Press Release – May justice, transparency and accountability be de rigueur!

6 Feb 2020

The populations hope for a better living condition. Fine speeches and sham democracy are no longer tolerated. May justice, transparency and accountability be de rigueur!

At the advent of New Year 2020, we, the members of the National Bureau of PFNOSCM / VOIFIRAISANA and of the National Orientation and Strategic Monitoring Committee (CNOSS) of the 22 Regions within it, address our members, the population Malagasy as well as to the populations of the five continents in love with peace, justice and progress, a year during which reign good neighborliness and friendship between peoples and that the fruits of growth will be shared fairly to effectively eradicate the poverty that plagues the majority of people around the world.

The PFNOSCM shares the pain of families in Madagascar, Australia and other corners of the world, victims of floods, fires or other forms of hazards that have caused loss of life, destruction of the environment and fauna and flora as well as considerable material damage.

We congratulate the establishment of the new government which, we very much hope, with the quality of the knowledge and know-how of its members, has a keen sense of Malagasy realities, patriotism and integrity as well as the latitude necessary and sufficient to initiate rapid and shared economic growth to quickly bring the Malagasy out of the unworthy and degrading poverty. That Madagascar and the 25 million Malagasy are not a laboratory where each year, the experiments are repeated for want of satisfaction.

We take this opportunity to share our thoughts on global and national realities which, for the most part, do not go in the interests of the populations, particularly the most vulnerable. Some analyzes and recommendations on major subjects among the multitudes of priorities of Madagascar, which concern issues of concern and areas of intervention of the PFNOSCM and Regional Platforms of Civil Society and associations which are its dismemberments, will thus be raised in this press release.

At the global and sub-regional levels:

• Call for calm and dialogue in the Near and Middle East, and respect for African sovereignty We express our deep concerns at the escalation of violence in the Near and Middle East, and we question ourselves on the consequences, not only on the population of these sub-regions, but also on the real risks of sliding towards a total war whose devastating effects would be catastrophic for all humanity. Let us seek the goodwill of all the actors intervening in these regions, under the aegis of the United Nations, so that a lasting solution is quickly found, and this, in appeasement and mutual respect.

We congratulate the African Union for taking responsibility recently in the search for a lasting solution to the Libyan crisis. Conflicts in Africa must be resolved by Africans and on African soil, according to an approach that responds primarily to our own values and specially to our strategic interests. This initiative must return solely and in a sovereign manner to the African Union. To be able to express its notoriety on the world stage, it must be united and find the proper means of its sovereignty.

At the level of the Indian Ocean:

• The Malagasy islands of the Indian Ocean: the era of colonization is over!
  The PFNOSCM is jealous of the integrity and inalienable character of the entire territory of Madagascar as well as the national sovereignty of the country. We strongly condemn all degrading and humiliating remarks against the Malagasy population and all forms of colonialism on the national heritage. The PFNOSCM pays particular attention to the islands of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean legitimately recognized by the United Nations through resolution No. 39/91 of December 12, 1979 as being a Malagasy property in its own right. We all condemn decisions on the management mode of these islands which do not favor the strategic interest of Madagascar.

We demand a simple restitution of these islands exempt from any possible form of scheming and obscure complicity, and a sound and transparent management of natural and mineral wealth by the Malagasy government in the preservation of the higher interests of Madagascar and its population.

At national level:

