THE AFRICAN PEER REVIEW MECHANISM:PROGRESS, ACHIEVEMENTS AND CONSTRAINTS

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• THE AFRICAN PEER REVIEW MECHANISMPROGRESS,
  ACHIEVEMENTS AND CONSTRAINTS
• UNECA Training Workshop on Enhancing the Role
  and Effectiveness of Parliamentarians in the APRM
  Process
• 12-14 November 2008
• Evelynne CHANGE
• Coordinator for Corporate Governance, APR
  Secretariat

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Background

• Africa entered the new millennium with optimism
  and a commonly derived and broadly supported
  roadmap of how to overcome the development
  challenges of the last decades that were
  exacerbated by a range of factors including
  conflict, institutional decay, leadership and
  managerial deficit, endemic corruption and
  economic mismanagement.
• At the centre of Africas strategic framework for
  rebirth and renewal is the New Partnership for
  Africas Development (NEPAD) which was adopted by
  the African Union Heads of State and Government
  Summit held in Lusaka, Zambia in July 2001.
• NEPAD aims to eradicate poverty and to place
  African countries, individually and collectively,
  on a path of sustainable growth and development,
  and at the same time to participate actively in
  the world economy and body politic.
• The five core principles of NEPAD are good
  governance peace, stability and security sound
  economic policy-making and management effective
  partnerships and domestic ownership and
  leadership.
• The APRM emerged as the centrepiece of the good
  governance initiative and has been widely
  heralded as the crown jewel of the policy
  framework for Africas renaissance

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What is the APRM

• It is a voluntary self monitoring tool acceded to
  by member states of the African Union
• A key guiding principle for the APRM is African
  ownership.
• There is an implicit recognition and
  understanding at all layers that the APRM
  provides an African voice to African problems.
• Implemented effectively therefore, the APRM has
  the potential to unleash good governance on the
  continent while at the same time leading Africas
  economic rejuvenation and renaissance.
• Distinctively, the APRM recognizes that all
  countries are not at the same level of
  development given their different historical and
  political contexts. It thus encourages
  participating countries to support each other
  through an exercise of constructive peer dialogue
  and persuasion where necessary to ensure that all
  states achieve full compliance by a mutually
  agreed date.
• The framework is aimed at encouraging and
  building responsible leadership through a
  self-assessment process, constructive peer
  dialogue and the sharing of information and
  common experiences in order to reinforce
  successful and exemplary practices among African
  countries.

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Value added of the APRM

• The APRM has the potential to
• Hold all leaders and stakeholders accountable
• Make all forms and levels of government
  transparent
• Seek collective, sustainable and equitable
  solutions to common problems
• Launch the process of the evolution, rebirth and
  modernization of Africas indigenous mode of
  governance
• Put into motion a strategic re-orientation
  (Renaissance) towards the validation of universal
  as well as African values and
• Accelerate the process of intra-Africa technical
  cooperation through popularising best practices
  identified in each of the country reviewed.

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Operational Structure of the APRM

• The overall responsibility of the APRM is vested
  in the Committee of Participating Heads of State
  and Government of the Member States of the APRM
  (APRM Forum.
• The Panel of Eminent Persons APRM Panel
  appointed by the Heads of States oversees the
  conduct of the APRM process and ensures its
  integrity.
• The APR Secretariat provides the secretarial,
  technical, coordinating and administrative
  support services for the APRM.

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Structures of the APRM
APR Forum
National APRM Focal Point
National APRM Commission
APR Panel
TRIs
APR Secretariat
National APRM Secretariat
Strategic Partner Institutions
Continental Level

• Country Level

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Areas Covered by the APRM

• Democracy and Political Governance
• Economic Governance and Management
• Corporate Governance, and
• Socio-Economic Development.

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APRM Principles

• National ownership and leadership by the
  participating country are essential factors
  underpinning the effectiveness of the APRM.
• The APRM process is designed to be open and
  participatory.
• The APRM is also guided by the principles of
  transparency, accountability, technical
  competence, credibility and freedom from
  manipulation.

