The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) will host the first annual general meeting of the African Parliamentarians' Network on Development Evaluation (APNODE) on July 23-24, 2015 at the Bank's headquarters in Abidjan.

The purpose of the meeting is to operationalise APNODE, a body whose mandate is to empower African members of parliament. The meeting will see APNODE adopt its constitution, elect an Executive Committee, and endorse a programme of action.

Over 40 parliamentarians from 14 countries and six development partners are expected to attend the meeting. APNODE's core membership of parliamentarians is expected to grow to more than 20 African countries in the next few years.

Founded in March 2014, APNODE focuses on enhancing capacity of parliamentarians to improve their oversight role, policy making, and national decision making by ensuring the processes are evidence-based. The network also seeks to bridge the gap between evaluators (who provide impartial evidence) and parliamentarians, encouraging the lawmakers to institutionalise evaluations. In addition, APNODE supports parliamentarians through ensuring that evaluations conducted at country level are responsive to the needs of women, and vulnerable groups.

APNODE's membership is open to current and former parliamentarians from Africa and other regions, civil society and private sector organisations, research institutions, national and regional evaluation associations, and development partners.

Currently, APNODE's interim secretariat is hosted by the AfDB's Independent Development Evaluation (IDEV) until 2016 when the network will establish its office in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

Besides the AfDB and national parliaments of respective APNODE members countries , APNODE benefits from support of other partner organisations, such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Development Programme, and UN Women.