• When will the democratic elections on which the confidence of the majority can rest?
  In appearance, the elections which took place from 2018 with the presidential elections and which ended in November 2019 with the municipal and municipal elections mark some progress in the process of democratic alternation in Madagascar. The strong apprehensions about a post-electoral crisis, especially during the presidential elections, have been contradicted by reality despite the tensions that ensued even if they leave frustration hanging out until now. The PFNOSCM which participated within the ROHY movement in advocacy actions to improve with a lot of difficulties the legal framework on the elections in 2017-early 2018, and which was active in the observation of these elections at all levels, remains however convinced that the democratic principles which must govern the elections defined in international, African and regional instruments (SADC) that Madagascar has ratified have not been respected in their majority in the organic laws on elections and in their implementation (principles of inclusiveness, equal opportunities, transparency, honesty, equity, freedom, ..). The violation of the neutrality of the public administration and of judicial independence in favor of the “kandidam-panjakana” or candidates of the majority political party in power to all these elections, denounced by a group of magistrates in the case of municipal and municipal authorities, were flagrant. This justifies to a very large extent the continued decline in voter turnout during these elections. It is a serious sign of a crisis of confidence and legitimacy, and a definite brake on the long-awaited national reconciliation process which the country badly needs for its recovery from the societal problems which plague it. To improve the Malagasy electoral system and restore citizens’ confidence in this system, the PFNOSCM considers that a real political will of all electoral actors must precede the participative and consensual overhaul of the framework legal on the elections, the in-depth review of the approach, the methodology of the preparation of the electoral list and its
  security, as well as a real independence of the CENI and the electoral jurisdictions.
• An effective policy and strategy to fight climate change: an emergency for Madagascar
  We are all witnesses of what is happening in the world in terms of environmental problems with almost irreversible consequences. The Big Island and Indonesia are currently facing major flooding problems while Australia is fighting against the spread of large-scale bush fires across its territory.

Madagascar must learn from it about the deep and distant causes of these phenomena and the PFNOSCM calls on the new government to closely monitor the implementation of the policy and strategies for the fight against climate change and the commitment of each of the citizens. The unreasonable and abusive exploitation of mining, forestry and fishery resources will, among other things, be the cause of an inevitable environmental and food crisis in Madagascar, to the detriment of the future generation.

The PFNOSCM, as a civil society, wishes to contribute its share of brick to the design, implementation and monitoring of all policies and strategies to effectively fight climate change throughout the territory of Madagascar by involving each citizen.
 

• Alert to the risk of total disappearance of forest cover, fauna and flora! The year 2019 is still marked by a markedly worrying decline in Madagascar’s forest cover caused by land clearing linked to disorganized and anarchic internal migration, and favored by corruption where impunity reigns. “Between 50,000 and 100,000 hectares of forest are destroyed each year” 1. Malagasy fauna and flora, at least 80% of which are endemic, have so far been prey to wild predations. They are also marked by the impact of climate change amplifying the social and economic vulnerability of the population already with a low capacity for resilience. They are irreplaceable and cannot be restored, at least for the most part. Without a rigorous commitment and supported by a set of consistent measures, our already greatly reduced forest cover is doomed to total disappearance. The economic losses and the ecological damage that this will cause are of great concern. The political decision taken by the government to cover all of Madagascar with forest since this year is a good initiative but insufficient to deal with the threats that constantly threaten our flora and fauna. The PFNOSCM calls on decision-makers to urgently develop and initiate a common vision of sustainable development translated into coherent sectoral policies, guaranteeing integrated development.
   
• Contaminated water and health threat in Fort-Dauphin: transparency and urgent measures are necessary if the case is proven

In the context of mining in Madagascar, a study on the quality of water near the operating sites of QMM in Fort-dauphin was carried out by a British NGO called Andrew Lees Trust. The results published on December 20 , 2019 in the English newspaper “Reuters”, concluded that the waters around the sites would be contaminated 350
times lead and 63% higher in uranium compared to the normal rate recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). This situation is believed to be the cause of the various diseases that affect neighboring communities. 1 “In Madagascar, lemurs and their forest threatened by poaching”, Le Monde April 22, 2019

Faced with this circumstance, the PFNOSCM requests the Malagasy Government to observe and monitor this situation closely in order to avoid any human contamination.

• For an effective security policy respecting human rights Despite the declared will of the current government to combat urban and rural insecurity reflected in the measures taken to
  bring the police together and the purchase of several lots of military equipment, the scourge continues to haunt the minds of every citizen at all times. Children and adolescents are particularly affected, and there are also a growing number of cases of significant physical violence. The use of force going beyond established limits, compounded by the inability of institutions to deal effectively with crime and violence, only increases the insecurity of
  populations. The recurrence, lately, of elements of police force threatening or shooting point-blank with weapons of war, innocent civilians seem to reveal the hierarchical insubordination which reigns there, certainly favored by nepotism and corruption.

The prosecution, the security forces and the prison system have not developed the capacities necessary to provide an effective response, through legitimate action, prevention and repression, to crime and violence. Justice is profaned, and becomes a source of frustration and challenge to the order established when the judicial authority accepts
money or other gifts and favors from a person or group or if it is under the control of an occult force which dictates the verdicts. This is how the cycle of violence, and therefore permanent insecurity, is born and reproduced.

For the PFNOSCM, the security problem cannot be solved by violence even if it takes legal cover, and a fortiori when it is abused beyond measure, because violence calls for violence. It would be difficult to eradicate insecurity without an approach integrating citizen security in the concept of human security according to which the citizen is protected against unemployment, famine, the threat of climatic vagaries (current case of the rice farmers of  Ambatondrazaka who see their rice fields, their main sources of income, destroyed by the flood) or abuse of authority (case of the farmers of Ambohitrimanjaka who see their rice fields forcibly backfilled without their free consent). The citizen must also be protected from corruption, impunity and nepotism. This vision of security policy must rest on a solid democratic foundation where decentralization with necessary and sufficient resources as well as decision-making power gives strength to the fokonolona who take control of their destinies (fokonolona tompon-draharaha).

• Is town planning a lever for development?
  Malagasy cities are not immune to the global phenomenon of rapid urbanization amplified by the economic crisis chronic and insecurity in rural areas. Without going exclusively into the demographic aspect, we tackle the problems of urbanization by the capacity of cities to accommodate the flow of the rural population and the increase in the urban population. Public infrastructure, including basic equipment, has not been adequately maintained for decades, requiring new infrastructure as part of a development
  plan and urban plan for the renovation of neighborhoods and the extension of cities to follow the increase in urban population . This rapid and disorderly extension of Malagasy cities is reflected in the proliferation of constructions illegal in the absence of building permits or even laxity and corruption in the issuance of building permits by the municipalities. To confine oneself to this logic of building permits would be insufficient to explain the problem to eradicate the phenomenon of illegal constructions. In terms of housing, the successive public authorities do not have a clear vision on this subject and have not given priority to the construction of social housing to house vulnerable groups whose last achievements date back to the years 60 and 70, following the example of the city of Antananarivo with the construction of the cities of Analamahitsy, Ampefiloha, Mandroseza, Ambodin’Isotry and 67 hectares.

For the PFNOSCM, priorities must be given to the extension of Madagascan cities by the development of land in the immediate vicinity of the portals of each large city to be able to erect constructions of economic housing, at moderate rent with basic equipment such as markets, health infrastructure and basic education to welcome new migrants. Such a perspective requires an urban plan with practical consequences such as the expropriation of land targeted in consultation with the municipal authorities concerned and the participation of the public, of which civil society would be one of the major pillars for the success of the operation. This participation of civil society is provided for by the provisions of the new town planning law within the framework of public consultation to validate the future town planning plan. This approach is put forward for the simple reason that the State no longer has land to carry out the visions contained in the urban and development plans to be drawn up by the municipalities. The protection of the vulnerable layers of the population must be taken into account in the perception of a harmonious city and is considered as an essential element, a lever for the development of the city.

• National education policy: for a change of paradigm and approach

Human beings are at the center of everything. If a given community can live peacefully, in harmony with its environment and in complementarity, it is because the human beings who compose it, that is to say men, women, elderly, young, children, all faiths, political tendencies and social and ethnic origins combined, educated or not , rich in the values that form their identity, have the intelligence to organize themselves, to pool and value each other (mifanome hasina) to build a united living together, capable of asserting themselves and growing up against all kinds of external influences due to an inevitable  globalization. How to build a profile of Malagasy which can meet this ideal? This is, from the point of view of the PFNOSCM, the fundamental question that must be answered by any
education policy in Madagascar.

To subjugate and exploit a people as they pleased, the colonizers used education to destroy their identity, that is to say, the “backbone” which allows them to assert themselves in their fullness in the face of the other. In the era of independence, this mental breakdown continues in other forms to serve a bourgeois class that controls the economy and political power. Adult literacy is neglected. National education remains problematic because we let it drag the debate on the choice of policy and program adapted to the needs and realities of the country. The educational program of students in public schools changes from one regime to another and we do not care about the disaster that this causes in the construction of the Malagasy Man. The creation of several ministries for national education “consecrates, in part, a highly fragmented functioning of the education and training sector, thus making its coordination difficult” 2. The catastrophic result of the last exams is accompanied by an amoral attitude (flight of baccalaureate subjects) is not only a strong signal of the failure of the Malagasy education system. More than that, it is the image of a malagasy mal society
educated who loses his practical sense, his critical sense, his moral sense, his sense of honor, in short his identity. Because of this dysfunction, the school can only be a factor of selection and social inequality.

For the PFNOSCM, the problem of education in Madagascar goes far beyond the questions of the budget devoted annually to national education (insufficient or not) or calendar (holidays in winter or in rainy season). It is through education that we build a Nation. A national education policy and strategy based on the needs and interests of each successive regime in power is fatal for the future of future generations and for the future of Madagascar. The education sector must remain an area of Malagasy sovereignty, and a priority of priorities. The formulation of an education policy must start from a new paradigm which takes account of historical dimensions, which is based on the construction of an ideal Malagasy profile living in a desired community, which highlights the “Soatoavina Malagasy” according to a long-term vision shared by all Malagasy in their rich diversity, and which
sharpens the capacity to face the evolution of the world.

********************
To conclude, it is clear that the challenges remain multiple and complex. The complexity of the situation comes all simply the unconsciousness of national and multinational minorities invaded by egocentrism, the thirst for power and money, which consequently endanger the security, the environment and the social conditions of the majority. Because of unreasonable globalization, each country including Madagascar is not spared the harmful consequences of conflicts and global issues that concern all of humanity (climate change, food security, poverty and migration, water, energy, halieutics resources…). The PFNOSCM calls upon the civic and patriotic awareness of each Malagasy and of all the citizens of the world for a healthier and more responsible attitude towards the future of our common planet and of humanity as a whole.

6 Feb 2020

The populations hope for a better living condition. Fine speeches and sham democracy are no longer tolerated. May justice, transparency and accountability be de rigueur!

At the advent of New Year 2020, we, the members of the National Bureau of PFNOSCM / VOIFIRAISANA and of the National Orientation and Strategic Monitoring Committee (CNOSS) of the 22 Regions within it, address our members, the population Malagasy as well as to the populations of the five continents in love with peace, justice and progress, a year during which reign good neighborliness and friendship between peoples and that the fruits of growth will be shared fairly to effectively eradicate the poverty that plagues the majority of people around the world.

The PFNOSCM shares the pain of families in Madagascar, Australia and other corners of the world, victims of floods, fires or other forms of hazards that have caused loss of life, destruction of the environment and fauna and flora as well as considerable material damage.

We congratulate the establishment of the new government which, we very much hope, with the quality of the knowledge and know-how of its members, has a keen sense of Malagasy realities, patriotism and integrity as well as the latitude necessary and sufficient to initiate rapid and shared economic growth to quickly bring the Malagasy out of the unworthy and degrading poverty. That Madagascar and the 25 million Malagasy are not a laboratory where each year, the experiments are repeated for want of satisfaction.

We take this opportunity to share our thoughts on global and national realities which, for the most part, do not go in the interests of the populations, particularly the most vulnerable. Some analyzes and recommendations on major subjects among the multitudes of priorities of Madagascar, which concern issues of concern and areas of intervention of the PFNOSCM and Regional Platforms of Civil Society and associations which are its dismemberments, will thus be raised in this press release.

At the global and sub-regional levels:

• Call for calm and dialogue in the Near and Middle East, and respect for African sovereignty We express our deep concerns at the escalation of violence in the Near and Middle East, and we question ourselves on the consequences, not only on the population of these sub-regions, but also on the real risks of sliding towards a total war whose devastating effects would be catastrophic for all humanity. Let us seek the goodwill of all the actors intervening in these regions, under the aegis of the United Nations, so that a lasting solution is quickly found, and this, in appeasement and mutual respect.

