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++++TCSF English Newsletter No. 17++++ Oct 20, 2008

Viva! Africa: People's Network across Continents
Published by TICAD Civil Society Forum (TCSF)
http://ticad-csf.net/eng/
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Dear colleagues,
Our English newsletter contains information about TCSF's Activities and
Japanese support for Africa. We hope to strengthen our network with you
by sharing information about our activities. Thank you.

------------[Index]--------------------------------------------
- TCSF and other Japanese network NGOs issued statements on Accra
High Level Forum
- Related articles

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Following statement was issued on September 16, 2008 by five Japanese
network NGOs.

----Begining of the statement--------------------------
Call for Prompt Reform of Japan's ODA

We have concerns about the unsatisfactory result at the Third High
Level Forum in Accra
September 16, 2008

JANIC : Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation
TCSF : TICAD Civil Society Forum
ODA-Net : ODA Reform Network
PARC : Pacific Asia Resource Center
JNNE : Japan NGO Network for Education

* Japanese government allegedly blocked the advancement of Paris
Declaration principles at Accra

At the city of Accra in Ghana between 2-4 September 2008, the Third
High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (hereinafter the Accra HLF) was
held and a political document called the Accra Agenda for Action (AAA)
was adopted. The Accra HLF had gained a high expectation from all over
the world because the AAA is indispensable for achieving the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at the earliest possible date by
increasing aid effectiveness through promoting the principles of the
Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness adopted in 2005. Since there
had been significantly slow progress of Official Development
Assistance (ODA) reforms regarding the Paris Declaration Indicators,
it was expected that the AAA would accelerate ODA reforms further.
However, the AAA did not respond to the expectations from developing
countries and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). Especially the AAA
resulted in an unsatisfactory output in terms of setting the
progressive objectives and their target dates/years in order to make
up for the delay of ODA reforms, and to fulfill the rapid achievement
of MDGs. Though there were some positive aspects of the Accra HLF that
new participants engaged in aid practices including China and the
globally operating funds have widely been acknowledged, these were not
the outcomes that the CSOs wanted most.

We have been watching the progress of the Paris Declaration and having
dialogues with the Japanese government and, thereby participated in
the Accra HLF as part of Japanese as well as global CSOs. However, as
a result of the closed-door negotiation only between governments and
official aid agencies at the Accra HLF, the AAA has remained an
intergovernmental document which fell short of our expectation. The
Financial Times has reported that this resulted from the allegation
that the US and Japanese governments had resisted making the AAA
progressive. It is also reported that the progress of untying aid,
which was adopted by the Paris Declaration and the world asked for,
has been slow, because the Japanese government particularly resisted
the advancement of it.

* We express our deep concerns that the issue of untying aid did not
progress at the Accra HLF

The positions of the Japanese and the US governments have been
strongly criticized by international CSOs (ex. CONCORD and Better Aid).
Under the current serious economic condition in Japan, not only the
aid recipient countries but also the taxpayers of Japan are closely
watching the progress of aid reforms. In the Accra HLF that focused on
reducing abject poverty of the world through improving aid
effectiveness, if the Japanese government, who has a mandatory
obligation to be accountable about its public money use, has behaved
like what has been reported, we are obliged to feel deep concerns on
our government’s actions. It is strongly required that the Japanese
government make comments on and clarify about what has been reported
by the Financial Times and criticized by the international CSOs. Also
the government should explain how it made efforts to advance the AAA
in Accra.

* We ask for thorough and immediate actions on the AAA by Japanese
government

The Japanese government has no time to lose for the ODA reform because
it has pledged to make stronger efforts to achieve the MDGs at the
fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV)
as well as the G8 Summit at Toyako, Hokkaido, this year. In order to
implement what the AAA says to make further progress for ODA reforms,
we ask that the Japanese government should prepare the elaborated
action plan with clear target dates/years by this coming December in
response to the recommendations by the evaluation of the
implementation of the Paris Declaration. Particularly we urge the
Japanese government to provide convincing explanations on the target
and the process to expedite untying aid as the AAA suggested.

We also ask that such an elaborated action plan should be made in
agreement with CSOs in Japan, and a monitoring and evaluation
committee should be established including members from CSOs. It is
important to disclose the action plan and the progress of its
implementation not only to Japanese citizens but also to the people
concerned in the world in a timely and accurate manner.


We request that the Japanese government will consider our concerns and
suggestions seriously.

Contact: TCSF (TICAD Civil Society Forum) Secretariat.
TEL/FAX: +81-3-5286-8261, E-mail: info@ticad-csf.net

----End of the statement--------------------------------

* Related articles from Financial Times.

US and Japan fight overseas aid proposals (Sep. 3, 2008)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c9ae47dc-79e2-11dd-bb93-000077b07658.html

Quality of mercy (Sep. 7, 2008)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e4ba105a-7d08-11dd-8d59-000077b07658.html

Japan was central to consultative process in Accra (Sep. 30, 2008)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0a2cdab2-8e88-11dd-9b46-0000779fd18c.html

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This newsletter was edited by the TCSF network working group.
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TICAD Civil Society Forum (TCSF)
http://ticad-csf.net/eng/index.htm
news@ticad-csf.net
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