexity.