South African Institute of International Affairs (Johannesburg)
Steven Gruzd
29 June 2009
analysis
On 30 June 2009, as African leaders gather on the sweltering, dusty shores of the Mediterranean in Sirte, the hometown of Libyan President Muammar al-Gaddafi, for the 13th Summit of the African Union, some early birds will attend another vital meeting on the fringes.
Participating heads of states will attend the 11th Forum of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), Africa's voluntary home-grown governance monitoring endeavour. What's on the agenda? And where is the mechanism heading?
First, after the formalities – welcome remarks by President al-Gadaffi (not an APR member), Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia (the Forum Chairperson), AU Commission Chairperson Jean Ping, and a progress report by the Chairperson of the APRM's Panel of Eminent Persons, Professor Adebayo Adedeji of Nigeria – the president of Cape Verde is expected to become the 30th signatory.
If he puts pen to paper, this will be the first accession since Togo one year ago. Mauritania, however, which acceded in January 2008, remains suspended due to its coup later that year. If quantity alone counts, more states joining suggests continued interest in the process. But the quality of reviews matters more. And regular attendance by presidents at Forum meetings is perennially poor.
Second, behind closed doors, three more countries are to be peer reviewed – Mali, Mozambique and Lesotho – with their Country Review Reports slated for discussion. They will join the nine states already reviewed, namely Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, Algeria, South Africa, Benin, Uganda, Nigeria and Burkina Faso. This means that almost half of the leaders of this voluntary process will have been through their first review, a considerable achievement. However, the relatively packed programme may produce superficial rather than in-depth debate, or mean the reviews will be deferred to the next meeting, causing momentum loss for the respective national processes and delaying the publication of the reports further. Interestingly, Kenya's second review, scheduled to occur in early July, is not even on the agenda.
Third, President Yoweri Museveni is due to present his first annual report on progress in implementing Uganda's National Programme of Action, to plug identified governance gaps. Monitoring and evaluation remains a formidable challenge for the evolving mechanism. Tracking progress is left to participating governments, often to the exclusion of their citizens and civil society organisations, and the central APRM institutions – the Panel and continental Secretariat – have limited means to verify what is reported by states. Progress reports are also not always routinely uploaded to the APRM's website, reducing the ability of the public to monitor and verify reported progress for themselves.
Fourth, a number of financial and administrative issues are up for discussion, including the audit report for APRM Accounts for 2007, and the status of country contributions. A draft report for the African Partnership Forum in November 2008 on the latter makes interesting reading, following a pattern of uneven payment (and sometimes non-payment) familiar to Africa watchers. Participating states reportedly contributed some US$17,3 million, with disproportionately large contributions of over $1 million each by Algeria, Egypt and Nigeria and almost US$6 by South Africa, and no contribution at all from seven countries. States are meant to contribute at least US$100,000 annually, which came as surprise to a senior government official directly involved in his national process I met recently in West Africa. Development partners (including African institutions) had collectively contributed US$10,5 million with Canada, the UK and the UNDP each giving over US$ 2 million. Thus, while the bulk of funding still emanates from African coffers, many states fail to meet their obligations.
Finally, and for many observers the most important, are the items on 'Reconstitution of the APR Panel' and discussion of its operating procedures. The life of the current Panel of Eminent Persons has twice been extended beyond its original four-year mandate, there is a lack of clarity on how, exactly, the new Panel members will be selected, and worrying allegations of impropriety and power plays within the Forum, Panel and Secretariat have emerged publicly in the last few months.
For continued credibility, these issues of governance within Africa's premier governance instrument must be dealt with decisively, fairly and, transparently. Otherwise, the excellent work and results achieved by this unique process – from opening up political space for debate, discussion, and, yes, criticism, to legislative reforms and streamlining development efforts – will be seriously jeopardised. Like any complex process, the APRM requires patience, but also progress, sincerity as well substance, and trust along with time.
This programme bears testimony to the intentions of Africa's leaders to focus on peer review. However, they must guard against the process degenerating into another arbitrary activity, lacking energy and innovation. The APRM presents a unique opportunity to effect marked policy change on a continent where it is sorely needed. Our leaders cannot afford to disappoint their citizens by letting this process decay. We may never have this opportunity soon again.
Steven Gruzd is the head of the Governance and APRM Programme at the South African Institute of International Affairs in Johannesburg.
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HAPPY JULY BIRTHDAYS TO YOU WORLD LEADERS !!!!!!!!!
