Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), 29 January 2014 – The Committee of Heads of State and Government Participating in the African Peer Review Mechanism (APR Forum) appointed the new leadership of the African Peer Review Panel of Eminent Persons (APR Panel) at the 20th Summit of the APR Forum held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 29 January 2014.
Ambassador Fatuma Nyirakobwa Ndangiza from Rwanda is the new Chairperson of the African Peer Review Panel of Eminent Persons (APR Panel) and Ambassador Ashraf Rashed from Egypt is the Vice-Chairperson.

Ambassador Ndangiza succeeds the outgoing Chairperson of the APR Panel, Barrister Akere Tabeng Muna, who had been serving as Panel Member since January 2010. She expressed her commitment to strengthening the Mechanism and bringing it to greater heights. She said her tenure as the Chairperson of APRM starts after the commemoration of the 10th Anniversary of the APRM when there is great interest in the replication of the Mechanism’s successes from other Continents.

Amb. Fatuma Ndangiza, Barrister Akere Muna and H.E. President Sirleaf The new Chairperson of the APR Panel was first appointed to the APR Panel of Eminent Persons at the 16th Summit of the APR Forum. She is currently the Deputy CEO of the Rwanda Governance Board, whose mission is to promote good governance and decentralization in Rwanda. Prior to her assumption of these positions, she served as Rwandan Ambassador to Tanzania and was also accredited to Malawi, Zambia, Seychelles and Madagascar.
In this capacity, Ambassador Ndangiza oversaw regional integration matters concerning the East Africa Community and COMESA. Ambassador Ndangiza was the Executive Secretary of the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission in Rwanda from 2002 to 2009.

Amb. Ashraf RashedThe Vice-Chairperson of the APR Panel, Ambassador Ashraf Rashed, was first appointed to the APR Panel of Eminent Persons at the 16th Summit of the APR Forum held in Addis Ababa in January 2012. In the course of his long and distinguished career, Ambassador Rashed served as the Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs, Assistant Foreign Minister for European Affairs and Arab Coordinator for Euro-Mediterranean Cooperation, Deputy Assistant Foreign Minister for Strategic and Security Organisations in Europe and Ambassador to Italy (2006-2011) and Ireland (1999-2003). He served as an International Consultant, World Food Programme Facilitator and Chairman for Consultations on Humanitarian Assistance and Risks in Somalia involving UN Agencies (2011).

The 20th Summit bade farewell to Barrister Akere Tabeng Muna (Cameroon), Barrister Julienne Ondziel Gnelenga (Republic of Congo) and Professor Amos Claudius Sawyer (Liberia), whose four-year tenure as Panel Members expired in January 2014.

The APR Forum has appointed H.E. Edem Kodjo (Togo), Professor Al-Amin Abu-Manga Mohammed (Sudan) and Mr. Mahamoud Youssouf Khayal (Chad) in place of the outgoing Panel Members.

The APRM Secretariat congratulates the new leadership of the Mechanism on their appointment and reaffirms its commitment to forging strong and productive work relations with the APR Panel.

About the Panel
The APR Panel of Eminent Persons exercises oversight of the APRM process to ensure the independence, professionalism and credibility of the process. It also oversees the selection of APRM Country Review Mission Teams and assigns them to conduct country reviews.

The members of the Panel must be Africans who have distinguished themselves in careers that are considered relevant to the work of the APRM. In addition, members of the Panel must be persons of high moral stature who have demonstrated commitment to the ideals of Pan-Africanism.

– Candidates for appointment to the Panel will be nominated by participating countries, shortlisted by a Committee of Ministers and appointed by the Heads of State and Government of the participating countries. In addition to the above-mentioned criteria, the Heads of State and Government ensure that the Panel has expertise in the areas of political governance, macro-economic management, public finance management and corporate governance. The composition of the Panel reflects broad regional balance, gender equity and cultural diversity.

– Members of the Panel serve for a maximum period of 4 years.

– One of the members of the Panel is appointed as Chairperson by the Heads of State and Government of the participating countries. The Chairperson of the APR Panel serves for one (1) year. The criteria for appointment to the position of Chairperson are the same as for other members of the APR Panel, except that the candidate must be a person with a proven leadership record in one of the following areas: Government, Public Administration, Development and Private Sector.

– The Panel exercises oversight functions vis-à-vis the review process to particularly ensure the integrity of the process.

An initiative of the African Union, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) was established in March 2003 by the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). It is a self-monitoring instrument for assessing performance in governance among the member states. To date, thirty-four (34) Member States have voluntarily acceded to the Mechanism. Seventeen (17) Member States have completed their self-assessment exercise and they have been peer-reviewed by the Forum of Heads of State and Government.