Are there any possibilities for synergy between the UN Africa Governance Forum (AGF) and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) of the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)? Drawing from the experience of the APRM’s initial country support missions and country review teams, this UNDP paper illustrates that the Sixth AGF offers an appropriate forum for enhanced dialogue and the sharing of experiences between all APRM stakeholders to address emerging concerns and to harness potential opportunities.
The Africa Governance Forum was created within the framework of the United Nations Special Incentive on Africa in 1997. The AGF has a broad governance agenda and seeks to provide a platform for consultation and governance by sharing best practice among governments, civil society and external partners.
The African Peer Review Mechanism is an innovative instrument of NEPAD, which entails conformity to good governance principles, processes, monitoring, evaluations and reviews. The APRM is a natural partner of the AGF, however, the APRM is only in the early stages of establishing itself. The main challenges identified in the course of implementing the APRM include:
- Implementing the comprehensive National Programmes of Action (NPAs), which identify the gaps and deficiencies in the governance system and set out the country’s governance and development priorities.
- Addressing challenges in the implementation of NPAs such as the voluntary mobilisation of human and material resources and ensuring adequate coordination and capacity-building across the entire governance system.
- Ensuring that the institutions of governance and civil society are endowed with appropriate human, material and funding capacity. The APRM Secretariat also requires critical in-house capacity to ensure high professional standards and to guarantee its independence and integrity.
- Devising an appropriate template for the design of governance structures and appropriate leadership profiles in the management of the APRM process. This should be derived from the APRM’s experience and lessons learned to date.
- Clarifying the concept of stakeholder and providing clear definitions of the different types and categories of stakeholders, in addition to criteria for the identification of civil society actors such non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community-based organisations (CBOs) and the private sector.
- Ensuring that the Country Review Teams (CRTs) and Country Support Teams (CSTs) are able to perform their mandated functions effectively and efficiently.
The APRM is a major African initiative, yet it is essentially a ‘work in progress’. Due to the complexity of the APRM’s structures and processes, stakeholders require an additional forum for enhanced dialogue and the exchange of experiences. The Sixth Africa Governance Forum (AGF-VI) can play a crucial role by:
- Facilitating enhanced dialogue between all APRM stakeholders, including governance institutions and agencies, CSOs, CBOs, the private sector, educational and training institutions and trade and professional organisations.
- Providing an appropriate forum for regular discussion and the exchange of ideas on the experiences acquired during the course of implementing the APRM.
- Enabling stakeholders to deal with emerging issues relating to the APRM before they develop into major problems and to discuss opportunities before they disappear.
- Harnessing the potential opportunities of the APRM such as empowering people, strengthening civil society, demystifying the institutions of government and forging African perspectives on governance and democracy.
