Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt 4 April 2019 – The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Community and various experts are in Egypt from 4th to 5th April reviewing frameworks, methods and tools used in the work of the mechanism. The APRM Annual Methodology Forum is a flagship event. The 3rd Forum will examine two new APRM review approaches developed and implemented in the past two years. These are the APRM 2nd Generation and Targeted Reviews. The objective of the review of assessment approaches is to examine the review cycle; methods, techniques, duration, team composition and reporting formats. This will be undertaken in the context of experiences from APRM countries.

The opening session was facilitated and chaired by Amb. Ashraf Rashed – Head of National Governing Council in Egypt. Amb. Rashed warmly welcomed esteemed delegated of the 3rd Methodology Forum and wished them fruitful deliberations.

Other key sessions at the Forum include the National Governance Councils and National Governance Reports, which has the objective of establishing a common understanding of the values, principles, parameters, formats and processes that will guide national-level planning and reporting on governance.

The session of Agenda 2063 and UN Agenda 2030 will culminate in a proposal for a Continental Tracking Framework for Agenda 2063 and the SDGs 2030. The objective of the session is to seek consensus and convergence on a continental standard for tracking the governance Aspirations of the AU Agenda 2063 and the UN Agenda 2030.

The session on gender and governance in Africa will review the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development’s framework for gender reviews and a framework for gender-sensitive budgeting. The two frameworks will be part of the consideration in the review of a proposal on engendering the APRM instrument.

Following the launch of the first African Governance Report (AGR) in February this year, and the expected release of the second in 2021, another session will review selected frameworks on the application of future studies to governance in Agenda 2063 and a general approach to futures Studies and Governance in Africa. The objective of the session is to solicit proposals on the theme, and approach to be employed in the development of the 2021 African Governance Report.

According to the APRM Chief Executive Officer Professor Eddy Maloka, who spoke at the Forum’s opening session, the Methodology Forum is an annual flagship event of the APRM introduced in 2017. It was established as a platform where the different communities represented here can review the approaches used in the work of the APRM and solicit proposals for improvement.
In a session titled “APRM support to members on international credit ratings agencies in Africa, the Forum will receive a summary of study on Credit Rating Agencies (CRA) in Africa from the perspective of a central bank and will thereafter deliberate on a concept note on the APRM’s support to Member States on CRA initiative.

In relation to the AU’s theme of 2019, i.e. Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Towards Durable Solutions to Forced Displacement, the Forum will examine migration in the Case of Uganda, and migration, refugees, IDPs, returnees as they relate to youth in the context of governance. The objective of the session is to generate proposals on approaches to integrating migration, refugees, IDPs and returnees in APRM reviews.

Chairperson the APR Panel, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari reminded the meeting that the Africa Union recognizes in its Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance the need for broad-based participation from private-public sector partnerships for the development of Africa. He said the APRM therefore adheres to this charter by ensuring that all its processes include citizens and the entire spectrum of public and private actors. He said “we have a huge task ahead of us, and I do sincerely hope that the 3rd Methodology Forum will add value to the enrichment of APRM’s processes and the development of Africa through good governance.

The meeting provides a timely platform to enable the APRM to take forward the issues that were raised for improvement at the last two Methodology Forums.

The message from Ambassador Khaled Emara, the Minister of0 APRM in Egypt said the discussions expected during the sessions should be strongly related to the execution of the AU 2063 Development Agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030. He urged participants to examine the relationship between gender and governance in our continent, as well as the African Union theme of the year, which is dedicated to “Refugees, Returnees, and Internally Displaced Persons in Africa: Towards Durable Solutions to Forced Displacement”.

Participants to the Forum include government experts, members of the African Peer Review Panel of Eminent Persons, the APRM Committee of Focal Point Representatives, Representatives of APRM National Structures, APRM collaborating and Strategic Partners’ Representatives, experts from the African Union Commission and institutions, APRM Continental Secretariat staff members, and officials and civil society of the host government.

The APRM is an autonomous entity of the African Union whose aim is to encourage the adoption of policies, standards and best practices that lead to good governance.