We congratulate the African Union for taking responsibility recently in the search for a lasting solution to the Libyan crisis. Conflicts in Africa must be resolved by Africans and on African soil, according to an approach that responds primarily to our own values and specially to our strategic interests. This initiative must return solely and in a sovereign manner to the African Union. To be able to express its notoriety on the world stage, it must be united and find the proper means of its sovereignty.

At the level of the Indian Ocean:

• The Malagasy islands of the Indian Ocean: the era of colonization is over!
  The PFNOSCM is jealous of the integrity and inalienable character of the entire territory of Madagascar as well as the national sovereignty of the country. We strongly condemn all degrading and humiliating remarks against the Malagasy population and all forms of colonialism on the national heritage. The PFNOSCM pays particular attention to the islands of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean legitimately recognized by the United Nations through resolution No. 39/91 of December 12, 1979 as being a Malagasy property in its own right. We all condemn decisions on the management mode of these islands which do not favor the strategic interest of Madagascar.

We demand a simple restitution of these islands exempt from any possible form of scheming and obscure complicity, and a sound and transparent management of natural and mineral wealth by the Malagasy government in the preservation of the higher interests of Madagascar and its population.

At national level:

• When will the democratic elections on which the confidence of the majority can rest?
  In appearance, the elections which took place from 2018 with the presidential elections and which ended in November 2019 with the municipal and municipal elections mark some progress in the process of democratic alternation in Madagascar. The strong apprehensions about a post-electoral crisis, especially during the presidential elections, have been contradicted by reality despite the tensions that ensued even if they leave frustration hanging out until now. The PFNOSCM which participated within the ROHY movement in advocacy actions to improve with a lot of difficulties the legal framework on the elections in 2017-early 2018, and which was active in the observation of these elections at all levels, remains however convinced that the democratic principles which must govern the elections defined in international, African and regional instruments (SADC) that Madagascar has ratified have not been respected in their majority in the organic laws on elections and in their implementation (principles of inclusiveness, equal opportunities, transparency, honesty, equity, freedom, ..). The violation of the neutrality of the public administration and of judicial independence in favor of the “kandidam-panjakana” or candidates of the majority political party in power to all these elections, denounced by a group of magistrates in the case of municipal and municipal authorities, were flagrant. This justifies to a very large extent the continued decline in voter turnout during these elections. It is a serious sign of a crisis of confidence and legitimacy, and a definite brake on the long-awaited national reconciliation process which the country badly needs for its recovery from the societal problems which plague it. To improve the Malagasy electoral system and restore citizens’ confidence in this system, the PFNOSCM considers that a real political will of all electoral actors must precede the participative and consensual overhaul of the framework legal on the elections, the in-depth review of the approach, the methodology of the preparation of the electoral list and its
  security, as well as a real independence of the CENI and the electoral jurisdictions.
• An effective policy and strategy to fight climate change: an emergency for Madagascar
  We are all witnesses of what is happening in the world in terms of environmental problems with almost irreversible consequences. The Big Island and Indonesia are currently facing major flooding problems while Australia is fighting against the spread of large-scale bush fires across its territory.

Madagascar must learn from it about the deep and distant causes of these phenomena and the PFNOSCM calls on the new government to closely monitor the implementation of the policy and strategies for the fight against climate change and the commitment of each of the citizens. The unreasonable and abusive exploitation of mining, forestry and fishery resources will, among other things, be the cause of an inevitable environmental and food crisis in Madagascar, to the detriment of the future generation.

The PFNOSCM, as a civil society, wishes to contribute its share of brick to the design, implementation and monitoring of all policies and strategies to effectively fight climate change throughout the territory of Madagascar by involving each citizen.
 

