African and Asian heads of state and government, representatives of private sector, international organizations and civil society will convene in Nairobi, Kenya during 27-28 August 2016 for the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), to identify common priorities for accelerating sustainable development, including the growing role of the private sector in driving progress on the continent.
“The TICAD process aims to cascade Africa’s vision of its own leadership and development,” said Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Ambassador (Dr.) Amina C. Mohamed, at a briefing in Nairobi. “Being the first time the conference is hosted in Africa will be an opportunity to demonstrate that Kenya and Africa are ready to advance the new global agenda of Sustainable Development Goals.”
TICAD VI will be hosted by the Government of Kenya and is co-organized by the Government of Japan, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, the Africa Union Commission (AUC) and the UN Office of the Special Advisor on Africa (UNOSAA).
The summit serves as an international platform to raise global awareness and ensure continued support to Africa’s development efforts, underpinned by the twin principles of international partnership and African ownership.
More than 6,000 participants are expected at the Nairobi conference to discuss implementation of the recently-adopted Sustainable Development Goals and Africa’s Agenda 2063 that is focused on a peaceful, integrated and prosperous continent; economic growth, trade and investment; human security, peace and stability.
“UNDP is proud to be the long-standing co-organizer of this growing TICAD process,” said UNDP Kenya Resident Representative a.i. Mr Michel Balima. “We are institutionally committed to support this process, and look forward to working with all stakeholders to ensure the success of TICAD VI.”
TICAD VI builds on progress from the 2013 Yokohama, Japan, summit which brought together 39 African heads of state and government, and representatives from Asia and Latin America, 72 international organizations, traditional donor countries, civil society and private sector. Discussions there focused on building sustainable economies and resilient societies, peace and security, and private sector engagement. Japan also pledged USD 32 billion over five years for infrastructure, human resources development, health, and agriculture, among other areas.
The Nairobi summit kicks off a new arrangement where the high-level meeting will alternate between an African country and Japan every three years. Previous TICAD conferences have been held in Japan every five years.
“One of the core concepts of the TICAD process is ownership of the ideas by African countries,” said Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Japan in Kenya Mr. Mikio Mori. “Over the years, this ownership has seen us develop great policies. We envision even better outcomes this year.”
The TICAD conference was launched in 1993 as a joint initiative of the Government of Japan, the United Nations and the former Global Coalition for Africa, with the dual objective of promoting high-level political dialogue between Africa and its development partners and mobilizing support for Africa-owned development initiatives.
Source : undp
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