Registration: TICAD8 JICA Side Events

Co-organizer: Afrobarometer, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Language: English, French

 

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have destabilized the global economy and precipitated dire socio-economic, financial and governance crises, particularly in developing regions like Africa. Africa is further inflicted by a number of existential threats such as conflict, terrorism, drought, and forced displacement, as well as by those global crises including climate change, the digital divide, and widening inequality and human rights violations, which continue to hamper the realization of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The combined effect of these exogenous shocks has revealed complex and intertwined vulnerabilities and insecurities of people and communities of Africa, including to their lives, livelihood, and dignity which the concept of human security intends to protect. Given the renewed attention to human security among JICA, the UNDP, and the AU in recent times, there is an urgent need to discuss the relevance of the human security concept in Africa as well as how it can be applied on the ground to inform Africa's recovery and resilience-building policies.

Key Questions

How have COVID-19 and other threats affected human security in Africa, as seen from the people’s perspective? Whose security is threatened the most, and in what way? How are they different from the macro-level understandings? How are people with different capacities and in different circumstances coping with the threats? By which means are people ensuring their own security, and what protection mechanisms and empowerment opportunities are available to them? What is the value-added of applying the human security approach to understanding ongoing and future challenges and framing recovery strategies in Africa?

Objectives

Identifying what value-added we can expect from applying the concept of human security to understand the multiple and interconnected challenges people and communities in Africa face Discussing bottlenecks and opportunities to integrate the human security perspective in Africa's recovery and crisis management strategies toward generating human-centered solutions to the ongoing challenges

 

Speakers

Dr. Blessings Chinsinga, Ministry of Local Government Malawi, Minister of Local Government

Dr. Sheila Shawa, Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, African Union Commission, Senior Technical and Partnerships Specialist

Dr. Joseph Asunka, Afrobarometer, CEO

Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa, UNDP Africa, Assistant Administrator, and Director, Regional Bureau for Africa at the rank of Assistant Secretary General

Dr. Raymond Gilpin, UNDP Africa, Chief Economist and Head of Strategy, Analysis and Research

Dr. Sheila Shawa, Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, African Union Commission, Senior Technical and Partnerships Specialist

Prof. MINE Yoichi, Graduate School of Global Studies, Doshisha University and Visiting Fellow, JICA Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development

Mr. KATO Ryuichi, Vice-President, JICA

Mr. MAKINO Koji, Managing Director, JICA Ogata Research Institute