• Alert to the risk of total disappearance of forest cover, fauna and flora! The year 2019 is still marked by a markedly worrying decline in Madagascar’s forest cover caused by land clearing linked to disorganized and anarchic internal migration, and favored by corruption where impunity reigns. “Between 50,000 and 100,000 hectares of forest are destroyed each year” 1. Malagasy fauna and flora, at least 80% of which are endemic, have so far been prey to wild predations. They are also marked by the impact of climate change amplifying the social and economic vulnerability of the population already with a low capacity for resilience. They are irreplaceable and cannot be restored, at least for the most part. Without a rigorous commitment and supported by a set of consistent measures, our already greatly reduced forest cover is doomed to total disappearance. The economic losses and the ecological damage that this will cause are of great concern. The political decision taken by the government to cover all of Madagascar with forest since this year is a good initiative but insufficient to deal with the threats that constantly threaten our flora and fauna. The PFNOSCM calls on decision-makers to urgently develop and initiate a common vision of sustainable development translated into coherent sectoral policies, guaranteeing integrated development.
   
• Contaminated water and health threat in Fort-Dauphin: transparency and urgent measures are necessary if the case is proven

In the context of mining in Madagascar, a study on the quality of water near the operating sites of QMM in Fort-dauphin was carried out by a British NGO called Andrew Lees Trust. The results published on December 20 , 2019 in the English newspaper “Reuters”, concluded that the waters around the sites would be contaminated 350
times lead and 63% higher in uranium compared to the normal rate recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). This situation is believed to be the cause of the various diseases that affect neighboring communities. 1 “In Madagascar, lemurs and their forest threatened by poaching”, Le Monde April 22, 2019

Faced with this circumstance, the PFNOSCM requests the Malagasy Government to observe and monitor this situation closely in order to avoid any human contamination.

• For an effective security policy respecting human rights Despite the declared will of the current government to combat urban and rural insecurity reflected in the measures taken to
  bring the police together and the purchase of several lots of military equipment, the scourge continues to haunt the minds of every citizen at all times. Children and adolescents are particularly affected, and there are also a growing number of cases of significant physical violence. The use of force going beyond established limits, compounded by the inability of institutions to deal effectively with crime and violence, only increases the insecurity of
  populations. The recurrence, lately, of elements of police force threatening or shooting point-blank with weapons of war, innocent civilians seem to reveal the hierarchical insubordination which reigns there, certainly favored by nepotism and corruption.

The prosecution, the security forces and the prison system have not developed the capacities necessary to provide an effective response, through legitimate action, prevention and repression, to crime and violence. Justice is profaned, and becomes a source of frustration and challenge to the order established when the judicial authority accepts
money or other gifts and favors from a person or group or if it is under the control of an occult force which dictates the verdicts. This is how the cycle of violence, and therefore permanent insecurity, is born and reproduced.

For the PFNOSCM, the security problem cannot be solved by violence even if it takes legal cover, and a fortiori when it is abused beyond measure, because violence calls for violence. It would be difficult to eradicate insecurity without an approach integrating citizen security in the concept of human security according to which the citizen is protected against unemployment, famine, the threat of climatic vagaries (current case of the rice farmers of  Ambatondrazaka who see their rice fields, their main sources of income, destroyed by the flood) or abuse of authority (case of the farmers of Ambohitrimanjaka who see their rice fields forcibly backfilled without their free consent). The citizen must also be protected from corruption, impunity and nepotism. This vision of security policy must rest on a solid democratic foundation where decentralization with necessary and sufficient resources as well as decision-making power gives strength to the fokonolona who take control of their destinies (fokonolona tompon-draharaha).

• Is town planning a lever for development?
  Malagasy cities are not immune to the global phenomenon of rapid urbanization amplified by the economic crisis chronic and insecurity in rural areas. Without going exclusively into the demographic aspect, we tackle the problems of urbanization by the capacity of cities to accommodate the flow of the rural population and the increase in the urban population. Public infrastructure, including basic equipment, has not been adequately maintained for decades, requiring new infrastructure as part of a development
  plan and urban plan for the renovation of neighborhoods and the extension of cities to follow the increase in urban population . This rapid and disorderly extension of Malagasy cities is reflected in the proliferation of constructions illegal in the absence of building permits or even laxity and corruption in the issuance of building permits by the municipalities. To confine oneself to this logic of building permits would be insufficient to explain the problem to eradicate the phenomenon of illegal constructions. In terms of housing, the successive public authorities do not have a clear vision on this subject and have not given priority to the construction of social housing to house vulnerable groups whose last achievements date back to the years 60 and 70, following the example of the city of Antananarivo with the construction of the cities of Analamahitsy, Ampefiloha, Mandroseza, Ambodin’Isotry and 67 hectares.

