The Second General Meeting of the African Clean Cities Platform (ACCP) was held in Yokohama, in August 2019, concurrently with the TICAD 7 (the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development). Over 450 people participated in the main conference held on the 26th and 27th August, including 38 African countries, representatives of development partners, private sector and Japanese municipalities and had an intensive discussion on the theme of “Sustainable Waste Management towards Clean and Resilient City”.
On the first day, after opening session, Japanese and international companies in the waste management sector presented their businesses applications in Africa. Subsequently, the Guidebook for Environmental Education on Solid Waste Management in Africa was launched and good practices of environmental education and public awareness activities in Africa and Japan were shared. In addition, the Basics of Municipal Solid Waste Management in Africa, the guidebook which aims to provide an brief overview and basic knowledge of municipal solid waste for practitioners, was also distributed among participants.
The second day opened with part of the launch session of the Africa Solid Waste Management Data Book 2019, including case studies presentation and panel discussion on waste management in developing countries. In the afternoon, fund mobilization and measures for raising policy priorities for the improvement of SWM were addressed by development partners associated with intensive Q&A.
To conclude the two days meeting, H.E. Mr. Yoshiaki Harada, Minister of the Environment of Japan, co-hosting organizations and representatives from African countries made statements to promote ACCP activities. At the end of the closing session, “Yokohama Action Guidance for the ACCP” was adopted which stipulates the future direction and concrete activities such as further expanding the network by participation of development partners and other stakeholders, strengthening the ACCP secretariat function in Africa with UN-Habitat taking the core role, providing opportunities for capacity building and co-creation of knowledge, and so on. Consequently, the Yokohama Declaration and Yokohama Action Plan, which are deliverable documents of TICAD7, reaffirmed the necessity of addressing environmental issues including improvement of waste management.
During the meeting period, special session for knowledge sharing on SWM toward African participants (25th), SDGs indicators workshop (28th), field visit to waste management facilities in Yokohama (29th), as well as exhibition of environmental picture diaries drawn by African children were also held. This intensive programme provided participants with practical, useful and inspiring insights albeit in a short period.
Place Yokohama-City, Japan
Main Theme “Sustainable Waste Management towards Clean and Resilient City”
Language English, French and Japanese (with simultaneous interpretation)
Co-hosting organizations Ministry of Environment Japan, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Yokohama-City, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)