African Peer review Mechanism
The African Peer review Mechanism and its implementation
Background and introduction
The New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) is the programme
through which the African Union seeks to meet its development objectives.
These development objectives are:
- To eradicate poverty
- To place African countries, both individually and collectively,
on a path of sustainable growth and development
- To halt the marginalisation of Africa in the globalisation
process and enhance its full and beneficial integration into the
global economy;
- To accelerate the empowerment of women
NEPAD's major initiative for meeting these objectives is the
African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), an African-owned and -driven
initiative that seeks to improve governance and national management.
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Aims and objectives
The purpose of the APRM is to promote the adoption of laws, policies
and practices that lead to:
- Political stability
- High rates of economic growth
- Sustainable development and
- Continental economic integration.
This is to be done by sharing experiences and by identifying
and promoting good and best practices as well as undertaking
interventions to build capacity.
The APRM is unique and pioneering in that it encourages African
countries to analyse and assess their own progress and performance
in important areas and then to develop their own indigenous responses as
they see appropriate.
This is in contrast to many other assessment and reform processes
that have been foreign led and driven and which have often been
insensitive to pressing African realities.
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The APRM logic model
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Scope
The African Peer Review Process will entail periodic reviews of the policies
and practices being undertaken by participating states to ascertain their progress
towards achieving mutually agreed upon goals and compliance to accepted values and
standards.
The practical benefits of the African Peer Review Mechanism will be determined
by the level of commitment in participating countries and the effectiveness with
which they manage the process and coordinate it with related existing activities.
This makes it very important that a participatory and open approach to
implementing the Mechanism be adopted.
The approach should build transparency and build trust in the pursuit of
national development goals.
The reviews undertaken as part of the APR process look at four specific areas:
- Democracy and Political Governance
- Economic Governance and Management
- Corporate Governance and
- Socio-Economic Development
To guide the self-assessment process and to ensure that all African
countries consider the same issues, a standard questionnaire has been
developed.
This questionnaire looks at in detail at each of the four areas mentioned
above and provides an introduction to the area, a list of relevant standards
and codes for each area and a list of objectives for each area.
For each objective a number of questions are asked and each question is
supported by a number of possible indicators that could be drawn upon to
answer the question.
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Stages in the process
| Stage |
Milestone |
Stage One:
Preparatory process |
A self-assessment report is drafted with a proposed programme of action.
The Report is sent to the APR Secretariat
An Issues Paper is released
|
Stage Two:
Country Review Visit |
The APR Team visits SA and consults widely with stakeholders (Parliamentarians,
Government, political parties, business and civil society representatives)
Consensus on how to address the Issues Paper is built
|
Stage Three:
Draft Team Report |
The APR Team drafts its report
The Report is discussed with government and its responses to
the report are attached to it.
|
Stage Four:
Final Report |
The APR Team's report and programme of action is sent
to the APR Secretariat and the Panel of Eminent Persons.
It is then submitted to the APR Forum for Participating
Heads of State and Government.
|
Stage Five:
Public tabling of Report |
Six months after consideration by the APR Forum it is to be
tabled formally and publicly in the AU and SADC.
|
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South Africa's approach to implementing the APRM
South Africa recognises the opportunity provided by the APRM to meet its
African leadership responsibilities and our approach to its implementation
seeks to contribute to setting precedents in good practice.
The strategic objectives underlying South Africa's implementation of the
APR process are:
- To establish benchmarks that can be used in future review processes
- To contribute to strengthening national systems for assessing government's
performance in delivering on its development objectives
- To build and popularise a broader sense of ownership for the People's
Contract and government's national development priorities
- To support the building of African based knowledge and experience in
utilising the Peer Review Mechanisms.
The South African approach seeks to ensure that, while government leads
the review process, non-State actors should also champion it so that it is
participatory and a broad base of South Africans can own the result.
Intergovernmental and civil society engagement should take place throughout
the process and also come together in one collective, the Governing Council.
Our approach aims to avoid the proliferation of structures by using already
existing bodies, and where bodies have to be created, their purpose and lifespan
are clearly defined by the needs of the review process.
The approach followed also seeks to ensure that operational support is provided
by already existing bodies so that the various deliverables are produced on time.
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Overarching roles and responsibilities
- Overall responsibility for the Mechanisms rests with Committee of Participating
Heads of State and Government, also known as the APR Forum.
- A Panel of Eminent Persons has been appointed to oversee the conduct of
the process and to ensure its integrity. The APR panel has five members.
- The APR Secretariat, based in Midrand will provide secretarial, technical,
coordinating and administrative support services for the APRM.
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Roles and responsibilities in South Africa's process
- South Africa's APRM Process will be overseen by the National Peer
Review Governing Council, which will comprise a number of Ministers
as representatives of the Executive and representatives of civil society.
The Governing Council must meet regularly to provide leadership, guidance,
and direction, to ensure the integrity of the process and ensure the successful
harmonisation of the four reports into a single national assessment review
that accurately reflects the views of most South Africans.
- The Minister for Public Service and Administration, Ms Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi,
has been tasked as South Africa's Focal Point for the Process and will be
responsible for overall management of the process. She will also Chair the
National Peer Review Governing Council.
- The APRM Focal Point Secretariat, based at the Department of Public
Service and Administration in Pretoria, will support her. The Secretariat
will be responsible for all administrative and logistical support and will
be responsible for the final compilation and editing of the Self Assessment report.
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Activities and timeframes for completion of Stage One
| Activity |
Completion date |
| Government consultations undertaken at APRM Public Sector Conference
lead to final; proposals on implementation process and reporting responsibilities |
29 April 2005 |
| Process for creating Civil Society Forum leads to appointment of
civil society representatives to Governing Council |
May 2005 |
| Governing Council meets and approves implementation process and
reporting responsibilities |
June 2005 |
| Final questionnaires completed and provided to responsible agencies for
completion |
June 2005 |
| Responses to questionnaires are submitted by responsible agencies
and received by Focal Point Secretariat |
July 2005 |
| Draft Self Assessment Report and Programme of Action drafted based on
collated responses |
July 2005 |
| Workshop process implemented to consult stakeholders on draft Self
Assessment Report and Programme of Action |
September 2005 |
| Self Assessment Report is finalised and endorsed by responsible bodies. |
October 2005 |
| Self Assessment Report is submitted to APR Secretariat |
October 2005 |
The APRM questionnaire is available on
www.aprm.org.za and
any enquiries may be directed, toll free, to call centre no 1020.
| 
