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ECA Governance report points to improved governance amidst formidable challenges
05 February 2008 (ECA) - The Governance and Public Administration Division (GPAD), begun a two-day workshop to review the draft of the second edition of the African Governance Report (AGR II), due for publishing in the coming months. AGR is a flagship report of the United Nations Economic Commission (ECA) that aims to monitor economic, political and social spheres of governance in Africa. AGR II covers an update of 26 countries assessed in AGR 1 (2005) with an additional 9 countries.
Speaking at the opening of the workshop, UN Under-Secretary-General and ECA Executive Secretary, Mr. Abdoulie Janneh told the expert reviewers that the importance of the AGR lies in the fact that it is a monitoring tool, "whose continued use demonstrates the importance of governance in Africa in promoting peace and stability, and establishing a framework for economic development".
He noted that the methodology adopted for the report interweaves expert panel
opinions from diverse professional, backgrounds and experiences; and household surveys, spanning a broad section of the population and desk research. "This approach is a unique initiative that gives voice and power to the people in the analysis of governance in Africa," he said.
He lauded the report as a unique mechanism that demonstrates the commitment of African countries to the governance agenda, adding that this commitment is already on course in the context of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) which should complement the AGR. "Countries have been able to use the AGR national reports to
inform the APRM process and vice-versa," he noted.
He welcomed the important role of ECA's partners, including the African Development Bank (ADB) and the African Union (AU) as well as the national research institutions that participated in the process, pointing out that engaging outsiders is a critical factor in enhancing the credibility of the study, whose results present ECA's best possible factual analysis.
On his part, Mr. Okey Onyejekwe, Director, GPAD told the gathering that the use of national institutions had been a challenge, in light of different levels of competencies among them. He however, noted that the upside of this challenge is that the research process, "is an important part of GPAD's role in developing institutional capacity for governance assessment at the national level."
Another critical challenge is maintaining the independence of the report, whose content has tremendous politically charged implications, said Mr. Onyejekwe. "It is subject to national validation workshops and governments sometimes try to influence the outcomes," he added.
He noted that the policy recommendations in the report will guide countries in their efforts to promote governance and "will contribute to developing, sustaining and internalizing the norms of good governance within the public and private realms by sharing best practices among stakeholders."
Mr. Said Adejumobi who is the AGR Coordinator presented the emerging main messages of the report, which point to improved governance across the Continent amidst formidable challenges. In this respect, he said that the political space has been significantly liberalized, there are more political parties and better respect for human rights and rule of law. However, although there is growing check on executive powers, executive dominance still predominates.
Further, Mr. Adeumobi told the gathering that there is progress in public financial management and economic governance and increasing incentives, measures and institutions to promote private sector development. In addition, media has exploded with the existence of private and local media in many countries, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are flourishing.
"The challenges remain numerous", he said, pointing out that party systems and democratic institutions, including the parliament and the judiciary are weak in many countries.
Among other challenges, there is a need to strengthen corporate governance and address human rights violations among the police and security forces. In addition, provision of services is poor, public-private sector partnership remains weak and there is inefficiency and lack of transparency in the tax system of many countries.
The draft report has a dedicated chapter on the sourge of corruption as a constant thorn in the flesh of governance and development in Africa.
For more information contact [email protected] http://www.uneca.org/gpad
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