NGOs dismayed at Japan’s Africa development conference

Presidents, vice presidents or prime ministers from 44 African countries are due to meet for three days starting Wednesday in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo, on issues including the global food price crisis and development.

South African President Thabo Mbeki and Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir will be among leaders at the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV), which Japan hosts every five years.

But while it is a record turnout for a TICAD conference, only around 700 seats are available for the 2,500 participants, a Foreign Ministry official said.

Eighty-four members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are expected to attend but only nine will be allowed in at plenary sessions and 24 for thematic sessions, he said.

“It’s crammed and impossible to add more seats,” the official said.

If they cannot enter, participants — some travelling at Japanese government expense — can monitor from screens in adjacent rooms.

NGOs said it was a missed opportunity.

“In African countries, NGOs usually don’t have access to their government, so it is particularly disappointing for African NGOs. If they cannot enter in the room it will be a shame,” said Minori Tanimura, who represents humanitarian organization World Vision.

Gustave Assah, president of Civil Commission for Africa, an umbrella organization that represents some 100 NGOs, said the separation was symbolic of the difficulties of getting aid to the needy in the continent.

“In past conferences on development, all aid went to the governmental level while people remained in misery,” Assah said.

Japan, a major donor, has been looking to boost its role in Africa in the face of growing competition from China for natural resources.

Alexander Phiri, a Zimbabwean who is secretary general of the Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled, said Japan should redirect its aid to the “grassroots” level.

“Let’s deal directly with the people. Most African governments are corrupted,” he said.

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