Date: Saturday July 3rd 2004 – African Diaspora and Development Day (ad3 2004)

Hundreds of Africans and their organizations will gather on Saturday 3rd July 2004 at London's City Hall, for African Diaspora and Development Day (ad3). The day has become the biggest gathering of Africans in the UK involved in supporting Africa ’s development. Featuring seminars, workshops, exhibitions, an African development market, and a keynote address by renowned West African gender activist, Yassine Fall, ad3 will also provide an opportunity for African diaspora organizations to meet with other development agencies - donors, policy-makers, pan-African development institutions and international NGOs - to share information and chart a way forward for the UK diaspora’s role in Africa ’s development.

Organized by africa21 (a consortium of nine African organizations*), this year’s ad3 will focus on how Africans in the UK are promoting change both here in the UK as well as in Africa in their regions of origin. Yassine Fall’s keynote address and the numerous workshops, will provide the platform to address the issues that link London and Lagos , Cairo and Cambridge , Mogadishu and Manchester through the African diaspora. These issues include what role UK-based Africans should play in Tony Blair’s recently launched Commission on Africa; identifying the similarities and linkages between UK-based young Africans with their counterparts in Africa; raising awareness of the hardship caused locally and in Africa when an accessible community outlet used to remit monies home, like the Somali-owned Al-Barakat bank, is closed on the grounds of suspicion that terrorist organisations had used the bank to move funds around in pursuit of their cause.

For africa21 spokesperson, Chukwu-Emeka Chikezie: ‘Africans in the UK work hard to solve the challenges they face adapting to life here, integrating themselves, tackling racism and injustice while simultaneously taking on similar challenges with counterparts in their countries of origin. The blurring distinctions between “here” and “there” challenge us all to think creatively about how as Africans we can be more effective as change agents.’

He continued: 'Working as we do at the nexus of some or all of these issues, a number of questions spring to mind: Do we understand these linkages and the implications for our work? Are the frameworks sufficiently "joined-up" from communities', policy-makers', donors' viewpoints? Do we understand how human agency is working even under quite hostile environmental conditions and do we have systems in place to support this human agency (or are they actually hampering this human agency)?

Insights and lessons from the discussions and workshops will form the basis for future action. Other highlights of ad3 2004 include the official launch of African Voices for Africa's Development (ADVAD), a new coalition of African diaspora organisations and individuals who intend to speak with a united voice on African development issues. As well as presentation of the PEWA (People Earnestly Working for Africa ) awards, acknowledging and rewarding the valuable contributions being made by Africans in the diaspora. ad3 2004 will also provide an opportunity to feed back on progress made on recommendations that emerged from last year’s gathering. Participants will see the launch of a new database of UK-based African organizations working for Africa ’s development, hear of young Africans’ volunteering experiences, and how African organizations are harnessing the resources of Africans in the diaspora.

In the evening entertainment featuring leading diasporic performers will round off a day, the organisers hope will consolidate the success of last year's ad3.

Venue:
ad3 2004, The Greater London Authority - City Hall, The Queen's Walk, London SE1 2AA

* You can register online or for more information please contact:

Onyekachi Wambu
31-33 Bondway,
Vauxhall Cross,
London SW8 1SJ
Tel: +44(0) 20 7587 3905
Fax: +44(0) 20 7587 3919
[email protected]

Notes for Editors:
*africa21 is a coalition of nine African organizations working together. It comprises: Abantu for Development; Africa Foundation Stone (AFS); African Foundation for Development (AFFORD); Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA); Black International Construction Organisation (BICO); Diaspora; Horn Reflections; Pastoral and Environmental Network in the Horn of Africa (PENHA); Sierra Leone Women’s Forum (SLWF).

ad3 takes place every year on the first Saturday in July (roughly coinciding with the inauguration of the African Union) as a means of recognizing the significant contributions that Africans make to their own development and of seeking fresh, innovative ways of making these efforts even more effective.

The PEWA awards will recognize the contributions of a diverse range of UK-based organizations – including hometown associations, alumni associations, faith groups, professional associations, youth groups, community organizations – to Africa ’s development. These are the unsung heroines and heroes of African agency.