TICAD IV

May 28th, 2008, Yokohama: At the opening ceremony of the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, the Japanese Prime Minister delivered a speech, in which he announced various development supports for Africa for the coming 5 years. TICAD IV NGO Network and 2008 G8 Summit NGO Network have together issued the following reactions to some of the announcements made.

Aid to Promote Private Sector Investment to Boost Economic Growth
Prime Minister first noted rapid economic growth that Africa is seeing, and announced various supports including USD 4 billion in loans for transport infrastructure, trade insurance and a USD 2.5 billion worth of financing support for Japanese companies, seeking investment opportunities in Africa, all over the next 5 years when the next TICAD will be held.

While there is no doubt Africa needs growth, we civil society believe that this is exactly the time to prioritise direct invest in the areas of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), both because many African societies suffer from social and economic divides and in order to ensure that poor people can take part in the economic activities.

Civil society is also concerned the implication of this large amount of loans on the poor communities in Africa. Africa’s current debt crisis started with the plummeting primary commodity prices. It is not clear whether the current growth is sustainable, and it is questionable whether Africa will have the capacity to repay the loans announced today.

Millenniun Development Goals
Fukuda reiterated the importance of achieving the MDGs, and committed Japan to support reproductive health and train 100,000 health workers in the coming 5 years. Although welcome in itself, the plan does not go far enough to help Africa reach the health MDGs. Africa’s public health sectors suffers from the huge lack of money to recruit and pay for their human resources, so the trained and qualified people have little choice but to migrate to rich countries. If Japan is serious about overcoming the health worker crisis, then it needs to be prepared to pay for these expenditures.

Prime Minister also mentioned the pledge he made last week to contribute USD 560 million to the Global Fund to fight Aids, TB and Malaria for the coming few years. But unless this is disbursed by the end of 2010, it will not lead to an increase of Japan’s contribution.

Considering TICAD’s repeated emphasis on the role of education in creating an equitable society, it is mysterious to see Fukuda not mentioning the issue. Japan must increase its financial contribution to the Education for All Fast Track Initiative.

Increase of Aid to Africa
Prime Minister announced the country’s plan to double grant aid and technical assistance to Africa. According to the information material distributed by the government at the TICAD venue, this doubling will be “excluding debt relief”. This is a marked step forward, as most of the last “doubling of aid to Africa” announced by the then-PM Koizumi in 2005 has disappeared in the form of debt relief. Japan now must combine this with a timetable to increase its overall aid from the current 0.17% of GNI to 0.7% so that this increase of aid to Africa will not end up robbing the needed development finance from other regions.

Climate Change
Fukuda highlighted the USD 10 billion finance for developing countries trying to reconcile economic growth and climate mitigation objectives, as part of Japan’s Cool Earth Partnership. However, this money is mainly aimed for large emitting developing countries, and it is not clear how much of it will be distributed to Africa, whose primacy problem of climate change is adaptation rather than mitigation. NGOs also stressed the need for climate finance separate from and in addition to the 0.7% GNI commitment on ODA, and for it to be spent through the UN Adaptation Fund which ensures majority developing country say.

Lastly, Africa will continue to suffer as long and as much as Japan continues to cause global warming. Japan must set and achieve an ambitious mid-term Green House Gas Emission reduction target, as well as providing adaptation financing to African countries.

ENDS

For more information, contact:
Toko Tomita: +81-(0)90-5217－6448 on behalf of:
TICAD IV NGO Network
c/o Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University, Rm 613-6
1-21-1, 7F Soudainishiwaseda, Bldg.
Nishiwaseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Takumo Yamada: +81-(0)80-3155-7017 on behalf of:
2008 G8 Summit NGO Forum
c/o Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation (JANIC)
Avaco bldg. 5F, 2-3-8 Nishiwaseda, Shinkuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

African, international and Japanese civil society received the May 28th draft Yokohama Declaration, the Action Plan and the proposal for the follow up process with the mixed feelings.

If adopted as they stand, it is a step forward . We see the reinsertion of individual issues that were completely omitted or undermined in the previous drafts; the importance of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs, democratization, infectious diseases, and the participation of civil society in the TICAD process. There are some signs of the Government of Japan’s commitments to the existing initiatives by African Governments such as the Maputo Declaration.

But there are holes yet to be filled before the Heads of the States adopt these result documents.

1. The interrelation between the macro economic growth and the persistence of the house-hold level poverty is still not adequately recognized. The causes and the negative impacts of the non pro-poor economic growth strategy must be analyzed and addressed in the Action Plan. The pro-poor-isation of Trade Policies is a must.
2. In this regard, the role of the Japanese Private Sector in Africa should be recognized and emphasized in the Declaration. The GoJ should commit to work with the Private Sector so that the latter’s activities will contribute to enhancing social development and economic growth of African countries rather than adding to the social inequity or further impoverishing them.
3. The involvement of the civil society was acknowledged in the Declaration, but the action plan or the follow up mechanism does not include it – except one action owned by .
4. The appendix to the Action Plan includes the commitments from the other governments (ex: UK), UN organizations (Unicef, UNESCO, etc), and multilaterals. It is a welcome move to map the Government oJapan’s efforts in the larger development agenda. However, the TICAD outputs/commitments are ambiguous. A clear distinction should be made between TICAD-specific commitments and commitments outside of TICAD process. Furthermore, most of commitments out of TICAD do not address the need to support the implementation of African governments’ policies to reach the MDGs. Instead they continue with the comfortable business-as-usual aid modalities.
5. In order to ensure a credible and effective follow-up, the implementation framework of the Yokohama Action Plan (the Appendix) should be country-specific..
6. The Yokohama Declaration recognizes the importance of the skilled human resources in Africa, but it does not acknowledge the extent of the gap neither does it commit necessary resources to address it.
7. Furthermore, while it menions the training of health workers, it underestimates the numbers required to meet the need and does not acknowledge the retention of trained health workers.
8. HIV/AIDS is one of the biggest threats to human security in Africa. However, the Yokohama Declaration is not explicit about Japan’s contribution to the globally agreed target of achieving Universal Access to treatment, care and prevention by 2010. Furthermore, it ignores the gap between the reality and the target of universal access in HIV/AIDS care and treatment, though they are the crucial part of comprehensive approach against HIV/AIDS especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, which faces the situation of generalized epidemic.
9. Democratisation is mentioned, but only in relation to peace-building and economic growth. The example of recent South Africa crisis demonstrates that the macro economic growth does not automatically guarantee peace without redistributive democracy. The Government of Japan ’s commitment for peace consolidation, good governance and democratization should be further emphasized and integrated with policies to alleviate poverty and reduce inequality.
10. The Japanese government has committed to double its ODA to Africa for the next five years. This commitment should reflect the spirit of the Paris Declaration. Further, the ODA should be well-targeted to ensure that it benefits the vulnerable women, men andn children small holder farmers in rural areas and tackle social injustices.

For more information, contact:
Minori Tanimura: +81-(0)90-6537-8098 on behalf of:
TICAD IV NGO Network
c/o Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University, Rm 613-6
1-21-1, 7F Soudainishiwaseda, Bldg.
Nishiwaseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Masaki Inaba: +81-(0)90-1264-8110 on behalf of:
2008 G8 Summit NGO Forum
c/o Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation (JANIC)
Avaco bldg. 5F, 2-3-8 Nishiwaseda, Shinkuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

TICAD IV takes place amidst rising food prices as a result of global shortages and runaway oil prices related to conflict in oil producing countries. The consequence of this will be greater strife at the local level resulting in mass protests, leading to conflict and possibly civil war in very fragile states. This context, together with the prevailing development challenges must inform our approach to all the issues at TICAD IV.

MDGs
MDGs underline the fundamental need for social development in poverty reduction. In other words statistical economic growth alone is not enough for the sustainable reduction of poverty. Achieving the MDGs is not an end goal in itself. The associated provision of food security, education, gender equality, improving child and maternal health, reducing or eradicating diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB, will contribute to the reduction of poverty, desperation and misery which fuel instability and conflict thereby undermining development.　

That the MDGs can be met is not in question. What is in question is if both developed countries and African governments can muster the political will to do so. In addition, as we heard yesterday, critical resource gaps stand in the way of the achievement of the MDGs. These resource gaps include the loss of medical personnel as the result of the brain drain experienced by many of our countries. It is our hope that the TICAD process will go a long way towards the bridging of these resource gaps.

No amount is too much to invest in human development. Africa is currently losing over 8 million lives a year to health related reasons and this is unacceptable. Investment in the MDGs should be seen as a kind of Marshall Plan for Africa – increased and sustained development support over the period necessary for the infrastructure for sustainable development to be in place.

It cannot be overstated that the MDGs cannot be achieved without the input and partnership of civil society. This partnership should be based on mutual respect and interdependence. Civil society involvement should not be tokenistic, but strategic and at all stages of key processes.

Much was said yesterday about democratisation in Africa. Africa has experienced some positive developments over the past decade, with at least twelve retired Presidents completing their constitutional terms and peacefully handing over power after elections. In addition several protracted conflicts have also been resolved. Such positive developments are premised on the realisation that democratisation depends on several factors. These include the existence of a leadership that understands and embraces democratic ideals; political institutions who are repositories and guarantors of democratic values; and civil society and international actors playing specific and clearly defined roles.

However, despite this, the recent events in South Africa have also indicated that even in a highly developed country like South Africa, with a relatively strong economy, and institutionalised democratic structures, huge gaps in income, high unemployment and continuing poverty for the majority of people will threaten such strong foundations of democracy.

The challenge therefore for all emerging democracies, especially, those in Africa is to ensure that democratic consolidation is embarked upon alongside redistributive development. There can be no long term peace in Africa without redistributive development. TICAD IV has to put back the issue of democratisation on its agenda and link it with peace and development. African countries and their partners have to evolve developmental agendas complimented by forms of governance that promote democratic, responsible, participation.

Overwhelming concerns were expressed yesterday about the current food crisis resulting from factors including the changing food consumption patterns in the world, the rising price of crude oil and other sources of energy along long term structural issues relating to the agricultural sectors of developing countries. Some of the implications of the current food crisis include rising inflation, unemployment, increased insecurity and social strife. We heard yesterday from several heads of state that the food crisis has the potential to role back the progress which Africa has made in terms of economic development, peace and security.

The increase in food prices has hit particularly the urban poor who are increasingly spending more on food or have reduced the number of meals consumed. The price increases have also affected the rural poor who have to spend more on other commodities and for access to services like transport and communication. Women, children and people living with the diseases like HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria are among the most marginalised in the wake of the rising food prices.

What then is the role of civil society as a development partner, given the prevailing context?

Civil Society is regarded as the foundation of liberty, agents for promoting political values, and advocates for social justice, democratic participation, good governance and conflict resolution. They play an important role in both democratic transition and consolidation. In order for civil society to effectively play this role, they need to be self-regulating, autonomous of the State, and need to subscribe to a set of common rules that guide and regulate their activities. They also act as channels through which citizens articulate their interests and concerns. Civil society also influences social change, through encouraging the State to make structural changes and to produce policy outputs that enhance common social interests. However, the role of civil society in the democratisation process can be hampered by dependence on external funding, hostile governments, and issues such as ethnicity, religion and gender bias.

With respect to the current food crisis civil society entities have an important contribution to make in national efforts to address the crisis. The unique positioning of civil society among affected communities, its work in the areas of research and analysis as well as advocacy efforts with national, regional and global policy making institutions, make civil society a credible and effective partner in many instances. We urge the organisers of the TICAD process, national governments and regional organisations to maximise on this partnership opportunity.

Yesterday, our esteemed Excellencies invited the Government of Japan and their development partners in general to partner with African countries in the fight to enhance human security by eradicating poverty and consolidating democracy on the continent. In so doing, African and Japanese civil society participating on the TICAD process have repeated the observations raised previously. Our concerns centre around the fact that assistance to Africa should not recreate the debt crisis from which some of our economies have recently emerged, and from which have yet to emerge.

Esteemed participants, with respect to the TICAD Action Plan and the Follow Up Mechanism; we echo the numerous calls from our heads of States yesterday that the Plan of Action should be comprehensive, time bound, implementable and measurable. With respect to the Follow Up Mechanism, right from its inception at TICAD III, the participation of civil society was always envisioned. However, Japanese and African Civil Society have noted with disappointment the omission of civil society as participants in the proposal for the Follow Up Mechanism which has been distributed here. Given the extent to which the organisers of the TICAD process have sought to involve civil society to date, we have no doubt that this was a simple oversight and respectfully urge the organisers to make the necessary amendment and confirm the participation of civil society in the Mechanism.

Finally, TICAD V must strive to place people centered development at the core of its agenda and become a forum for a true partnership among the State, the private sector and civil society.

For more information, contact:
Minori Tanimura: +81-(0)90-6537－8098 on behalf of:
TICAD IV NGO Network
c/o Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University, Rm 613-6
1-21-1, 7F Soudainishiwaseda, Bldg.
Nishiwaseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Masaki Inaba: +81-(0)90-1264-8110 on behalf of:
2008 G8 Summit NGO Forum
c/o Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation (JANIC)
Avaco bldg. 5F, 2-3-8 Nishiwaseda, Shinkuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

In the 15-year history of TICAD, the civil society has always fought for its space as a legitimate development actor in the process. The situation did not improve drastically for the on-going TICAD IV: The civil society is participating in this 5-year cyclic event as an observer with limited access to the main conference hall. There was one small progress, however, this time: The civil society session was adopted as an official program – not side event.

The civil society session gathered 160 people from Africa, Japanese and international civil society organizations, Japanese Government, TICAD co-organizers such as the World Bank, UNDP, the world famous singer and advocate for Africa, Bono, and the Roll-back Malaria Good Will Ambassador, Yvonne Chakachaka. The lively discussion was broadcasted live in the internet.

The biggest disparagement raised by the African civil society was the heavy inclination of TICAD IV to the acceleration of the macro economic growth. The superficial, macro economic growth disguises the aggravating poverty and social inequity. The draft output of TICAD IV as they are now, they criticized, does not take into consideration these negative social impacts of economic growth. The participants explored the issue of social inequity by touching upon the recent social disturbances in many African countries resulting from the food price increase. These events were triggered by the acute increase of prices for sure, but the underlying cause is the persisting social divide between the rich and the poor within the African societies. An urgent action was called on to redistribute the gain of the macro economic growth. The practical, concrete actions are needed to support the small farmers and the people who are engaged in the informal sectors.

TICAD IV is taking place in the midst of global discussion about the impending impact of the climate change to the African people. The mid term review revealed that the achievement of the MDGs by African countries is almost impossible. Is TICAD process in general and Japanese’s aid policy for Africa in specific addressing these fundamental issues? Not sure: If not, then for whom, and for what TICAD is meant to be?

The participants from the African civil society were very candid. TICAD IV seems to put much effort to make and keep African Governments happy. It does not, however, seem to care listening to the ordinary African people, and especially most marginalized people who may not necessarily be represented by the Government. They are the drivers of the African Development, and therefore should be in the centre of the TICAD process. The civil society wants TICAD to be owned by the African people, and it is possible. For that to happen, TICAD should recognize that it is no longer only the government that functions in the interest of people.

“Dynamic social movements happen when there is a dynamic individual or group of individuals,” said Bono. These movements are often backed by the true voices that come from within. “(Therefore) we cannot not to consult the Civil Society because they bring these voices of the people to the policy discussion and deliver the commitment to the people” followed Mr. Hartwig Schafer of the World Bank. “African Civil Society must regain its volunteer corps that contributes to the development of their own communities and enhance solidarity,” further added Mr. Thierno Kane of UNDP. All comments reconfirm the opening speech by H.E. Mr. Yasushi Kurokochi, the Chair of TICAD I: The achievement of vibrant Africa depends on the vibrant people and vibrant civil society.

“The paradigm shift in the African development started when G8 including Japan committed for the debt relieve. Now we need to make them keep their words,” added Bono.

Government of course represents its people – if it is legitimately elected and trusted by the public. Otherwise, the role of the civil society becomes even more important. It is imperative for the civil society to engage in the whole process of TICAD – from selection of the agenda, to drafting the output documents to implementation to monitoring. The comment from Mr. Hiroki of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was encouraging. “Japanese Government honors its promise,” he said. “One promise that we make here is that we would work closely with the Civil Society: both African and Japanese.”

Contacts:TICAD IV・NGO Network TNnet）
Ms. Minori Tanimura, World Vision Japan / mobile: =81- (0) 90-6537-8098
Ms. Mariko Yamada, TICAD civil society forum / mobile: +81-(0)90-9623-5205
Address: Sodai Nishi Waseda Building 7th floor
Nishi Waseda 1-21-1, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-0051
Telephone: +81-(0)3-5286-8261

30 May 2008, Yokohama - As TICAD IV draws to a close, the central recurring theme is a demand for leadership and a call to action – both from Japan and from African governments. Civil society reiterates this demand for urgent action and accountability to the commitments that will contribute to addressing poverty in Africa. The doubling of aid to Africa is a welcome step in the right direction. However, Japan’s overall commitment falls short of expectations. A commitment to 0.7% is an imperative that Japan must not shy away from if it is to provide the leadership to the rest of the G8 delivering on their unrealised promises in Toyako in July.

The looming food catastrophe for Africa demands urgent immediate actions as well as long-term measures. This must include immediate measures to relieve pressures on poor people as well as meeting commitments to aid and trade reform that structurally address the underlying causes, including and end to speculative commodity trading and the mitigating the dominance of large-scale agribusinesses in the value chain. Without these actions, we risk conflict, loss of life, and rolling back the development gains that TICAD IV builds on.

“The focus on economic growth must be driven by a poverty-reduction agenda, underpinned by concrete actions that deliver the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015” said Toko Tomita of Japan’s TICAD IV NGO Network (TNnet).

Growth without social justice and equity is not sustainable. Too many people, especially women and girls, remain poor, vulnerable and excluded. TICAD IV must commit to engage not only the technical issues but also on the importance of delivering for the poor, ensuring political will and being open to accountability. The focus of infrastructure development must put real local needs and intra-regional development at its heart.

Human dignity, peace, good governance and democracy are the corner stones upon which the TICAD IV Action Plan must sit. Democracy and Human security are central to building on the fragile peace in the African continent. This is necessary to deliver both poverty reduction and growth. Moving Africa from ‘charity and aid’ to ‘trade and development’ requires a new partnership model that is founded on a commitment to end absolute poverty and build accountability through equitable, participatory and democratic governance systems at national as well as international levels.

On Climate Change, civil society calls for an approach built on equity and justice. Polluting countries must step up to address the impact of their emissions. Japan, through TICAD IV, must lead on setting high mid-term targets on emissions if it is to provide leadership to other developed countries and make Cool Earth a reality. Without this, efforts on adaptation are doomed to failure. New and additional resources (over and above existing ODA commitments) must be provided. As a proportion of the huge commitment announced at TICAD IV by Japan, its contribution to adaptation in Africa is very small, disappointing and falls well short of what is required. Civil society says “NO” to loans for adaptation as these simply punish poor people twice. We call for support to the UN Adaptation Fund, and not another donor-driven mechanism, to ensure full participation of affected countries.

Africa has made significant progress on poverty and growth, but this is not enough. African governments must deliver on their commitments at TICAD IV with a common vision of an Africa that is free from absolute poverty and achieving the MDGs. Concerted action at continental level, through AU and its mechanisms, is imperative. African governments must commit to action at the AU Summit in June to build on the opportunities created by TICAD IV. A balance must also be struck by African states on delivering on human rights and social justice as well as creating an enabling environment for markets. African states must provide vision and leadership to that Public-Private partnerships deliver for the poor.

“Japan and African governments must make true their commitment for civil society participation through a clear and institutionalised role in the TICAD VI follow-up mechanism. Embracing civil society participation is at the core of strengthening accountability of the TICAD IV process”. concluded Gustave Assah of Civic Commission for Africa.

End

For more information, contact:
Minori Tanimura: +81-(0)90-6537－8098 on behalf of:
TICAD IV NGO Network
c/o Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University, Rm 613-6
1-21-1, 7F Soudainishiwaseda, Bldg.
Nishiwaseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Masaki Inaba: +81-(0)90-1264-8110 on behalf of:
2008 G8 Summit NGO Forum
c/o Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation (JANIC)
Avaco bldg. 5F, 2-3-8 Nishiwaseda, Shinkuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan