The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) as a Tool to Improve Governance? PDF Download

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783889854810
Category : Africa
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Author: Isioma Ile
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031163133
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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This book presents a holistic perspective and analysis of democratic practice, processes, and governance in South Africa. It examines the development in the South African governing system and its response to the challenges of the crisis of governance under the influence of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). While doing so, the book's central objective is to examine the progress of the South African government in strengthening democracy and political governance. Each of the contributions follows a similar structure and addresses the following thematic issues: (1) Assessment of the implementation of the core APRM-related programs; (2) Identification of areas of excellence and prognosis for further improvement; (3) Identification of the weak areas of each and how to make the future implementation better, (4) Identification areas to improve democracy and political governance. A self-assessment strategy initiated by the African Union (AU) in 2002 and adopted in 2003, the APRM is a voluntary mechanism adopted by countries in the African continent to improve governance in general. As a specialized AU agency, APRM monitors the peer review activities of each African country. It serves as a tool for sharing experiences, reinforcing best practices, identifying deficiencies, and assessing capacity-building needs to foster policies, standards, and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development, and accelerated sub-regional and continental economic integration. This book will be useful for and appeal to scholars and researchers in political science, public administration, and the social sciences in general, as well as policy-makers interested in a better understanding of democratic practice and processes, governance, public policy, and the African Peer Review Mechanism.

Author: Ross Herbert
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Africa
Languages : en
Pages : 428

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"The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) is an innovative approach to improving African governance. It offers important opportunities for public dialogue but has proved politically and logistically challenging. The first in-depth study of the APRM, this ground-breaking book analyses the evolving peer review process in the first five countries. The product of a five-year research and training programme, it combines in-depth analysis of the APRM rules with an insightful evaluation of the political and social dynamics. Drawing on extensive interviews across the continent, it offers sounds recommendations to strengthen the process and deepen public participation. An invaluable resource for civil society and governments, this volume includes an interactive APRM Toolkit CD-ROM with the official APRM guidelines, final country reports, survey instruments, academic papers, video testimonials and a comprehensive collection of the governance codes and standards embraced by the APRM."--Back cover.

Author: Wilson Mokete Makgalancheche
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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The research investigate the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) from a leadership and governance perspective in the African public services. The research was initiated with a historiography to map out efforts that were made to unify the continent against slavery and colonialism, which were primary factors responsible for Africa's underdevelopment and poverty. National, regional and sub regional organisations have been formed to forge collective action against colonisation and the marginalisation of the continent. Each of the organisations, indicating their achievements and challenges has been discussed in this research. The research has revealed that there was a common denominator in most organisations, which revolved around creating a better continent for the African people and to restore their dignity as a people. The need for unity in Africa has received more attention, especially when Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was transformed into the African Union (AU), which focuses on development, democratic rule and good governance to tackle poverty, marginalisation and underdevelopment in the continent. What is evident in this research is the fact that African leaders are now seeking African solutions to the problems that have plagued the continent for decades. African leaders recognise that transplanted policies and initiatives are responsible for Africa's dependency syndrome and marginalisation in the development process. The research has pointed out that Africans should lead the process of African development because they are the custodians of the needs of their citizens. In order to satisfy and provide essential services and goods to their citizens African leaders should exercise effective and responsible leadership, and good governance principles in order to implement policies that would create a better life for all on the continent. In order to ensure that African public services implement appropriate policies, a monitoring mechanism has been instituted, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) through which countries are evaluated and assessed on compliance with good governance and development objectives to provide essential goods and services to the African people. The New Economic Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) as the vehicle of the AU has set out development objectives and priorities, which should be implemented by national, regional, and sub-regional organisations, therefore countries would be monitored to ensure that they comply with the aims and mandate of the AU. Effective leadership and good governance would ensure cost effective delivery of services and the provision of goods by public services. African leaders want to create genuine partnership with their citizens and international communities to ensure that poverty is eradicated and the needs of Africans are satisfied. Africa requires strong and effective leaders who identify and work for their people at all costs through proper utilisation and management of public resources for the benefit of all. Recommendations have been made for consideration by African leaders in their endeavour to create a better life for the African people based on effective leadership, the rule of law and good governance. Africans know what is best for them and therefore they should engage in collective action to achieve the African Development Goals.

