Africa: African Monitor Launch
Set against the backdrop of the UN High-Level meeting on International Migration and Development in September 2006 and in commemoration of the October celebrations of “Black History Month” in the UK, leaders of African Diaspora organisations in the UK, wider Europe and the US will gather in London at the first ever African Diaspora Leadership Forum. The forum will culminate in an evening reception launching the ‘African Monitor’ - an African-owned civil society mechanism for monitoring and advocacy in relation to G8 commitments to Africa.
Centre for African Policy & Peace Strategy Press Release
Set against the backdrop of the UN High-Level meeting on International Migration and Development in September 2006 and in commemoration of the October celebrations of “Black History Month” in the UK, leaders of African Diaspora organisations in the UK, wider Europe and the US will gather in London at the first ever African Diaspora Leadership Forum. The forum will culminate in an evening reception launching the ‘African Monitor’ - an African-owned civil society mechanism for monitoring and advocacy in relation to G8 commitments to Africa. The African Monitor was founded by the Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Reverend Njongonkulu Ndungane, in order to mobilse African civil society to advocate for urgent and effective implementation of commitments to Africa in ways that deliver tangible development at grassroots level. Hilary Benn, UK Secretary of State for International Development, will deliver a speech at this reception.
The one-day event, organised by the London-based Centre for African Policy & Peace Strategy (CAPPS) and the Cape Town-based African Monitor, will take place at Glaziers Hall, London Bridge, London, UK on the 3rd of October 2006 from 9am onwards. This pioneering conference will help to set a policy framework and a coordinated mechanism through which the skills, resources and capacities of the African diaspora can be effectively deployed in accelerating development in Africa. Key speakers at this high-level forum include Baroness Valerie Amos, Leader of the House of Lords, United Kingdom; H.E. Amb. Legwaila J. Legwaila, UN Under-Secretary-General & Special Adviser on Africa; Dr Hesphina Rukato, Deputy Chief Executive, NEPAD Secretariat; Dr K.Y. Amoako, Former Executive Secretary, UN Economic Commission for Africa/ CAPPS Patron & Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, Deputy Director (Africa), UN Millennium Campaign.
The speakers above will also be available for a press conference at 5.30pm at the conference venue on 3rd October 2006. Commenting on the importance of the forum, ’Dapo Oyewole, the Executive Director of CAPPS said “this forum provides a platform for Africans in the diaspora to engage in a constructive discussion on how they can work better together to contribute to development in Africa and also in their host countries. The collective social, economic and political capital of the global African diaspora can be harnessed as a major force for development in Africa and across the world.
However, for this to happen in a coherent and effective manner, diaspora organisations and their international partners must engage in open and strategic dialogue to chart a common way forward and join forces for in the fight against poverty and underdevelopment in Africa and other parts of the world.”
Note to Editors:
To attend the press conference at Glaziers Hall, 9 Montague Close, London Bridge London SE1 9DD, please e-mail Ms Xenia Ngwenya at [email][email protected]
For more information about CAPPS please see www.thinkafrica.org