Johannesburg, South Africa – The 2nd Planning Meeting preparatory to the Extraordinary Summit of the APRM Forum was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 28 July 2015.

Her Excellency Ayanda Dlodlo, South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Public Service and Administration, chaired the meeting on behalf of Her Excellency Anne Waiguru, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Planning and Devolution, Kenya. In attendance were Honourable Keith Mukata, Zambia’s Deputy Minister of Justice, and Mr. Mourad Benmehidi, the APRM Focal Point for Algeria, Dr. Mustapha Mekideche, Chairperson of the APR Panel of Eminent Persons, Professor Mahamoud Khayal, Vice-Chairperson of the APR Panel of Eminent Persons, and Ambassador Ashraf Rashed, Member of the APR Panel.

Representatives from APRM Strategic Partners, UNDP and UNECA, the African Union Commission (AUC), APRM-Kenya Office as well as the APRM Continental Secretariat, also attended the meeting.

The purpose of the meeting was to prepare the Extraordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Government participating in the APRM that will deliberate on ways and means of revitalizing the APRM, facilitating the integration of APRM into the African Union and positioning it to play a pivotal role in the AU Agenda 2063 and the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

The meeting deliberated exhaustively on the Agenda for the Extraordinary Summit and on some of the key challenges facing the Mechanism. The output from the 2nd Planning Meeting will be used to finalize the working documents for the Summit before the next Planning Meeting.

The 3rd Planning Meeting, which is scheduled for 22 August 2015, will review the working documents for the Extraordinary Summit and submit them to the Committee of APRM Focal Points for consideration before the Extraordinary Summit of the APR Forum, scheduled for the First Week of September 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya