Cote d’Ivoire, Grand-Bassam, 25-26 May 2018 – The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and the Open Government Partnership (OGP) held a joint workshop from 25 to 26 May 2018 in Grand Bassam, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. The APRM was represented by APRM Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Eddy Maloka accompanied by Mr. Dalmar Jama, Dr. Koffi Adorgloh, Ms Clementine Nyinawumuntu and Mr. Che Wamucho. Prof. Melaku Desta attended the meeting on behalf of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), a strategic partner to both the APRM and OGP.

The OGP was represented by the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Sanjay Pradhan, the OGP Senior Coordinator for Southern Africa and Middle East, Mr. Theophilous Chiviru, and the Staff members of the national offices of OGP Kenya, as well as members of civil society and government from three countries members of both the APRM and OGP (Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, and South Africa).

The goal of the workshop was to better understand the methodologies used by both institutions and to identify and determine areas of common interest for collaboration, including in the formulation and implementation of APRM National Programmes of Action (NPoAs) and OGP National Action Plans (NAPs). More importantly, the collaboration envisaged between the two institutions will also explore ways of harmonizing their respective activities so as to avoid duplication of efforts in African Countries with dual membership in both the APRM and OGP. The two institutions agreed on a list of joint activities and a roadmap while they will also explore the possibilities for OGP participation in activities of the African Governance Architecture (AGA) Platform.

It was underlined that the two institutions share the fundamental objective to ensure governance reforms in Africa translate into tangible improvements in the lives of African citizens.