LESSONS FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE APRM NATIONAL PROGRAMMES OF ACTION Afeikhena Jerome

1. LESSONS FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE APRM NATIONAL PROGRAMMES OF ACTION Afeikhena Jerome Governance Assessment for Accountable Politics Windhoek, Namibia 2 to 5 November 2009

2. Overview of the APRM 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. The Africa’s agenda for renewal and overcoming these development deficits includes advancing the basic values of democratization and good governance, which together constitute the key requirements for sustainable development. The APRM which is turning out to be the most innovative aspect of NEPAD is a self-monitoring instrument voluntarily agreed to by member states of the African Union. Overview

3. Overview of the APRM Its primary purpose 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 andbest practice, including identifying deficiencies and assessing the needs of capacity building.” It is unprecedented in scope and mandate, even compared to the OECD that invented modern Peer Review. It covers four broad areas, namely; Democracy and Political Governance; Economic Governance and Management; Corporate Governance; and Socio-Economic Development. Overview

4. APRM Principles National ownershipand leadership by the participating country are essential factors underpinning the APRM process. It is designed to be open andparticipatory. The core guiding principles are transparency, accountability, technical competence, credibility and it should be free from manipulation. The APRM is not a score-card exercise, meant to exclude or punish countries. There is no conditionality attached to the mechanism. Overview

5. African Countries Participating in NEPAD and the APRM HSGICAPR Forum Burkina Faso Benin Djibouti Lesotho Malawi Sierra Leone Sudan Tanzania Uganda Zambia Algeria Angola Republic of Cameroon Congo Egypt Ethiopia Ghana Gabon Kenya Mali Mauritius NigeriaMozambique Rwanda Sao Tome &Principe Senegal South Africa Tunisia Libya Botswana

6. 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 country’s 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. • 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. • Stage Four is the submission of the Country Review Team’s report to the APR Secretariat and the APR Panel and Review by the Forum • Stage Five which is the final stage of the APR process involves making public the country’s report and related actions.

7. Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 6 to 9 Mths 2. APR Secretariat Develops a background paper on country 3. APR Secretariat develops an Issues Paper based on the background paper, the responses to the Questionnaire & the draft PoA. The issues paper may identify issues that require more in-depth analysis through Technical Assessments (TA) Country Support Mission 4.APR Secretariatarranges for Partner Institutions to conduct Technical Assessments on specific issues identified in Issues Paper. Reports are submitted to the APR Secretariat and the country under review 5. The APR Secretariat updates Issues Paper taking into account the findings of the Technical Assessments C O U N T R Y V I S I T C O U N T R Y R E P O R T A P R P A N E L A P R F O R U M • APR Secretariat • sends a questionnaire to be country to be reviewed 2C3.Country submits to the Secretariat the responses to the questionnaire and its PoA 5C. Country submits (if necessary) an update of its draft PoA Country establishes APR Focal Point If issues for TA: Country submits final PoA adjusted on basis of CRV and draft Country Report 2C1. In response, the Country undertakes the self-assessment on the basis of the Questionnaire 2C2. Country formulates a draftProgramme-of-Action (POA) If no issues for TA: = Country level processes Stages of the APRM

8. 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]. • A 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.

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

10. 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 Councilsupported 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 representationare key features required for these institutions.

11. APRM Master Questionnaire

12. APRM Master Questionnaire

13. Status of Implementation of the APRM thus Far Cape Verde’s accession in June 2009 brings to 30 the total number of AU member countries that have so far acceded. Mauritania was suspension on 25 October 2008 for the unconstitutional change of government following the 6 August 2008 coup that ousted its democratically elected President This represents about 76 per cent of the African population. We look forward to the 23 other African countries joining the fold. Green – Reviewed Countries Orange –Other Participating Member Countries Grey – Non-Participating Countries Red- Suspended Countries

14. APRM Member Countries by Region

15. STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION • So far, 17 out of the 30 member countries have launched the process. • Twelve countries have been peer reviewed by the APR Forum. (Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa, Algeria, Benin, Uganda, Nigeria and Burkina Faso, Mali and Mozambique and Lesotho) • Mauritius and Ethiopia has just completed their Country Review Missions. Kenya II is scheduled for November 2009. • Tanzania has submitted its CSAR and NPOA to the Secretariat. Zambia is also slated on the Work Plan for Peer Review this year.

16. APRM Country Review Missions

17. APRM Country Review Missions

18. Examples from the Pioneer Countries- Ghana 6 Best Practices including: An oasis of peace and tranquility in a sub-region perpetually in turmoil. Unique processes for fostering democracy such as the Annual Governance Forum and the People’s Assembly; Main Challenges Low representation of women in politics; corruption; decentralisation; and chieftaincy disputes which have been quite rife in recent year. Others are – bloated cabinet - 88 ministers in all; weak internal capacity for economic policy making; weak oversight by Parliament; and heavy dependence on external aid.

19. Rwanda Review Process Best Practices including: The highest proportion of Women in Parliament (49%) in the in the world; efforts in providing social services especially free education; and using ICT strategy to transform the country into a service-based economy. Main Challenges Aid dependence - about 90% of the capital expenditure funded externally; Relations with its neighbours in the Great Lakes region which has been a source of conflict; and the issue of legitimacy and trust in the Gacaca.

20. Kenya Review Process 9 Best Practices including: Kenya’s role in pacifying her neighbours; considerable degree of freedom in exercising political and civil rights; promotion of decentralisation; reduction in the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS;and firing of 29 judges to clean up the Judiciary. Main Challenges Delay in adopting a new constitution to replace the colonial era charter; inability to redress the colonial legacies; ethnicity; endemic corruption; weak parliamentary oversight; poor representation of women in key positions; and high incidence of poverty. Overview Progress So Far Lessons Learnt Challenges

21. South Africa Review Process In addition to some remarkable feats by South Africans, the report identified 18 Best Practices including: Taking the parliament to the people; the budget formulation process, self-reliance in funding development; the JSE and triple bottom reporting; and gender empowerment (Women constitute about 45 % of Parliament). Main Challenges Violent crime, violence against women and children; capacity constraint and poor service delivery; Racism and Xenophobia. Overview Progress So Far Lessons Learnt Challenges 21

22. The National Programme of Action A major deliverable of the Review Process is the NPOA Real progress can only be guaranteed if NPOAs are implemented hence for the first time, Forum meeting in January 2009 was dedicated to progress in implementing NPOA .

23. The National Programme of Action Inter alia, the POA is expected to present among others: • Clear, time-bound commitments on key governance and socio-economic development priorities over the next three 3 years, including the identification of key stakeholders for implementation, and the estimated budgetary implications and allocations; • Description of the national consultations that have taken place in developing the National Programme of Action; • Outline the feedback mechanism established to keep local stakeholders involved in the process; • Description of the capacity building and resource mobilization requirements for undertaking the Programme of Action; and, • Outline the implementation, monitoring and evaluation mechanismsfor the Programme of Action.

24. Budget of the NPOA in Reviewed Countries

25. Experience in implementing the NPOAs • Demonstrable commitment by all countries that have gone through the review process. They are enthusiastically implementing the NPOA, in spite of several formidable challenges, some even before they were peer reviewed; • There are daunting challenges, including the establishment of appropriate national structures to monitor the NPOA, proper costing and ensuring that it is not a wish list (need for prioritization). No format until recently. • Capturing key findings and conclusions of the peer review processes (overarching issues); • Overlap between the NPOAs and other national initiatives sometimes, resulting in double costing of interventions. While NPOAs are not designed to be a substitute to other ongoing national initiatives such as the PRSPs or National Development Strategies (NDS), the comparative value added must be captured and disseminated.

26. Key Challenges Rrequisite institutional mechanism are lacking in some countries to take forward the post-review process, since the Governing Council was disbanded immediately after the peer review exercise. In others, key stakeholders are not kept informed about the APRM process after the review process; The monitoring and evaluation component needs a lot of development. (Country specific); and, Perhaps the major challenge is the capacity and resource gaps which are pervasive; and there is need for additional resources to support the implementation of the NPOA.

27. CONCLUSION Key Lessons The APRM is a unique African instrument that is trial-blazing and has great potential as a tool to promote and strengthen good governance. It is African in origin, African inspired and African-owned. The experiences from the APRM implementation process are very encouraging. The process has been empowering in ways that were not envisaged when it started. It has spawned and strengthening a culture of political dialogue in the countries . Conclusion 27

28. Conclusion The APRM is making it possible for countries to benchmark good governance in Africa on shared African and international norms and standards as well as for citizens to participate in the evaluation of how they are governed. It is show-casing African innovative thinking in governance. An area where the rest of the world can learn useful lessons from Africa.

29. Thank you for your attention WWW. aprm-international.org