APRM can improve quality of governance in Africa, says Janneh
ECA Press Release No. 34/2010
Addis Ababa, 12 May 2010 (ECA) - The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) is a “unique African initiative” that has enormous potential to improve the quality of governance on the continent, Abdoulie Janneh, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) said today as parliamentarians from 16 African countries began a three-day workshop on APRM peer learning in Addis Ababa.
In an opening remark at the training workshop, Mr. Janneh said APRM had the potential to create the environment for peace, security and stability conducive to the promotion of sustainable development in Africa.
“It can contribute to finding solutions to problems that have been marginalized
and neglected for a long time. It can also provide legitimacy and political capital for leaders tackling pressing governance problems,” he said.
The three-day workshop on “Enhancing the Role and Effective Participation of Parliamentarians in the APRM Process” is co-organized by ECA, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Pan African Parliament (PAP).
Its objective is to give parliamentarians from French and Portuguese speaking countries, the tools needed to better understand APRM. A similar workshop for English speaking countries was held earlier this year.
Speaking on behalf of UNDP, Ms. Alessandra Tisot, acting Resident Representative, called the meeting crucial for APRM, as parliamentarians are key to its uptake.
“The success of APRM depends critically on the extent to which all the key stakeholder fully take part in all the main five stages of the process,” she said.
The expectations on the workshop attendants were high, but necessary said Hon. Laroussi Hammi, third vice president for PAP.
He called on his colleagues to work enthusiastically to ensure that the training workshop is meaningful for all participants.
APRM is an instrument voluntarily adopted by African states to assess the quality and status of governance in the participating countries As an instrument for building broad-based consensus on the challenge of national development, the success of the APRM depends on the extent to which all the relevant stakeholders (Civil society organizations, media, trade unions, parliaments, women groups, etc.) fully participate in the process.
The training session continues through Friday 14 May.
Ends
Issued by:
ECA Information and Communication Service P.O. Box 3001
Addis Ababa
1 of 2 3/5/2014 9:21 AM
Ethiopia
Tel: 251 11 5445098 Fax: +251-11-551 03 65 E-mail: ecainfo@uneca.org Web: www.uneca.org
