September 2016: Heads of State and Government and representatives of Japan and 54 African countries have adopted the Nairobi Declaration, a three-year plan to promote structural economic transformation, resilient health care systems and social stability for shared prosperity. The officials were gathered for the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD-VI) Summit, which focused on the theme, ‘Advancing Africa’s Sustainable Development Agenda: TICAD Partnership for Prosperity.’

TICAD meets regularly to promote high-level policy dialogue among Japan, African leaders and development partners. Over 6,000 participants attended this year’s Summit, which took place in Nairobi, Kenya, from 27-28 August 2016, the first time a TICAD Summit has been held in Africa since TICAD’s inception in 1993. The Government of Kenya, the Government of Japan, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, the African Union Commission (AUC) and the UN Office of the Special Advisor on Africa (OSAA) organized the event.

The Nairobi Declaration addresses opportunities for promoting economic diversification and industrialization through agriculture, innovation and an information and communications technology (ICT) economy. It stresses the importance of quality infrastructure, the private sector, and skills development in Africa’s structural economic transformation.

On social stability for shared prosperity, the Declaration recommends promoting inclusive and sustainable livelihoods and managing shocks and vulnerabilities to foster shared prosperity, underpin social stability and address the root causes of radicalization. The Declaration stresses that addressing climate change, natural resource loss, desertification, wildlife poaching, illegal fishing, food, water and energy insecurity, and natural disasters is critical to achieve social stability in Africa. The Declaration also recommends developing and implementing affordable social protection mechanisms to improve poor households’ access to productive assets and reduce seasonal income fluctuations.

On promoting resilient health systems, the Declaration calls for strengthening health systems, achieving universal health coverage (UHC), and prioritizing prevention and preparedness against pandemics, including by mobilizing financial resources from international organizations. The Declaration also: commits to international, continental and regional levels on various issues; includes collaboration on peacebuilding, cross-border security and prevention of violent extremism; and addresses implementation.

The conference included the launch of UNDP’s ‘Africa Human Development Report (HDR),’ which focuses on gender equality and women’s empowerment in Africa. The report finds that gender inequality contributes to lower economic growth on the continent. UNDP Administrator Helen Clark, addressing the opening session, noted that “Harnessing the potential of Africa’s youth by investing in education, skills development and other social initiatives can reap enormous dividends and spur the continent’s development.”

In advance of the Summit, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and other organizations organized a two-day event on the role of tackling deforestation and forest degradation and promoting sustainable forest management (SFM) and agroforestry in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa. Participants discussed the future of wood-based energy and the role of forest and landscape restoration for food security and resilience to climate change. The event also highlighted initiatives to promote integrated landscape management with climate change adaptation and mitigation and poverty alleviation and food security efforts, such as the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100). [UNDP Press Release on Declaration] [UNDP Press Release on Administrator Statement] [The Nairobi Declaration] [UNDP Our Perspectives] [Event Website] [AFR100] [IISD RS Story on African HDR 2016]