Urgent Requests on Draft of Yokohama Declaration and Action Plan of TICAD IV

April 23rd, 2008

Urgent requests on Draft of Yokohama Declaration and Action Plan of TICAD IV (The Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development)

TICAD IV / NGO network (TNnet)
2008 G8 Summit NGO forum

We commend the Japanese government for hosting two important international conferences on Africa this year. We are aware that you are busy with preparations for them. Since the ministerial preparatory meeting in Gabon, however, we have become concerned about the potentially negative impact of TICAD IV on Africa and the world. As the two NGO alliances dealing with TICAD and G8 Summit, we hereby make the following urgent requests, and ask the Japanese government to reflect them in the Yokohama Declaration and the Action Plan by demonstrating its international leadership.

1. Request on Yokohama Declaration

（1）Achieving MDGs should be the prerequisite to all.
The year 2008 is one year after the turning point for the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were signed by 189 member nations including Japan and adopted in 2000. The interim evaluation however, shows only a slight decline in the percentage of people in Africa living in poverty?from 45.9% to 41.1%. The need for further efforts by all signatories has thus become clear. Given its role as host of TICAD IV and the G8 Summit, worldwide attention is focused on the Japanese government and how it will fulfil its responsibilities.

[Issues]
The preamble of the draft released on the final day of the TICAD ministerial preparatory meeting deleted the part of "the challenge of the achieving the MDGs" which was mentioned in the original version, and moreover,. there is no mention at all of a commitment to achieving the MDGs
This sends an extremely negative message to the world that Japanese government, despite being the host of TICAD, is not willing to fulfil its international commitments of achieving MDGs and moreover, trying to hinder their achievement.
[Request for amendment]
We demand that the importance of meeting the challenge of achieving the MDGs, a pledge to which the world is already committed, be clearly stated in the Declaration as a prerequisite for the conference.

（2）Adopting democratisation
Although there has been significant progress toward democratisation in Africa, confusion and violence related to electoral processes has become more pronounced in some countries. The current economic growth and sharp rise in the price of natural resources benefit only a small group of people who have access to power, foster corruption, exacerbate the gap between rich and poor, and cause social unrest. Japan’s diplomatic stance toward these issues, which took democratisation off the agenda of TICAD IV, now faces a serious credibility problem.

[Issues]
In both TICAD regional preparatory meetings held last year in Lusaka in October and Tunis in November, promotion of democratisation was high on the agenda, along with the consolidation of peace. The ODA charter mentions the importance of promoting democratisation, while the 2008 Blue Paper on Foreign Policy clearly states the importance of strengthening democratic diplomacy. The Constitutive Act of the African Union also declares its commitment to democratic principles.
In flagrant disregard of all these important statements, however, promotion of democratisation was stricken from the agenda during the ministerial level of meeting in Gabon in March this year.

[Request for amendment]
We request that promotion of democratisation be placed back on the agenda of TICAD IV to deliver a message to the governments and people of Africa expressing the determination of Japanese government to promote democratisation on the continent, including free and fair elections.

（3）Spelling out the importance of civil society and their participation in the processes
In Sub-Saharan Africa, where the governmental sector faces capacity limitation, many of the African governments, AU and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) willingly accept NGOs and Civil Society as development partners, and ensure their participation in every process of development from policy-planning phases. Also, in order to make economic growth lead to poverty reduction in African countries where they lack efficient mechanisms of distributing fruits of economic growth, it is dispensable to empower civil society, a sector which strongly promotes social development.
It is essential, therefore, to respect the ownership of African civil society to deliver the fruits of the economic growth to the poor and to build diplomatic relations with medium- and long-term prospects.

[Issues 1]
Although the situation remains grave, democratisation in Africa is gradually but firmly progressing. Therefore, if Japan's diplomacy and development assistance are carried out only to satisfy the needs and priorities of African government currently in office, this will result in growing dissatisfaction among the people of Africa. Members of African civil society have already expressed their strong concerns over Japan’s diplomatic approach. Also The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) repeatedly states the importance of the civil society (see 45th clause of their fundamental document).
The last three TICAD meetings were co-sponsored by civil society related organisation, Global Coalition for Africa (GCA). However in TICAD IV, interaction between government leaders is becoming its main aim, and this serves to obscure the problems which urgently require resolution as pointed out above. The situation as it now stands may thus hinder discussions on African development and the promotion of democratisation.
Thus, it is essential to reconsider whether it is right course of action for Japan, while Africa and the rest of the world are watching, to convert TICAD into a style of “Forum on China-Africa Cooperation” which will aim to enhance only short-term, bilateral relationships between Japanese government and existing African governments.

[Request for amendment 1]
We ask that the importance of African civil society be recognized as direct stakeholders and that provisions for their participation in TICAD be spelled out.

[Issues 2]
Japanese and African NGOs have been continuously playing an extremely important role in cooperation and strengthening relations between Japan and Africa. They are, thus indispensable partners in building a strong relationship between Japan and Africa. However, the importance of civil society participation in TICAD is not recognized in the Declaration at present.

[Request for amendment 2]
We request that the importance of the civil society in every aspect of development, monitoring, democratisation and diplomacy be recognized and that the need for its participation as an equal partner to the governmental agents be spelled out.

(4) Include the following in the preamble

  1. We request that those who tend to be marginalized in African society, such as women, youth, children, and the different-abled people be specified and that efforts be made to make such groups part of the main stream.
  2. We request that “malaria and tuberculosis”, which were among the three major infectious diseases deleted from the preamble be reinstated along with HIV/AIDS*

* HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria are different diseases which affect and harm African peoples in different ways. HIV/AIDS can’t represent the other two infectious diseases, though the three affects one another. It is necessary to mention each name of the three diseases.

2. Request on Action Plan

We recommend the following points to be incorporated in the TICAD IV Action Plan.

I. Boosting economic growth
In order to achieve MDGs which were agreed in 2000 by the international community including Japan, there should be a confirmation that economic growth is not an objective but is a tool for poverty reduction. Every possible effort to reduce poverty by half in Africa by 2015 must be carried out.

(1) Food and Agriculture
Having in mind the goal of MDGs to halve by 2015 the proportion of people suffering from hunger, there should be an increase of emergency food aid in grant form, for regions already mostly stricken by food price increase, in cooperation with industrialised countries and international organisations. Food aid should be provided in cash, not in kind, in order to prevent enervation of regional agricultural industry. At the same time, in order to solve a long term problem of food supply-demand balance, a plan must be developed which increases agricultural support for small-scale farmers. When planning policies on bio-fuel, introduce international certification systems and policies which give careful considerations to the food security of the African population suffering from poverty.

  1. Trade

Negotiations of WTO Doha Development Round must proceed based on the spirit of Doha Declaration, which stated that the developmental benefit of the developing countries must be placed in the centre.? The policies for agricultural subsidies which distort trade, implemented by the developed countries, must be revised, and at the same time, the main premise of the Doha, or “the special and differential treatment” principle, must be strictly applied in all the sectors of agriculture, non-agriculture, and services, to respect discretion of the developing countries concerning the market opening and liberalisation.

II. Achieving MDGs

(1) Education

The Dakar Declaration of 2000 on “Education For All” should be reaffirmed, and necessary fund must be provided to the governments which earnestly commit to the realisation of EFA. Declaration needs to be made for increasing the aid for basic education in order to meet the financing gap to achieve EFT international target, so that the aid is equitably shared according to the wealth level of G8 countries.

There is a need to expand the support for recurrent costs of basic education sector, such as salaries for teachers and text book costs, in order to secure the long-term stable funding. Especially, in Sub-Saharan Africa, it is necessary to secure 4 million new teachers. Commitments should be expressed for the long-term and stable funding of certain amount, for emphasizing post-conflict and/or underdeveloped countries, and for tackling to eliminate child labour which is an obstacle against achieving EFA.

(2) Health Care

1.Health System Strengthening

Through the coordination with African countries, donor countries, and international organisations, support should be made for the plan formulation and implementation for increasing the number of health personnel in African countries and regions, including the employment of health workers. Increase the number of health workers by one million, who are urgently needed in Sub-Saharan Africa.

2.Maternal and Child Health, Reproductive Health

Aiming at the realisation of “Maputo Plan” and “Child Survival: a strategy for the African. Region”, it should be realised by 2013, the year which TICAD V will be held, that 80 percent of those in Africa who is in need of reproductive health services have access to those services. Also, under-five mortality rate must to be reduced to less than 50 per 1000 for the average of Sub-Saharan countries.

3.HIV/AIDS

Based on the international target of universal access to treatment, care, and prevention by 2010, and the promise made at the G8 Heilingendamm Summit in 2007 to treat 5 million people in Africa, finance and implementation plan to realise these goals should be urgently formulated by G8 and African countries under the leadership of Japan. By so doing, universal access for treatment should be made possible by 2010.

4.Tuberculosis

In order to improve the serious situation among African countries of tuberculosis where?? emergency was declared in 2005, the details of “Stop TB Japan Initiative” needs to be formed by the middle of 2008. By implementing this, Japan should contribute to achieving the target of the Global Plan to Stop TB to halve the rate of tuberculosis contraction and death rate by 2015.

5.Malaria

In order to achieve the target of halving the number of deaths by Malaria by 2010, the access for Artemisinin-based combination treatments should be secured to 80 percent of the total population in Africa, and for Malaria prevention to 80 percent of the population in need.

III. Climate Change

(1) Adaptation measures

Mitigation assistance should be offered according to the needs for both quantity and quality, and should not be treated as a tool for negotiation for the future framework.? All the funding should be channelled through the framework under the authority of the United Nations. This should be provided in addition to the ODA target of 0.7 % of GNI, in order for maintaining equity of climate control.

(2) Mitigation measures

Japan should establish a mid-term target to reduce CO2 by 25 - 40% before 2020 from the level of 1990..