For the PFNOSCM, priorities must be given to the extension of Madagascan cities by the development of land in the immediate vicinity of the portals of each large city to be able to erect constructions of economic housing, at moderate rent with basic equipment such as markets, health infrastructure and basic education to welcome new migrants. Such a perspective requires an urban plan with practical consequences such as the expropriation of land targeted in consultation with the municipal authorities concerned and the participation of the public, of which civil society would be one of the major pillars for the success of the operation. This participation of civil society is provided for by the provisions of the new town planning law within the framework of public consultation to validate the future town planning plan. This approach is put forward for the simple reason that the State no longer has land to carry out the visions contained in the urban and development plans to be drawn up by the municipalities. The protection of the vulnerable layers of the population must be taken into account in the perception of a harmonious city and is considered as an essential element, a lever for the development of the city.

• National education policy: for a change of paradigm and approach

Human beings are at the center of everything. If a given community can live peacefully, in harmony with its environment and in complementarity, it is because the human beings who compose it, that is to say men, women, elderly, young, children, all faiths, political tendencies and social and ethnic origins combined, educated or not , rich in the values that form their identity, have the intelligence to organize themselves, to pool and value each other (mifanome hasina) to build a united living together, capable of asserting themselves and growing up against all kinds of external influences due to an inevitable  globalization. How to build a profile of Malagasy which can meet this ideal? This is, from the point of view of the PFNOSCM, the fundamental question that must be answered by any
education policy in Madagascar.

To subjugate and exploit a people as they pleased, the colonizers used education to destroy their identity, that is to say, the “backbone” which allows them to assert themselves in their fullness in the face of the other. In the era of independence, this mental breakdown continues in other forms to serve a bourgeois class that controls the economy and political power. Adult literacy is neglected. National education remains problematic because we let it drag the debate on the choice of policy and program adapted to the needs and realities of the country. The educational program of students in public schools changes from one regime to another and we do not care about the disaster that this causes in the construction of the Malagasy Man. The creation of several ministries for national education “consecrates, in part, a highly fragmented functioning of the education and training sector, thus making its coordination difficult” 2. The catastrophic result of the last exams is accompanied by an amoral attitude (flight of baccalaureate subjects) is not only a strong signal of the failure of the Malagasy education system. More than that, it is the image of a malagasy mal society
educated who loses his practical sense, his critical sense, his moral sense, his sense of honor, in short his identity. Because of this dysfunction, the school can only be a factor of selection and social inequality.

For the PFNOSCM, the problem of education in Madagascar goes far beyond the questions of the budget devoted annually to national education (insufficient or not) or calendar (holidays in winter or in rainy season). It is through education that we build a Nation. A national education policy and strategy based on the needs and interests of each successive regime in power is fatal for the future of future generations and for the future of Madagascar. The education sector must remain an area of Malagasy sovereignty, and a priority of priorities. The formulation of an education policy must start from a new paradigm which takes account of historical dimensions, which is based on the construction of an ideal Malagasy profile living in a desired community, which highlights the “Soatoavina Malagasy” according to a long-term vision shared by all Malagasy in their rich diversity, and which
sharpens the capacity to face the evolution of the world.

********************
To conclude, it is clear that the challenges remain multiple and complex. The complexity of the situation comes all simply the unconsciousness of national and multinational minorities invaded by egocentrism, the thirst for power and money, which consequently endanger the security, the environment and the social conditions of the majority. Because of unreasonable globalization, each country including Madagascar is not spared the harmful consequences of conflicts and global issues that concern all of humanity (climate change, food security, poverty and migration, water, energy, halieutics resources…). The PFNOSCM calls upon the civic and patriotic awareness of each Malagasy and of all the citizens of the world for a healthier and more responsible attitude towards the future of our common planet and of humanity as a whole.