Author: Tšoeu Petlane
Publisher: Jacana Media
ISBN: 1920196323
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 154

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"African Solutions is a result of research into the policies, programmes and experiences identified as best practices in the Country Review Reports (CRRs) of twelve countries published under the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), from Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda. The research was commissioned and coordinated by the Governance and APRM Programme of the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA). To justify this inquiry, they argued, among others, that with the APRM conceived a voluntary mechanism, and in the absence of 'hard pressure' for compliance, incentives - rather than sanctions - could be the way to strengthen the APRM. Thus the importance of best practices: as templates and models for reform, and as a counterbalance to the temptation to concentrate on what is not working in Africa. In this book, therefore, best practices identified in the twelve CRRs are examined critically and methodically with a view to understanding: how they are conceptualised within the APRM (including their definition and how they are intended to be used to achieve the desired results); how the items reported as best practices qualify to be regarded as such in the sense of being demonstrably better than the rest, replicable and addressing APRM goals; and how they can be strengthened for use as material from peer learning within the APRM and around the continent"--Back cover.

Author: Brendan Boyle
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 9

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Book Description
For a system like the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) -- that seeks to foster better governance and include the population in diagnosing problems and proposing remedies -- the involvement of journalists and their publications and media houses is essential. Newspapers, radio and television channels are frequently tasked with popularising this novel but complex process to the people. And citizens can only meaningfully participate if they know enough about what the APRM is and what it is trying to achieve. This paper reflects on why the APRM failed to capture the imagination of the public and the press, and generate a national conversation. Is it a failure of the African Union and its subsidiary organisations, or of citizens who did not seize the opportunity? Or is it the fault of the media? The answer is: all of the above. The author argues that because the process was centralised in a South African government ministry, it was inevitable that the Country Self-Assessment Report (CSAR) would be overwhelmingly influenced by the government's analysis and views. The APRM slid off the radar screens of most media. Only the Sunday Times took the process seriously -- but when the paper published drafts of the Eminent Persons Panel's Final Report, which did not reflect the South African government's rosy view of the situation, the minister in charge accused the paper of "scurrilous lies, untruths, myths and reactionary propaganda." The author argues that the APRM has the potential to become an important vehicle for broad-based policy review and development, but has not gained that status because of the government's determination to dominate and drive the process (at least in South Africa). The author notes that governments are more likely to nurture a sustained interest in the process if it is more transparent and if they are less defensive. Merely denying the experience or perceptions of the public and civil society will not deliver a more comfortable reality. The author also offers tips to civil society looking to increase media coverage of their issues.

Author: Rachel Mukamunana
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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This study seeks to investigate the effectiveness of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) in fostering good governance practices in Africa. The APRM was established in 2003 subsequent to the launch of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) in 2001, as an instrument to monitor the adoption and implementation of policies and practices that would lead to political stability, high economic growth and accelerated regional cooperation and integration as set out in the NEPAD document. The ultimate goal of the APRM is to instil good governance in Africa, which NEPAD considers the sine qua non for Africa's development. The principal finding of this study is that the mechanism of peer review through the APRM has the potential to foster good governance in Africa, and thus, to pave the way to poverty alleviation and development. The peer review process provides an opportunity for participating countries to become aware of the strengths and shortcomings in their policy-making, governance institutions and practices and to share best practices of administrative, political and economic governance. It offers a forum for dialogue, peer learning, and regional and continental cooperation in which the challenges facing African countries, both individually and collectively, can be tackled. The APRM has initiated a process of dialogue between government and other societal actors (mainly civil society and business) about governance and development issues and how these can best be addressed. This is an important step towards the consolidation of democracy and better governance in Africa. It is for these benefits and for the potential for better governance that the APRM needs all the political and financial support it can get. The APRM is, however fraught with many challenges, which are likely to impede the effectiveness of its contribution. These challenges include the voluntary nature of the APRM, its inability to enforce policy, the absence of adequate funding, poor and limited administrative resources for implementation. In addition, the weak civil society in most African states militates against meaningful participation in and contribution to the process of peer review. Addressing these obstacles is imperative for the APRM to deliver its full potential. To this end, the study proffers a number of recommendations, which include the provision of strong political and financial support from African states, capacity building of national institutions that oversee government performance, such as the parliament and civil society, and the consistent financial support of donors and the international community. The study reveals that the road to a successful and effective APRM, and thus to a peaceful and prosperous Africa may lie in the future, but the foundation for Africa's political and economic renaissance must be laid now.

