Tokyo conference calls for solidarity, greater participation.

Spread across 30.2 million square kilometres of land, Africa presents an intricate mosaic of development challenges. Heavy debt load, rapid population growth, drought, famine and starvation, and in many cases political instability create a complicated pattern of problems impeding economic and social progress.

Some 1,000 delegates from 63 countries gathered on 5 and 6 October at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development to discuss the broad range of difficulties facing the 52-country continent.

Organized by the UN, the Government of Japan and the Washington-based Global Coalition of Africa, the Conference goal was to promote democracy and sustainable development in Africa.

High-level Declaration

At meeting's end, participants unanimously adopted the Tokyo Declaration on African Development, a high-level political commitment intended to refocus attention on Africa's problems. It should help strengthen emerging partnerships for sustainable development, based on the self-reliance of African countries and the support of their development partners.

In concluding remarks, Prime Minister of Japan Morihiro Hosokawa said: "There is a maxim in Japan that says 'though one arrow can easily be broken, three arrows banded together cannot.' . . . I am convinced that a clue to tackling the challenges facing Africa can also be found in the three arrows, namely, the efforts of the African Governments, the active participation of the African peoples, and the warm assistance of the world community."

Efforts to right imbalances between Africa and developed countries are not new. In 1986, a special session of the General Assembly adopted a five-year UN Programme of Action for African Development, 1986-1990, intended to accelerate the continent's development process.

Many African countries pursued the stringent economic reforms set out in that Programme and several achieved positive results, Ketumule Masire, President of Botswana and co- Chairman of Global Coalition for Africa, told the Tokyo Conference. "There are thus some signs of hope, and we trust this momentum will be maintained by more African countries undertaking reforms", he added.

However, many have said that visible results in this area are too sparse. "Disillusionment and fatigue with Africa's seeming lack of tangible progress have dampened enthusiasm, and made the task of building support for African development an especially formidable one", UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali stated in his message to the Conference.

In 1991, the Assembly, hoping to affirm the international commitment to African progress, adopted the New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s. This plan focuses on specific goals, including attainment of a 6-per-cent real growth rate per year of gross domestic product. It also calls for greater involvement from the international community in helping Africa diversify its economy and reduce debt.

If we are to accept the inevitability of increasing global interdependence, then we have to accept that the challenges facing Africa squarely confront the international community as well", Prime Minister Hosokawa stated in his keynote address.

Six themes

Delegates deliberated on six themes central to Africa's sustainable development, considered a kind of "back bone" for the 35-paragraph Tokyo Declaration:

* Political and economic reforms

For development efforts to succeed, African Governments must work to promote "accountable and participatory political systems", the Declaration stated.

Participants reaffirmed the need for structural adjustment programmes. Considering that 48 per cent of the population of sub-Saharan Africa lives below the poverty level, the Declaration stated that such adjustment programmes should contain "measures to improve the access of the poor to income-earning opportunities".

* Economic development through

the private sector

An important avenue towards strengthening the continent's economy is through the private sector. But in order to attract foreign investment Africa must offer insurance to private enterprises. "We recognize the importance of appropriate . . . guarantee schemes to protect private enterprise investing in Africa from political and economic risks", delegates affirmed in the Declaration.

* Regional cooperation and

integration

Because most African countries have small national markets, the Conference supported intra-regional trade and investment as a road to economic expansion, and pledged in the Declaration to continue supporting "efforts aimed at reducing obstacles to integration such as reduction of trade and investment barriers".

* Emergency relief and development

Unfortunately natural and man-made disasters tremendously damaged development efforts in Africa, increasing the number of refugees and diverting human and financial resources "that otherwise could have served development purposes", the Declaration stated.

With this in mind, in the Declaration Conference participants affirmed their dedication to addressing the root causes of disasters and establishing preventive mechanisms.

* Asian experience, African development

Throughout the Conference, delegates looked to Asia as a model of hope for other developing countries. "Over the past 30 years, in contrast to Africa, the countries of East and South-East Asia have achieved high rates of growth in per capita income", the Declaration states, adding that such success "gives hope that lessons can be drawn for African development".

* International cooperation for sustainable

development

Finally, the Declaration called for greater solidarity among local NGOs, African women and development partners - a point stressed by the Secretary-General to the Conference as well. "Donors of aid must become investors in development", he said. Recipients of aid must transform themselves into partners for progress."