'Exporting Policies': NGO Chief on EU's Imposition of LGBT Values in ACP Trade Agreement

In response to the European Union's demands for ACP nations to sign an agreement that includes provisions for gay marriage and LGBT rights, a coalition of civil society organizations (CSOs), represented by the African, Caribbean and Pacific Civil Society Organization, Parents Watch Initiative and Zarephath Aid, called on ACP countries to resist EU pressure and refuse to sign the agreement.

Sputnik Africa sat down with Ben Abraham, founder of Zarephath Aid, a Nigerian non- government, non-political and non-profit Organization, to discuss the EU's policy of promoting its orientations in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

In recent years, Western countries have tended to become increasingly intolerant of nations that are not as developed as they are, Abraham said. At the same time, Africa's dependence on the West has increased, opening the door for the Western countries to push harder for policies that are unacceptable to the continent, he added.

"In these past years, there has been an increasing dependency on the West, making the relationship unequal. And that has opened the space, the room for the West to gradually frown at the concept of sovereignty and increasingly push for policies that are not agreeable to us. They push these policies more boldly, more openly, as opposed to what you had 25 years ago," the founder opined.

In this sense, he noted that the partnership between the ACP countries and the EU is unequal, as the European bloc goes beyond trade to impose its orientations.

"I don't know what kind of diplomacy that is. I believe it's getting out from the normal international diplomacy we know [...] "By that, what message is being passed to these states is that: 'Look, we are not just trading with you but we are also exporting our policies, our practices to you'," Abraham stressed.

Furthermore, the activist noted that the EU's threats, when the ACP countries not signing the agreement, are hidden in the economic sphere, as the European bloc finances such processes as election observation, social system, health, education and security.

"For nations who don't sign that, a number of this funding will reduce or disappear. And whatever positive change that this funding or these interventions have brought to these countries will disappear," Abraham remarked.

Sub-Saharan Africa

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African Family Concept

Commenting on the EU's proposed agreement, which includes LGBT provisions, the activist noted that in the case of Africa, the promotion of these Western values "is going to work against the family setup."

"When a person or a group of people are projecting LGBTQ, we believe that one should look at some of these policies and practices from the cultural perspective. In Europe where you are and in America this practice is upheld. But when it comes down to Africa, [...] the promotion of these values will work inimically against the family setup," Abraham said.

He pointed out that today, the family is a means of strength and "rallying point" for African communities, and the place where Africans go first when problems arise. He explained that the family is the continent's "safety net," where people go when they are sick or want to start a business, for example, unlike in the West, where people go to hospitals or banks.

"We value the family unit, the father, the mother and children that could come through the meeting of a man and a woman [...] Now, if you tamper with the family unit, you've tampered with a whole loss," Abraham emphasized. "We believe that the EU is not doing [behaving] properly. The effect of LGBTQ in Africa will be adverse. Families will be destroyed."

The director also pointed out the other side of the importance of the family in relation to crime, noting that most criminals come from "broken homes and families."

The activist also raised the issue of another cultural difference between parts of Africa and Western countries, namely polygamy, which is practiced in some African societies. In this context, he asked why African countries do not promote plural marriage while Europe promotes LGBT in a trade agreement.

The EU announced in November that 27 EU member states and 79 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific had signed a Partnership Agreement in the areas of "human rights, democracy and governance, peace and security. Human and social development."

* The "LGBT movement" is classified as extremist by the Russian authorities and is banned in Russia.