REMEMBER GOD SET YOU THEIR TO BE GREAT & THE GREATEST IS SERVANT OF ALL ...BE LIKE DADDY IN HEAVEN.
PRAY FOR OUR LEADERS PEOPLE !!!!!!!
WORLD LEADERS BIRTHDAYS FOR JULY
SINGAPORE – Southern Asia - Sellapan Ramanathan – July 3. 1924 – 5th
COLOMBIA – Northern South America - Álvaro Uribe Vélez – July 4, 1952 – 6th
[ST. VINCENT & (THE GRENADINES) - – Caribbean – Frederick Nathaniel Ballantyne – July 5, 1936 – 1st
KAZASTAN – Northern Asia - Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev – July 6, 1940 -7th
TAIWAN – Eastern Asia - Ma Ying-jeou – July 13, 1950 – 5th
PORTUGAL – Southern Europe - Aníbal António Cavaco Silva – July 15, 1939 – 7th
(BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS)- Caribbean - David Pearey – July 15, 1948 – 5th
BRUNEI DARUSSALAM – Southern Asia – Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah – July 15, 1946 – 2nd
IRAN- Ali Khamenei, - July 17, 1939 – 2nd
LESOTO - Southern Africa - Letsie III – July 17, 1963 -4th
PANAMA – Central America - Martín Erasto Torrijos Espino – July 18, 1963 – 5th
[SOUTH AFRICA] – Southern Africa – Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe – July 19, 1949 – 3rd
GHANA – Western Africa - John Evans Atta Mills – July 21, 1944 -6th
BERMUDA- Richard Hugh Turton Gozney – July 21, 1951 – 7th
(NEW ZEALAND) – Anand Satyanand, - July 22, 1944 – 7th
PALAU – Johnson Toribiong – July 22, 1946 – 2nd
SOMALIA – Eastern Africa - Sharif Sheikh Ahmed – July 25, 1964 – 7th
PAKISTAN – Southern Asia – Asif Ali Zardari – July 26, 1955 – 3rd
VENEZUELA - Northern South America – Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías – July 28, 1954 – 4th
OUR DEEPEST FEAR By Marianne Williamson
Our Deepest Fear Is Not That We Are Inadequate, Our Deepest Fear Is That We Are Powerful Beyond Measure. It Is Our Light , Not Our Darkness That Most Frightens Us.
We Ask Ourselves, Who Am I To Be Brilliant, Gorgeous, Talented, And Fabulous ?
Actually Who Are We Not To Be ? You Are A Child Of God.
Your Playing Small Doesn’t Serve The World.
There Is Nothing Enlightened About Shrinking So That Other People Won’t Feel Insecure Around You.
We Are All Meant To Shine, As Children Do.
We Were Born To Make Manifest The Glory Of God That Is Within Us.
It’s Not Just In Some Of Us; It’s In Everyone.
And When We Let Our Own Light Shine We Unconsciously Give Other People Permission To Do The Same.
And As We Are Liberated From Our Own Fear, Our Presence Automatically Liberates Others
[NOTE – BEING AFRAID AND REFUSING TO GET INVOLVED WON’T STOP US FROM DYING. BUT BEING AFRAID CAN PREVENT US FROM LIVING]
(Nkosi Sikeleli Africa )
God bless Africa May her glory be lifted high Hear our petitions .
God bless us, Your children God we ask You to protect our nation Intervene and end all conflicts Protect us, protect our nation, our nation.
From the blue of our heaven, From the depths of our sea, Over our eternal mountain ranges, Where the cliffs give answer.
Sounds the call to come together, And united we shall stand, Let us live and strive for freedom, In South Africa our land.
[Enoch Mankayi Sontonga]
WAKE UP ! STAY UP MY BROTHERS & SISTERS ! BE SELF-SUFFICIENT IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
[http://www.infowars.com/infowars.asx] / [gcnlive.com] / [http://alexjonesringtones.net/]
- Life Is a Game. Have Fun. [ Luke 18:17 / Isaiah 11:6 ]
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Brothers and Sisters in the Continental Africa; I must say this that "Africa" Must Unite. Uniting is a very vital strenght against ALL Evils. This You Must Belief in. If Africa isn't going to Unite; We "Africans" must be ready to harvest a very bad fruits for another decades to come. Even though I myself is a Elite; So to all individuals which include the Elites of the Continental Africa - Please let us UNITE AFRICA in a best possible ways and make her become a continent without boarders for our people. This, I must see in my life time.
Your Brothers in Christ and Allah
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