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APRM Documents

• The Foundation documents of the APRM namely, the
  Memorandum of Understanding on the APRM, the
  Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and
  Corporate Governance, the APRM Base Document,
  the APRM Organisation and Processes Document, and
  the document on Objectives, Standards, Criteria
  and Indicators for the APRM OSCI Document.
• The Rules and Procedures of the APR Panel and
  Secretariat
• The Guidelines for Countries to Prepare for and
  to Participate in the APRM
• The Code of Conduct of the APR Country Review
  Teams
• A draft MOU to be signed with participating
  countries
• A draft MOU to be signed with partner
  institutions
• Questionnaire for Self Assessment

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APRM Master Questionnaire
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APRM Master Questionnaire
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The APR Processes

• Stage One comprises the establishment of the
  national focal point sending out of the
  questionnaire by the APR Secretariat the
  development of the countrys self assessment
  based on the questionnaire and preliminary
  Programme of Action and the submission of these
  to the APR Secretariat. At this stage the
  Secretariat also prepares a Background Paper on
  the Country for comparison with the self
  assessment.
• In Stage Two the country review team visits the
  country to undertake wide consultations with
  stakeholders.
• Stage Three is the drafting of the report by the
  country review team and its submission to the APR
  Secretariat and APR Panel.
• Stage Four is the submission of the Country
  Review Teams report to the APR Forum.
• Stage Five which is the final stage of the APR
  process involves making public the countrys
  report and related actions.

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STAGES OF THE APRM
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Technical Support to APRM

• The support from the three Strategic Partners,
  AfDB, UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa and UNECA
  has been tremendous
• The Development Bank of Southern Africa has been
  offering corporate services since inception
  pending grant of legal status.
• The APRM has established a pool of African
  experts who provide technical assistance in the
  implementation of the APRM Processes. The use of
  expertise from the Diaspora has been a major
  strength.

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Responsibilities of the participating countries

• The (MOU) that countries sign on accession to
  the APRM defines the following responsibilities
  of the participating country
• Firstly, to sign the MOU on Technical Assessments
  and the Country Review Visit
• Secondly to contribute fully to the funding of
  the APRM
• Thirdly to Conduct the self-assessment against
  the APR Questionnaire
• Fourthly, to develop a National Programme of
  Action Fifthly, to ensure the participation of
  all stakeholders in the process.

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Structures to manage the process at country level

• A National Commission with broad stakeholder
  representation should ideally be in place to
  interact with the support mission team.
• A trend seems to emerge that includes a Focal
  Point and Governing Council supported by a
  Secretariat as well as Technical Research
  Institutes.
• While uniformity may not be easy to achieve
  based on the contexts of countries, national
  ownership and broad-based stakeholder
  representation are key features required for
  these institutions.

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Participation by Parliamentarians in the APRM

• As a policy, the APRM puts strong emphasis on
  finding ways to involve all elements of civil
  society and non-state actors including rural
  populations, religious groups, trade unions, the
  media, women and youth, and the private sector in
  the APRM at country and continental levels. The
  importance of information dissemination to civil
  society both at national and continental level is
  stressed.
• APRM recognizes the role of Parliament as the
  traditional seat of deliberation of governance
  issues. Reports to be tabled at sub-regional for
  a including the Pan-African Parliament.
  Parliament also important for Peer Learning and
  Sharing of Experiences.

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The Role of Parliament in the National Process

• Provide information on the APRM to the grassroots
• Help their constituencies understand and define a
  roadmap for participation in the APRM
• Publicise the feedback mechanism between
  different levels of stakeholders participating in
  the APRM.
• Ensure participation by relevant stakeholders in
  the elaboration of the Programme of Action.
• Follow up on the implementation of the Programme
  of Action arising from the assessment.
• Ensure the participation of stakeholders at all
  levels in the implementation of the Programme of
  Action.

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How Parliamentarians can participate in the
national process

• Participation in Intra-Governmental processes
  which link national processes to local level
  processes e.g engaging their constituents and
  bring local level inputs into the national level
  policy formulation.
• Participating in workshops at regional and local
  government levels in order to obtain local level
  inputs to set priorities, determine public action
  choices, and make the necessary trade-off
  decisions in the Programme of Action,
• Soliciting Community information on local
  circumstances, so as to create national ownership
  and commitment in the implementation of the
  National Programme of Action.

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The Importance of Parliamentarians participation

• Can supplement conventional data sources and
  capture the perceptions of good governance and
  development.
• Map the status and priorities at a more
  disaggregated level (geographically/demographicall
  y).
• Reveal information about the needs of people and
  their reactions to policy proposals, and thus
  provide information about the effectiveness of
  different strategies.
• Negotiation between different stakeholders over
  priorities can broaden the ownership and thus
  strengthen the commitment and buy-in to implement
  the strategy.
• Strengthen capacity
• Enhance transparency and accountability
• Enhance the credibility and impact of the
  findings.

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Substantive Governance Issues for Parliamentarians

• Domestication of standards and codes
• Oversight role of parliament and separation of
  powers
• Approving development budget
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Continuity of APRM-Institutionalizing same at
  country level

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Status of Implementation of the APRM
Togos accession in June 2008 brought to 29 the
total number of acceding member countries that
have so far acceded. Mauritania was suspended
in October 2008 This represents about 76 per
cent of the African population. We look forward
to other countries joining the fold.


