09 February 2019 – The African Peer Review Forum of Heads of State and Government (HOSG) met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ahead of the 32^nd Ordinary Summit of the African Union to be held from 10-11February, 2019. The APR Forum was chaired by H.E President Idriss derby Itno, President of the Republic of Chad and Chairperson of the APR Forum.

The APRM is proud to announce that Botswana has joined the Mechanism as its 38^th Member State.

The APRM was established in 2003. It is a voluntary instrument for self-assessment and peer review of governance policies and practices; and this year celebrates 16 years of existence.

The APRM is committed to the implementation of the AU Agenda 2063 which is a 50-year plan for the Renaissance of Africa. The APRM is also committed to the AU Shared Values which include governance, democracy, human rights, elections, humanitarian issues, civil society participation and gender equality.

The APRM Forum also confirmed that the Agenda 2063 Aspirations and Goals  are central to the mandate of the APRM such as the one calling for “An Africa of good governance, democracy, and respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law”. In this regard, at this meeting the Africa Governance Report  was confirmed for presentation to the AU Summit on 11 February, 2019.

Apart from the confirmation of Botswana as a new member, other decisions made by the APRM Forum are:

• The appointment of Nigerian Prof Ibrahim Gambari as the new Chairperson of the APRM Panel of Eminent Person. Gambari is a respected Scholar and Diplomat. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs in Nigeria as well as a Diplomat who worked under different capacities at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Prof Gambari succeeds former South African Minister Hon. Bridgette Mabandla.
• The APR Forum appointed H.E. Haile Mariam Desalegn, from Ethiopia, and Dr. Ali Abderahman Haggar, from Chad, as new Members of the APR Panel of Eminent Persons.

• The extension of the term of office of the APRM CEO, Prof. Eddy Maloka whose term will now end in 2022. Prof Maloka was first appointed the CEO of the APRM in January 2016.

• The country review reports of Mozambique and Cote d’Ivoire were presented and adopted by the Forum. The APRM Forum has over the years considered reports on the state of governance of close to 30 of its own Member States.

Finally, the meeting expressed appreciation and commended the good work of the retiring two (2) Panel Members whose terms came to an end. The two Panel Members, Prof, Al Amin Abu Manga, from Sudan and Prof. Mahamoud Youssouf Khayal from Chad were presented with certificates of appreciation by H.E President Idriss Deby Itno.

Commenting on the outcomes of the meeting Prof Maloka said that he was pleased with the outcomes of the forum ‘especially the adoption of the state of governance report to be tabled to the AU Heads of State this week. This report is set to ignite a big debate across the continent about the state of governance and what needs to be done to improve it.

End

Statement issued by the APRM

8 February 2019

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