Author: Teboho Molete
Publisher: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing
ISBN: 9783845477596
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 88

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Over the last few decades, any external effort aimed at facilitating democratic governance in the former OAU countries was considered as encroachment into the internal affairs of sovereign state. Emerging as part of the transformation of the OAU into AU, the APRM has removed the cloak of sovereignty used by the ruling African elite to prevent democratic changes in their countries. This book reviews the APRM and its value to democratic governance in Africa. "Auditing" is used to characterise the form and substance of the APRM and is applied by the mechanism to appraise the performance of its members in respect of their democracy and governance record. In this regard peer review is perceived as synonymous with auditing. The book contexualises peer review within the rubric of the "new managerialism" and examines the APRM in relation to the phenomenon of managerialist accountability regime. It therefore, concludes that, the APRM uses processes that lean more towards a new regime of accountability when auditing members to enhance democratic governance. The author uses an innovative way of borrowing a concept and its application from one discipline to inform discourses on another.

Author: Mouzayian Valerie Khalil
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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This thesis assesses the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) as it has played out in Nigeria. The APRM is an initiative by the African Union (AU) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) to promote good governance through self-assessment and monitoring by African states. The APRM is particularly interesting as a continental (rather than single country) programme which puts the good governance agenda in the hands of African states themselves (rather than international financial institutions, for example). Focusing on the National Programme of Action (NPoA) of 2009 - 2012, the research finds that the APRM has had little or no impact on governance in Nigeria. Notwithstanding the NPoA's limited contributions to national development, the entire process has failed to recognise, engage and tackle the underlying socio-political dynamics of politics in the country, which have the most impact on governance structures and processes. The thesis accounts for this outcome by examining structure (through the role of actors) and underlying socio-political dynamics, both nationally and internationally. In terms of actors the research explores the role of individual leaders, NEPAD and APRM secretariats (national and continental), federal state representatives, regional and sub-regional organisations, international donors, and civil society in the APRM process. In terms of underlying factors, Richard Joseph's theory of prebendalism gives analytical power to understanding the APRM within Nigeria's political culture, while the neo-Gramscian perspective of cultural hegemony enables an analysis of the APRM within the broader international context. Both contribute to a holistic assessment of the APRM in Nigeria. Neither one of these two theoretical contributions is able to offer a comprehensive assessment if used unmodified or on their own. The APRM has the potential to open new political spaces for collaborative engagement between government and civil society in Nigeria, with the possibility of beneficial effects for governance and accountability. So far, however, this potential has not been realised. This must be judged as a significant shortcoming to date.

Author: Rosemary Atieno
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Africa
Languages : en
Pages : 9

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Book Description
This paper outlines some critical challenges for research institutes working on the African Peer Review Mechanism, and examines aspects of conducting research on governance in Africa. The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) -- the continent's chief home-grown governance monitoring tool -- has come of age. Nine African presidents (from Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, Algeria, South Africa, Benin, Uganda, Nigeria and Burkina Faso) have now discussed the governance landscape in their respective countries with their peers. At the APR Forum meeting in Addis Ababa on 31 January 2009, the first five will table reports on the progress and challenges of implementing the Programmes of Action (POAs) that seek to remedy the governance deficiencies identified in the exercise. There will also be important decisions taken on the composition of the Panel of Eminent Persons, currently chaired by Nigerian Professor Adebayo Adedeji, that was meant to have been reconstituted two years ago. This collection of papers reflect on some of the challenges facing research institutions and civil society organisations involved in the APRM and similar processes where they are examining the performance of their governments. Research institutes are usually employed to provide vital technical know-how, sharp analytical skills and critical independence and objectivity. But they also have to grapple with a raft of issues, including lack of trust, remuneration, mission creep, tight timelines, threats to their independence and integrity and balancing their own views with those of the public that they research, and the government and/or donors that will sign their paycheques.