TICAD Ministerial-Level Meeting

November 27, 2001

1. A "TICAD Ministerial-Level Meeting", co-chaired by Japan, the United Nations, the World Bank and Global Coalition for Africa (GCA), will take place on December 3 (Mon) and 4 (Tue) in Tokyo (Akasaka Prince Hotel).
   
   
2. The Meeting will be attended by representatives from all 53 African nations, 11 countries in Asia, 23 donor countries, 38 international organizations, as well as five organizations and countries as hosts; in total, participants from 130 Africa-related countries and organizations are to assemble in Tokyo.
       Key Japanese participants in the Meeting are Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister, Ms. Makiko Tanaka, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Seiken Sugiura, Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Mr. Taimei Yamaguchi, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs. The conference will also be attended by Mr. Alpha Oumar Konare, President of Mali (Keynote Speaker), Ministerial-level officials including Foreign Ministers of African countries; as well as representatives from countries of Asia, Donor countries and international and regional organizations including Mr. Mark Malloch Brown, UNDP Administrator, and Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, UNESCO Director-General. From the African countries, in particular, Foreign Ministers and other officials from more than 40 countries are so far scheduled to attend the Meeting. A meeting such as this one attended by so many Ministers from African countries though held outside Africa is rare, leaving only a few exceptions such as the United Nations General Assembly in November.
   
   
3. The Meeting will sum up the efforts of the international community including African countries on the "Tokyo Agenda for Action", which was adopted at TICAD II held in 1998. The Meeting will also exchange views on the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), a realization of the "ownership" of Africa that TICAD has been encouraging. There will also be discussions on themes such as governance, education, health, IT and South-South cooperation. Based on the results of these discussions, the Meeting intends to indicate a direction toward holding a TICAD III in the future.
   
   
4. The Meeting will also conduct a session between the official and private sectors for them to exchange views on the role of private trade and investment in regard to African development, with the participation of Japan's economic circles. Another session will be held for view-exchanges on education and health matters in Africa centering on NGO representatives.

Related Information (TICAD and Japanese ODA)