The Government of Mozambique will host a Ministerial Meeting of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), Thursday 24 August to Friday 25 August 2017 in Maputo, Mozambique. Co-organized by the Government of Japan, the United Nations Office of the Special Advisor on Africa, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the African Union Commission and the World Bank, the 12^th Ministerial Meeting under the TICAD process takes place a year after the landmark TICAD VI Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. The Nairobi Declaration and the Nairobi Implementation Plan adopted on 29 August 2016, outlined actions to be taken by Africa and its partners to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and African Union’s Agenda 2063.

Building on the forum’s twin principle of African ownership and international cooperation, TICAD stakeholders will discuss the state and prospect of the continent’s development, including achievements, opportunities, risks and challenges in realizing the outcomes of TICAD VI, and ensure that the implementation of the Nairobi Implementation Plan keeps Africa on a firm path to achieving sustainable inclusive growth.

Highlights of the two-day gathering will include the presentation the TICAD VI Progress Reports by the co-organizers, as well as two plenary sessions on the Economic Transformation for Africa’s Growth and Promoting Human Security and Resilient Society.

Also planned are two dedicated UNDP side events. On Thursday 24 August (Gloria Hotel, 12:30 PM, Maputo time) UNDP will unveil the findings of a groundbreaking study on income inequality trends in sub-Saharan Africa. The next day, a UNDP-led panel (Radisson Hotel, 7:30 AM, Maputo time) will discuss approaches to reversing the growing threat of violent extremism on the continent.

The two side events are a prelude to the upcoming New York presentation of Journey To Extremism In Africa Drivers, Incentives And The Tipping Point For Recruitment, an investigative study on the lure of violent extremism and its recruitment dynamics (on 7 September); and to the global launch of Income Inequality Trends in sub-Saharan Africa: Divergence, Determinants, and Consequences on 21 September during the 72^nd United Nations General Assembly.