Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Abdoulie Janne, said APRM is a comprehensive assessment of a nation’s governance system. It is designed to open up institutions of governance, their management as well as leadership to public scrutiny. However, its structures would work better, and its credibility guaranteed, if it were independent of political pressures of governments, he added.

Speaking on the process of improving governance in Africa at the NEPAD multi-stakeholder dialogue, he cited political will as a major challenge towards APRM implementation.

’’Only 25 countries out of the 53 NEPAD member states have acceded to the APRM programme,” he said.

The APRM is a self-monitoring instrument of the African Union (AU) under NEPAD and it acceded to voluntarily by member states of the union.

On the technical side, Janneh said implementation of APRM is highly demanding and requires extensive expertise. He said it had taken time to adopt the process in the last five years and the need now was to focus on the challenges being experienced in its implementation.

The capacities of the NEPAD Secretariat should be built in order to reduce the time it takes to conduct the exercise, he added.

UNECA is assisting the APRM process with technical support and expertise for APRM country missions. Working with the APRM secretariat it has put in place a three-year strategic business plan to engage the APRM process at national and continental levels.

South Africa ’s Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane, said the demand for good governance is essential because it addresses the alleviation of poverty for citizens.

Issues affecting youth and women, who form the greater part of society, should be promoted by the APRM and supported by stakeholders such as the church, the archbishop noted.

He was representing African Monitor, a South African NGO.

Priscilla Achakpa, representing a Nigerian NGO for women and the environment, said people without state connections and women in particular should lead the APRM. 

Source : nepad news, novembre 3, 2006