African Union Commission, Addis Ababa, 1-2 October 2018 – In close collaboration with the African Union Commission Department of Political Affairs, African Governance Architecture, OECD, UNECA, UNDP and UNDESA; the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) hosted a  two-day Africa Technical consultation workshop to initiate a programme of support to AU Member States that will be reporting on progress towards achieving SDGs to the 2019  High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) for Sustainable Development. The workshop focused on UN Agenda 2030 Goal 16 and AU Agenda Aspiration 3. In addition to the above organizations the following countries were represented: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo, Cote D’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal and South Africa.

Established in 2012, the HLPF on Sustainable Development plays a critical role in the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs. The follow-up and review process, referred as Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs), inspires member states to conduct voluntary country-led, country-driven regular and inclusive reviews of progress at national and sub-national levels.

In the course of this workshop, partners and member states got the opportunity to engage in presentations and discussions around successes, challenges and lessons learned related to the implementation of SDGs 2030 in parallel with African Union Agenda 2063 based on their experience on VNRs. Among the issues raised was the lack of available and reliable data as well as the limited or inadequate structures to develop the VNRs.  In that regard, the need to develop and reinforce structures as well as tools to generate and manage data in Africa, was overemphasized by the represented countries and partners.

This was  the first in a series of meetings intended to support the sixteen African Union Member States that have elected to prepare VNRs on selected SDGs for the 2019 round of the HLPF.  scheduled to take place in New York in July 2019. The HLPF 2019 will conduct an in-depth review of SDG 4, SDG 8, SDG 10, SDG 13 and SDG 16, in addition to SDG 17 which is reviewed each year. It will additionally prepare Member States for a two-day side event on the margins of the UNGASS in September 2019.

About the African Peer Review Mechanism

The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) is an initiative of the African Union, founded in March 2003 by the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).  The purpose of APRM is to facilitate the adoption of policies, principles and practices that contribute to political and economic stability and growth, additionally to leading sustainable development. The four thematic areas of APRM are composed of:

• Democracy and Good Political Governance
• Economic Governance and Management
• Corporate Governance
• Socio-Economic Development

In January 2017, the AU Assembly of Head of States and Government expanded the APRM mandate to Monitoring and Evaluation of the implementation of AU Agenda 2063 and SDGs 2030. While the January 2018 Assembly, amongst other things, welcomed steps taken to position the APRM as an early warning tool for conflict prevention in Africa, in the context of harmony and synergy between the APRM, African Peace and Security Architecture, and the African Governance Architecture

For more information contact:

African Peer Review Mechanism

230 15th Road,

Midrand,

Johannesburg, 1685

Website: https://aprm-au.org/ 

Tel: 011 256 3401

E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected]