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++++TCSF English Newsletter Extra++++ May 28, 2008

Viva! Africa: People's Network across Continents
Published by TICAD Civil Society Forum (TCSF)
http://ticad-csf.net/eng/
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Press Release from TNnet/G8 NGO Forum on TICAD IV Yokohama Decralation
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Civil Society Reaction to
The Draft TICAD Yokohama Declaration, the Action Plan and the Appendix

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

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TICAD Civil Society Forum (TCSF)
http://ticad-csf.net/eng/
news@ticad-csf.net
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