Local civil society prepares for TICAD 7
Local civil society organisations converge next week Tuesday in Gaborone to consider a common position ahead of Tokyo International Cooperation for African Development (TICAD) 7, slated for Yokohama, Japan, later this month.
Organised by Civic Commission for Africa (CcfA) – the Pan-African civil society network established in 2007, originally to mobilise African civil society for TICAD IV and G8 Summit in 2008 – Tuesday’s meeting will also consider the draft CCfA Position Paper for TICAD 7.This position paper according to CcfA cntinental president Maungo Mooki was deliberated and drafted in Yaonde, Cameroon in August 2018. It also contains an Addendum which was produced at the just-ended 10th to 11th June 2019 TICAD Senior Officials Meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
In Yaonde, Africa and Japanese civil society committed themselves to a 7-pont aspirations; This includes A TICAD with a truly multi-stakeholder structure for Africa's development; A TICAD that leads human-centred, sustainable and resilient development of Africa; A TICAD that guides Africa’s efforts to develop an integrated, vibrant, and truly inclusive economy; A TICAD with strong political will to fight climate change and protect Africa’s biodiversity; A TICAD that promotes peace, respects human rights, participatory democracy, good governance and unity of Africa; A TICAD that respects Africa's cultural identity, common heritage, values and ethics, and promotes cultural, sports, social and intellectual exchanges at all levels between Africa and Japan; and A TICAD showing concrete directions to a concerted, collaborative, transparent, constructive and mutually beneficial partnerships for East Asia’s and Africa’s development.
Before any TICAD summit, Civic Commission for Africa (CCfA) Botswana chapter convenes a stakeholder engagement workshop to inform local CSOs and about the upcoming summit including sharing with them the latest updates on the current TICAD declaration. This was also true for the last TICAD VI, which was held for the very first time on African soil, in Nairobi, Kenya.Before the historic meeting, Africa’s civil society converged first in their respective countries and then collectibely in Nairobi where they thrashed out a common position before joining sinior government officials to prepare a Draft Declaration in Banjul, The Gambia in 2016.
At next week Tuesday’s meeting expected to be officiated by Japanese Ambassador, Kozo Takeda Japan’s International Cooperation Agency (JICA), MoFA Japan in Botswana, Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation, World Bank and UNDP will also be represented,. CCfA members are country umbrella organisations and regional networks bodies. BOCONGO is one of the founding members of CCfA as t was present at the CSO gathering that met in Accra Ghana in 2007, where CCfA was formed. CCfA is currently in 28 African countries.
Since inception in 1993 TICAD has provided a unique opportunity for multistakeholder dialogue to architect the policies of African development throughout its quarter-century long history since 1993. Its Tokyo Action Plan approved by TICAD II in 1998 became one of the key prototypes for MDGs, and TICAD VI in 2016, which was held in Nairobi, provided a unique opportunity to start a new history of partnership between Africa and Japan private sectors.
Affrica’s civil society expects TICAD to continue playing a key role for Africa's development as Africa strives to achieve the goals of the African Union’s Agenda 2063. TICAD 7 will be held in 2019 and its declaration and action plan will cover the next 6 years to 2024. These six years are the core term within which Africa should achieve the UN’s Agenda 2030 and the first decade of the AU’s Agenda 2063.