Leaders from around 40 African countries are attending the fourth round of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) from May 28-30. The summit is hosted by the Japanese government in the city of Yokohama.
The summit will bring together political leaders and representatives from regional and international organizations, including the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Its secretary general, Markku Niskala, has been invited to give a speech on Thursday on behalf of the 53 Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in Africa.
“Africa is officially recognized as a major priority for the IFRC. The next Red Cross and Red Crescent Pan African Conference, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in October 2008, will further boost the scaling up of our programmes to answer severe challenges,” commented IFRC vice president Mr Tadateru Konoe. Mr Konoe is also president of the Japanese Red Cross Society, which has significantly increased its action in Africa over the past few years.
“Despite the numerous challenges Africa currently faces, African countries will more easily meet humanitarian challenges if local communities are more closely associated to the answers initiated by governments and humanitarian agencies,” said Markku Niskala on the opening day of the summit.
“Africa faces serious threats such as the effects of climate change, the disastrous consequences of conflicts of all kind and the spread of killer diseases that need to be addressed urgently, with food security as one of the priorities since it is a cross cutting issue,” he added.
Mr Niskala also stressed that the recent rise in food prices is a major threat, as a lack of access to affordable food has a direct impact on health, further spreading deadly diseases and fueling instability that can lead to more conflicts.
He mentioned the five-year community-based Africa food security initiative involving Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in 15 countries, which will further strengthen long-term food security programmes to avoid recurrent food crises with projects decided at the community-level and adapted to its specific needs. Even though many different factors make communities vulnerable to market forces, increasing the capacity of communities to produce their own food locally will make them less reliant on food aid and less vulnerable to rising costs.
Risk reduction is also a key priority for the IFRC in other areas such as health. As auxiliary to governments in the humanitarian field, national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in Africa could play a wider role in bridging the gaps of public services.
“Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers are also involved in home-based care programmes bringing essential support to people living with HIV at a time when Africa experiences a severe shortage of health care workers,” explained Alasan Senghore, head of the IFRC’s West and Central Africa Zone, who is also attending the Yokohama summit.
”Another example is the decisive contribution of Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers involved in malaria programmes, making sure that people who receive a free insecticide-treated bednet know how to use it,” he added.
Major projects have also been launched all over the continent to scale up water, sanitation and hygiene promotion, as well as risk reduction measures to prevent pandemic avian and human influenza.
The summit also makes it possible for the IFRC - in close cooperation with its partners inside and outside the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement - to advocate for the reduction of discrimination and intolerance in Africa as one of the means to decrease tension and reduce the number of conflicts.
Addressing climate change is another key component of the IFRC’s policy, especially by supporting communities to reduce the risks from weather-related disasters and their implication on health.
“We strongly believe that we can better address current challenges and restore hope in Africa by strengthening community involvement. Thanks to its unique network of up to 100 million volunteers worldwide, speaking the same local language and coming from the same towns and villages as the people they support, Red Cross and Red Crescent societies can significantly contribute to the fight against obstacles preventing development in Africa,” said Mr Niskala.
“We are ready to team up with African governments, international donors and other humanitarian organizations to further strengthen our programmes,” he concluded.
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Leaders from around 40 African countries are attending the fourth round of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) from May 28-30. The summit is hosted by the Japanese government in the city of Yokohama. (p17696)
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The Japanese Red Cross Society has significantly increased its action in Africa over the past few years. (p17695)
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| From left to right : Mr Yasuo Tanaka, Director of Development Cooperation Division at the Japanese Red Cross Society, Mr Alasan Senghore,head of the International Federation West/Central Africa Zone and Mr Markku Niskala, secretary general of the International Federation visited the exhibition booth at the TICAD summit in Yokohama. (p17697) |
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