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++++TCSF English Newsletter No.9++++ May 18, 2007

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

1, Activities of Working Groups
-TCSF White Paper Working Group
- Alert Working Group
- Network Working Group
2, Feature Stories
- TICAD Ministerial Conference on Energy and Environment
- TICAD Civil Session on Energy and Environment
- TCSF/Oxfam International Symposium
3, Topics of Japan-Africa Relation and Japan's Aid support

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[1] Activities of Working Groups
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* TCSF White Paper Working Group *
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The White Paper Working Group published the 2nd issue of the White Paper,
"TCSF Civil White Paper on African Policy 2006-African Development and
Civil Society-" and a launching party was held to celebrate its
completion on 22nd April.

In the 2nd issue of the White Paper, the paper analyses the activities
of Japanese and African NGOs in African development, the effectiveness
of NGO support by Japanese ODA and the current level of CSO
participation in policy making. Furthermore, the white paper includes
evaluations of Japanese ODA and NGO support by African NGOs in Ethiopia,
Malawi, and Senegal. Based on these results, TCSF has put forward our
recommendations for future improvement.

The English and French versions are now available on our website.
Please have a look and give us your comments!

The contents of the 2nd version of the White Paper

chapter1 - TCSF and the Civil White Paper
chapter2 - Disbursement of Japan's Aid to Africa
chapter3 - Civil Society and Japan's Policy towards Africa
chapter4 - Development Cooperation for Africa by Japanese NGOs
chapter5 - Assessment of Japan's Policy to Africa by African NGOs
chapter6 - Assessment by TCSF
chapter7 - Recommendations

The group is currently working on the third issue of the Civil White
Paper on African Policy 2007. Meetings have been held to decide the
contents and structure of the next issue. As TICAD 4 and G-8 summit
approach, the White Paper Working Group is evermore determined to
produce white paper with stronger proposals.

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* Alert Working Group *
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The Alert Working Group is currently working on the 8th volume of the
quarterly magazine, "Africa Alert News". The digested version in
Japanese and English will be available from our website shortly after.

Our Alert Blog Site has been regularly updated with selections of the
latest news from Africa. Please take a minute of your time to check our
English blog site! →http://www.ticad-csf.net/index.htm

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* Network Working Group *
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The Network Working Group has worked on the establishment of the Civic
Commission for Africa (C-CfA) as already informed by out latest Extra
Edition Newsletter. Twenty one commission members will be working
together in drawing up the "Voices of African Civil Society"

The Network Working Group is also in charge of distribution of regular
TCSF English Newsletters to African CSOs, in order to in order to bring
up to date TICAD-related information and TCSF activities, and to
encourage communication between African and Japanese CSOs.

For more information on C-CfA and the back issues of our newsletters,
please see http://www.ticad-csf.net/eng/

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[2] Feature Stories
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*TICAD Ministerial Conference on Energy and Environment*
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The TICAD Ministerial Conference on Energy and Environment for
Sustainable Development took place from March 22 to 23, 2007 in Nairobi,
Kenya. It was co-organised by the Government of Japan, the United
Nations Office of the Special Advisor on Africa (UN-OSAA), the Global
Coalition for Africa (GCA), the UNDP and the World Bank, with the
co-hosting of the Government of Kenya and the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP).

Mr Takeshi Iwaya, Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs in his
opening remarks said, "in Africa, energy and environment issues are not
always global, but rather are day-to day issues that pose a threat to
people's lives. The lack of energy access can directly and indirectly
affect the achievement of the MDGs in education, health, and poverty
reduction." The Chairperson's summary stressed that the issue must be
dealt at the multi-levels, and the awareness at the community level must
be increased, and at the same time the effective environmental policy
facilitation and capacity building must be strengthened. It also
stressed the importance of community initiatives, and therefore local
inhabitants including women and youth must be empowered. The ownership
of development must be structured by two directions of activities of
bottom up and top down.

The organisers hope that the recommendations here will feed themselves
into the discussions at the upcoming relevant Conferences including the
G8 Development Ministers' Meeting and the Forum of Energy Ministers of
Africa, and the UNCSD-15 discussion.

For further information, please see
http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/africa/ticad/min0703/summary.html
Japan's ODA for Energy and Environment for Sustainable Development in
Africa
http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/africa/ticad/min0703/oda_e.html

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* TICAD Ministerial Conference - Civil Session - From Pro-Poor Perspective *
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For the first time in the TICAD ministerial conference, civil society
held a side event session titled "Environment and Energy for Sustainable
Development - from a Pro-Poor Perspective" in the same building, This
event was jointly organised by TICAD Civil Society Forum, G-Cap Kenya,
and Action Aid International Kenya. The summary of this discussion
session was later reported in the main conference.

The Civil Society Session was planned to make the voices of civil
society heard, and the plight of poor people, whose lives and
livelihoods are most affected by environmental degradation and lack of
access to clean and affordable energy services addressed. In the light
of this, the session submits the following.

Inclusion of civil society in the TICAD processes:

To date, TICAD processes have involved governments and UN agencies. The
meeting strongly advocates for the positioning of community and civil
society groups and their representatives in such a way that action to
alleviate poverty and build capacity delivers ownership to the people
through effective participation, consultation and knowledge exchange.

The civil society session notes the following.

1. The hitherto exclusion of local voices from TICAD and other development
processes.
2. Current ODA has not been sufficiently dedicated to climate proofing in
order to reduce the vulnerability of the poor.
3. Measures aimed at conservation and environmental protection have
failed, so far, to address the impacts of energy scarcity and
environmental degradation on the lives and livelihoods of those who
depend on natural resources to meet their daily needs.

In summary, the meeting recommends higher level participation of civil
society groups to ensure that investments in new technologies are
appropriate, understandable, affordable, accessible and, most
importantly, cognizant of indigenous knowledge.

For the full text of the statement, please see
http://www.ticad-csf.net/eng/w-group/seminar/StatementOfCivilSociety.pdf

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*TCSF / Oxfam International Symposium*
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International symposium titled, "Health and Education for All: The Roles
of the Government, Donors, and the Civil Society in Improving Essential
Public Services", co-organised by TCSF and Oxfam Japan was held on
14th March 2007 in Tokyo.

The African guest speakers from Oxfam GB (Mozambique) and World Alive
Ministries International (Malawi) gave in-depth presentations about the
state of essential services, their efforts and hardships in their
respective countries, strongly urging Japan and international community
to support national country attempts as well as, promoting the role of
civil society organisations. Ms. Hikariko Ono from the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, on the other hand, presented Japan's efforts in
improving essential services as well as Japan’s ODA policies.

This was followed by an active panel discussion by Mr Shigehiro
Shinozaki, Special Officer for Development Finance, Ministry of Finance
and Minoru Obayashi, the President of TCSF, and chaired by Assistant
Professor Yasushi Katsuma of Waseda University. They agreed that
essential services are basic rights and discussed how best to implement
efforts to improve these services and related problems such as brain
drain. The symposium drew over 90 participants and TCSF hopes that the
symposium provided an opportunity to deliver the voices of African NGOs to
the Japanese public.

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[3] Topics of Japan-Africa Relation and Japan's Aid support
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March 29
Assistance through the World Food Programme (WFP) for Senegalese
Refugees in Gambia
http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/announce/2007/4/1173024_824.html
May 13-
Visit to Japan by Hon. Bernard Kamillius Membe, Minister for Foreign
Affairs and International Co-operation of the United Republic of
Tanzania
http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/event/2007/5/1173360_848.html

May 19-20
African Festa 2007 to be held in Tokyo
http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/press/2007/5/0508.html
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office@ticad-csf.net
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http://ticad-csf.net/eng/index.htm
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