Press Release
Third Preparatory Committee Meeting for TICAD-II
(8 September, 1998)

1. The Third Preparatory Committee meeting for the Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD-II) held in Addis Ababa on 7-8 September 1998 was successfully concluded today. The meeting was co-chaired by H.E. Dr. Mulatu Teshome, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation, and H.E. Kunio Katakura, Special Envoy of the Government of Japan. H.E. Mr. K. Takemi, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and Mr. R. Ahmed, UN Under Secretary General and Associate Administrator of the UNDP, also participated in the Committee's deliberations. 11 African countries, 3 Asian countries, 5 European and North American, and 8 regional and international organizations were represented in the meeting.
2. This was the last of the three meetings of the Preparatory Committee. The Committee completed the task of finalizing its proposed draft of the Agenda for Action to be presented for the adoption at the TICAD-II Conference to be held on 19-21 October 1998 in Tokyo. The TICAD-II Conference in October will attract ministers and some heads of state or government from African countries and draw high-level representatives from Asian and donor countries, and regional and international organizations.
3. The Agenda for Action identifies actions to be taken by African countries and their development partners to achieve the TICAD-II goals of poverty reduction and increased integration of African countries into the global economy. TICAD-II also fosters South-South cooperation, and enhances partnership between Asia and Africa. The Conference will address priority areas of the Agenda for Action, namely poverty reduction and social development through promoting human development, private sector-led economic development, and governance and conflict management. The adoption of the Agenda for Action by the Conference delegates will affirm their commitment to the agreed objectives and priority actions for implementation. The follow-up actions will be carried out based on the initiatives of African countries in partnership with their development partners.