ECA is holding ad-hoc expert group meeting on Deepening APRM Best Practices and Lessons Learned, from 28 to 29 April 2010 in Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa, 27 April 2010 - The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), as a strategic partner institution of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) process, has been providing advisory services, technical support and peer learning workshops that have contributed significantly to advancing the implementation of the APRM process both at the continental level as well as in the APRM participating countries. In line with its analytical and advocacy work in support of the APRM, the Governance and Public Administration Division (GPAD) of ECA is now undertaking an introspective and prospective study of the APRM which will ultimately lead to a publication of a Book on APRM.

The main objective of this publication would be to deepen the understanding of the significance of the APRM process within the trajectory of the African political and development thinking; the implications and impact of the review processes on the various stakeholders; and the experiences achieved so far on Africa’s governance systems and development in general. Moreover, the study is expected to further expand, deepen and enrich the intellectual appreciation of the genesis and rationale of the APRM, its objectives and processes within the context of the modern African historical experiences and democratization efforts, thus situating the APRM within the mainstream of African development thought in the course of the last six decades.

To achieve these objectives, ECA is organizing a small Ad-hoc Expert Group meeting from 28 to 29 April 2010, which will focus on “Deepening APRM Best Practices and Lessons Learned”. The expert meeting is bringing together a selected group of 10 high caliber African scholars and practitioners involved in the APRM process, including Ms. Marie-Angelique Savane, former member of the Panel of Eminent Persons and its first chairperson, to discuss the background concept paper prepared by the ECA. This approach will allow the group of African scholars and practitioners to reflect deeply on the issues raised by the concept paper, identify areas of great scholarly interests and commit to preparing their own contributions to the publication.

:: Programme of Work