Outline of the International Symposium on "Conflicts in Africa and a Culture of Peace and Coexistence"
22 February 2001
Outline of the Symposium
1) The International Symposium on "Conflicts in Africa and a Culture of Peace and Coexistence" was held on 15 and 16 February 2001 organized jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) and supported by Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc. and The Japan Times (Japanese newspapers).
2) Twenty-two experts from Japan and abroad participated in the symposium as panelists. These experts included former Head of State Abdusalam Abubakar of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, former Head of State Amadou Toure of the Republic of Mali, Special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Amara Essy of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, relevant personnel from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), representatives from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and academics. Furthermore, researchers of Africa, diplomatic corps members and others participated as observers in the experts meeting held on 15 February, while the Public Symposium on 16th February attracted an audience of approximately 150 after which followed a lively question and answer session.
3) Senior State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Kiyohiro Araki delivered the address at the opening of the Public Symposium on 16 February making the following points: (1) The international community must make the 21st century a century for Africa and channel efforts to solve African problems including conflict issues; (2) The visit to African nations of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori is an expression of Japan's diplomatic stance of attaching importance to Africa and is greatly significant; (3) Addressing African problems is one of the priority agendas in promoting Japanese global diplomacy; (4) This symposium is part of the follow-up to the G8 Miyazaki Initiatives for Conflict Prevention adopted at the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit Meeting 2000 and the Tokyo Agenda for Action adopted at the Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD-II).
4) At the closing of the symposium, Deputy Director-General of the Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau Yasuaki Nogawa concluded proceedings remarking that he would like to make efforts related to Japan's specific policy actions in the areas of the prevention and resolution of conflicts in Africa referring to the results gained at the symposium.
The Results of the Symposium
1) Over a period of two days, an extensive and profound discussion took place with participants voicing their candid opinions on the measures of building a culture of peace and coexistence for promoting conflict prevention and resolution in Africa, and the role of civil society as an instrument for building this culture. Furthermore, this symposium was evaluated by the panelists and ordinary participants as having considered African conflicts from a unique perspective, a both significant and timely project, and a forum in which much thought-provoking discussion took place.
2) Representing the organizers, Mr. Hisashi Owada, President of JIIA stressed the following points:
(1) The root cause of conflict in Africa is often deeply related to issues inherent within African society and issues concerning the formation of the state. When contemplating world order in the 21st century, African problems, especially how to tackle the problem of conflict in Africa, are the greatest challenge facing the international community of today.
(2) Formation of a legitimate nation-state must be promoted for genuine conflict prevention, and to this end, the blossoming of civil society through the empowerment of the people is imperative.
(3) We must tackle the issue of conflict prevention and resolution in Africa using a long-term approach, and are compelled to consider causal therapy, incorporating radical reform, and not simply symptomatic therapy.
(4) When we are able to adroitly utilize the wisdom fostered from the alignment of African communities and their tradition of coexistence, we can expect to succeed in building a new nation state, and moreover, aim at realizing a community expounding the modalities of the coexistence of a new collectivity of humankind transcending the framework of the sovereign state. If we are able to promote in a constructive direction the logic and ethics of such multi-ethnic symbiosis, and develop it as a political ideology, we will be able to fully utilize the African region in a unique capacity amid the globalization of today's international community.
3) The future posting of the above report on JIIA's homepage and its publication are being arranged as a follow-up to this matter.
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