Experts to review report on diversity management in the Context of the APRM
ECA Press Release No. 12/2011
Addis Ababa, 01 March 2011 (ECA) - Selected African experts will assemble in Addis Ababa on Tuesday, 8 March 2011 to peer review a synthesis report entitled, Diversity Management: Findings from the African Review Mechanism and a Framework for Analysis and Policy-making.
A study conducted by the Governance and Administration Division (GPAD) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the synthesis report extrapolates from the findings of 13 country reports compiled in the framework of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and expounds on the main challenges confronting African states in managing diversity.
“The APRM reports indentifies Diversity Management as a major structural and systemic challenge to good governance in most African countries with enormous costs in terms of both economic growth and equity issues, as well as the obvious electoral- related internal conflicts,” says Kojo Busia, head of the APRM Support Section at the ECA.
“Drawing from the APRM country reports provided us with a conceptual diagnosis of diversity management and offered a wealth of knowledge of the challenges, ideal types, experiences and reasons for successes and failures confronting African countries,”
he adds.
The experts are expected to review the strategic and scholarly focus of the research, validate its empirical and analytical findings and make substantive inputs that will improve the quality and policy relevance of the APRM Country Reports in each country. It would also provide an overall strategic focus for African regional institutions to assist in policy advice and technical assistance to confront these challenges.
“Our hope is that the policy recommendations in the synthesis report will guide the promotion of diversity management and, thereby, mitigate diversity-related conflicts in Africa,” says Busia.
The countries reviewed are: Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda.
Background: Considered to be the most innovative and important element of the African Union’s NEPAD initiative, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) was launched in March 2003 to address governance challenges facing Africa. Among the issues addressed by the APRM, systemic political rigidity characterized by executive dominance over the legislative; political exclusion, poor economic governance and persistent internal conflicts. Currently, 29 countries have acceded to the mechanism out of 14 have completed the peer review process.
Issued by:
ECA Information and Communication Service P.O. Box 3001
Addis Ababa Ethiopia
Tel: 251 11 5445098 Fax: +251-11-551 03 65 E-mail: ecainfo@uneca.org Web: www.uneca.org
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