Marrakech hosted, at the end of last week, the 4th follow-up meeting of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), with the participation of representatives from more than 50 African countries, international and regional organisations, as well as civil society.

With the objectives of evaluating the implementation of the 2008 Yokohama Action Plan, studying current economic growth in Africa, consolidating peace, good governance, and climate change, the meeting, co-chaired by Saâd Dine El Otmani, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and his Japanese counterpart Koichiro Gemba, highlighted the efforts undertaken by countries, Morocco for example, in the economic development of the continent, whether on a bilateral or multilateral level, with the help and support of partners like Japan, but also mentioned certain evils that still plague certain regions of the African continent, especially armed conflicts that continue to jeopardise the lives of thousands of people, without forgetting the losses that considerably harm the region's economy.

These conflicts most often affect the regions concerned negatively and promote the circulation and trafficking of drugs and arms, terrorism, the appearance of diseases, and other scourges.

At the end of the work of this meeting, which lasted two days, the participants issued certain recommendations recalling the role that Japan and TICAD in general must play in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially in terms of health, education, work, and the emancipation of women.

It was also requested that all countries and their international partners accelerate work towards achieving the MDGs. The participants also called for the creation of a permanent structure that carries out a "global follow-up" of the TICAD mechanism with a head office in Japan, the creation of a TICAD institute on climate change in South Africa, another on human security in Uganda, a third on human development in Morocco, and a last one on food security in Benin.

Finally, the participants urged Morocco to return to the African Union and continue to play its role in South-South cooperation.