APRM Member Countries
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Status of Implementation of the reviews

• So far, 17 out of the 29 member countries have
  launched the process.
• Nine countries have been peer reviewed by the APR
  Forum. (Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa,
  Algeria, Benin Uganda, Nigeria, Burkina Faso
• Lesotho, Mozambique, and Mali are ready for
  Country Review Missions

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APRM Country Review Missions
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APRM Country Review Missions
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Challenges faced by Countries

• Organizing national structures
• Designation of Focal Point,
• Establishing national commission (who and how to
  select)
• Sensitization of all stakeholders
• Managing relationships
• Funding and Resource mobilization for the
  exercise
• Undertaking the self-assessment exercise
• Adapting the questionnaire and administering it

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Challenges Faced by Countries

• Drafting the POA
• Not a wish-list (need for prioritization)
• Under-estimating the nature of the task not
  allocating enough time
• Not consulting enough with stakeholders
• Costing activities
• Clear goals, but vague activities
• identifying monitorable indicators
• Designing monitoring and evaluation mechanisms
• Continuity of National Commission

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Challenges Faced By Countries

• Slow pace in implementation (complying with the
  timeframe of the review.
• Time taken to complete the CSAR Ghana and
  Rwanda 12 months, Kenya 14 months SA 9-12
  months- Countries on fast track. Burkina Faso 21
  Months, Uganda and Nigeria 24 months.
• Despite recent progress (3 reviews in 2008), 14
  countries (some acceded as far back as 2003) are
  yet to launch the process. Only Ethiopia received
  a CSM this year.
• New APRM Target- if the current momentum is
  sustained, 29 reviews will be completed by 2013
  0r 2014 together with second reviews in some
  pioneer countries.

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Challenges faced by countries

• Implementing the NPOA
• Real progress can only be guaranteed if NPOAs
  are implemented.
• Need to move from diagnosis to implementation
  (Kenya post-election violence/ Xenophobic attacks
  in South Africa).
• Countries have to be assisted in funding, and
  capacity building.
• Proper costing- No format until recently.
• Not a substitute to other initiatives such as
  PRSP, MDGs,

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Challenges at Continental Level

• Capacity of the Secretariat.
• Thin and overstretched
• Legal status issues
• Communication has been very challenging.
• The recent signing of the host country
  agreement in South Africa has opened a window of
  opportunity.

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Continental Challenges

• Deepening the peer review process.
• On the part of the Forum, Cotonou Extraordinary
  Meeting on 5 cross-cutting issues Managing
  Diversity, Land, Elections, Corruption and the
  Gacaca Court System
• Few post review activities if any/ engagement
  by national actors needed, after all, the APRM is
  nationally owned.

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Innovations to Overcome Challenges

• COUNTRY LEVEL
• Undertaking study tours and frequently sharing
  experiences
• Sensitising population and finding way to reach
  grass root population media etc
• Decentralising APRM Structure e.g. S.A had
  Provincial Governing Councils
• Simplifying questionnaire and translating into
  local languages
• Securing funding by establishing a Trust Fund
• Involving TRIs in the development of the POA

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Overcoming Challenges-Continental

• SECRETARIAT LEVEL
• Advance Missions to sensitise and help put
  structures in place
• Follow-up Missions to ignite stalled processes
• POA Technical Missions i.e. in Kenya, South
  Africa, Ghana
• Algiers Workshop
• Questionnaire
• Knowledge management
• Best practices compilation
• NPOA , M E
• Special Summit
• Legal status and institution Building

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CONCLUSION

• The APRM is no doubt a milestone in the
  continent's history of political and economic
  reforms.
• It represents a bold new approach to reform for
  capacity development and good governance in
  Africa.
• As the most visible measure of the progress of
  African states adopting norms of good governance
  and sound economic policies, the APRM also serves
  as a barometer to the international community and
  development partners on Africas progress.
• Experience so far has demonstrated that the APRM
  is of immense benefit to countries which have
  participated.

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CONCLUSION II

• The unique and novel fact that an African country
  engages into the widest possible national
  consultative process with all its stakeholders
  and seeks to address together with all
  stakeholders its shortcomings through the
  Programme of Action is unprecedented in the
  history of this continent and even in the world.
• The true test of the APRM is ultimately its
  ability to transform visions into visible
  improvements in the countrys political and
  economic governance, poverty situation, trade
  competitiveness, and indeed the millennium
  development goals.
• With the APRM, Africa is show-casing the
  continents innovative thinking in governance.

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• END
• THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION