A two day meeting of African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Focal Points kicked off in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal this morning.
Hosted by the Minister for Public Service and Administration, Mr. Roy Padayachie and the APRM Secretariat, the meeting is to discuss the operationalisation of the newly adopted operating Procedures for the APRM and to consider the Revised Country Self-Assessment Questionnaire for the African Peer Review Mechanism.
In this regard, Minister Padayachie has warmly welcomed all Ministers present and their delegations as well as other representatives of their governments and countries.
The APRM is an instrument voluntarily acceded to by Member States of the African Union as an African self-monitoring mechanism.
The mandate of the African Peer Review Mechanism is to ensure that the policies and practices of participating states conform to the agreed political, economic and corporate governance values, codes and standards contained in the Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance. The APRM is the mutually agreed instrument for self-monitoring by the participating member governments.
The primary purpose of the APRM is to foster the adoption of policies, standards and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated sub-regional and continental economic integration through sharing of experiences and reinforcement of successful and best practice, including identifying deficiencies and assessing the needs for capacity building.
Participation is open to all member states of the African Union. After adoption of the Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance by the African Union, countries wishing to participate in the APRM notify the Chairman of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee. This entails an undertaking to submit to periodic peer reviews, as well as to facilitate such reviews, and be guided by agreed parameters for good political governance and good economic and corporate governance.
To enhance its dynamism, the conference of the participating countries reviews the APRM once every five years. It is within this context, that the APRM Continental Secretariat initiated a project of revising the method and processes of the APRM in order to increase the impact of the mechanism on governance in member countries.
The meeting of Focal Points taking place over the next two days therefore serves to review the operational aspects of the mechanism. The APRM Focal Points meeting will in this regard address the issues of Institutional effectiveness of the APRM, operational and organisational efficiency of the APR structures, strengthening of the accountability, management, and organisational functioning of APRM, continental responsibility of Focal Points Ministers, strengthening and enhancing the professional and technical work of the Panel.
The APRM Focal Points are Ministers or high-level country officials who report directly to their respective Heads of State or Government. The APRM Focal Points is appointed soon after a country accedes to the Mechanism and is subsequently responsible for managing the process, updating the Heads of State or Government on the national progress, facilitating the self-assessment process and liaising the APR Panel throughout the exercise.
The Operating Procedures were unanimously adopted by the 16th Summit of the APR Forum in January 2012. The revised questionnaire for the African Peer Review Mechanism is expected to be considered by the 17th Summit in June 2012.
The Revised Country Self-Assessment Questionnaire for the African Peer Review Mechanism and the adopted Rules of Operating Procedure for the APR Panel will be considered at the 17th Summit of the Committee of Participating Heads of State and Government of the African Peer Review Mechanism scheduled for June 2012. Thereafter the Select Committee of Focal Points will monitor the implementation of the Operating Procedures.
For more information, contact:
Mr Dumisani Nkwamba
Tel: 012 336 1704
Cell: 082 885 9448
E-mail: dumisanin@dpsa.gov.za
Minister of Public Service and Administration, Roy Padayachie, hosts the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) meeting of Focal Points
