Freetown, Sierra Leone, 08 June 2022 – The APRM Continental Secretariat, in collaboration with the Office of the APRM Focal Point in Sierra Leone, Ministry of Political and Public Affairs, organized a two-day technical workshop on the APRM Continental Monitoring, Evaluation & Research (ME&R) Framework for Member-States from 06th to 7th June 2022 at the Atlantic Lumbly Hotel, in Freetown, Republic of Sierra Leone.
The technical training was attended by stakeholders across various government ministries, departments, and agencies upon the invitation of the Honourable Mohamed Foday Yumkella, Minister of Political and Public Affairs and APRM Focal Point. Notably in attendance were representatives from the Parliament of Sierra Leone, Ministry of Planning and Development, Ministry of Political and Public Affairs, National Commission for Social Actions and National Covid-19 emergency Response Centre among others.
Following the ME&R workshop, the 7th Meeting of the Steering Committee of the APR Focal Points’ Committee is being held on June 8th, 2022. This gathering is the first such meeting this year and it is expected that APRM Focal Points will adopt the outcomes emanating from this meeting.
The Meeting will consider and adopt outcomes of regional consultations on the composition of the new members of the Steering Committee held in May, 2022 among other agenda items. Based on the consultations held in May,2022 it is proposed that the new APR Focal Points Steering Committee be made up of the following countries: Egypt as a representative of North Africa, Senegal representing West Africa, Kenya as a representative of East Africa, Gabon representing Central Africa and Mozambique as a representative of Southern Africa. In addition to APRM Troika Members: Sierra Leone, Chair of the APRM , Republic of South Africa, Immidiate Outgoing Chair and Algeria, Incoming Chair, are Members of the APRM Steeering Committee.
The APR Panel of Eminent Persons will meet on the 9th and 10th of June 2022 after the meeting of the Steering Committee. New Panel members hailing from Egypt, Djibouti and Namibia have been appointed by the APR Forum of Heads of State and Government at its 31rst Summit in February 2022. A second member from North Africa, has yet to be named. The 100th meeting of the Panel will thus afford members the opportunity to be acquainted with one another and discuss the calendar of missions and deliberate on the allocation of countries, organs and programmes inter alia.
The statutory meetings held in Freetown mark an important step in the recovery from COVID-19. Indeed, the pandemic has disrupted many of the APRM activities including the conduct of its statutory meetings. It is to be recalled that the Continental Secretariat has striven to organize virtual meetings regularly to apprise member-states of its work and ensure that they continue to lead the organization. However, the physical nature of the statutory meetings held in Freetown is indicative of the ability shown by the APRM Continental Secretariat to weather the COVID-19 pandemic and constitutes an encouraging sign for future meetings of the Panel and Focal Points.
