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Polity
Published: 13 Oct 2005
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| Fraser-Moleketi: Implementation of African Peer Review Mechanism process (13/10/2005) | |
| Date: 13/10/2005 Source: Department of Public Service and Administration Title: Fraser-Moleketi: Implementation of African Peer Review Mechanism process Speech by Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi to Parliament OPPORTUNITIES PRESENTED BY THE AFRICAN PEER REVIEW MECHANISM 1. Welcome and introduction: Madam Acting Speaker, Distinguished members of the house I wish to thank the Acting Speaker and members of the house for this valuable opportunity to address you on the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and South Africa's implementation process. My address today will explain what the APRM is all about and how we are going to implement it. I will describe what has already been done and what plans we have for the process over the coming nine months. I will also discuss why the APRM is so important and what opportunities it presents us. 2. The APRM Implementing the APRM is important to all of us as a country, not as parliamentarians or as government officials, not as members of civil society or representative of other structures, but as citizens and residents of our beloved country, South Africa. I have been working on the APRM for some time now and I must tell you that my honest conclusion is that it is a wonderful and inspiring mechanism. Like many things from Africa, it seems simple at first but this is misleading. As you come to understand it better you realise its apparent simplicity masks great complexity and subtlety. It offers opportunities to each of us, no matter how we choose to define ourselves or to structure our lives as members of South African society. So today I will also be talking more about the surprising challenges and opportunities the APR mechanism presents our young democracy. I look forward to hearing the debate that will take place after my address because I know that it will deepen my own understanding of the APRM. The debate will also contribute to the building a shared understanding of the mechanism and how it should be implemented. The APRM is a system introduced by the African Union and its development programme, New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) for countries to improve their governance systems. It is a way of planning for the future and looking forward while taking account of where we are today. It involves the development of African approaches to solving African problems. Participation by countries in the system is voluntary. Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya and Mauritius are ahead of us in the system and we aim to learn from their lessons and build on their experiences. A Panel of Eminent Persons oversees implementation of the system throughout Africa and is supported in its work by the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) APRM Secretariat. The system has a number of stages: * The development of a country self-assessment report and a programme of action. This is based on a questionnaire that looks at four themes: Democracy and Good Political Governance, Economic Management, Corporate Governance and Socio Economic Development. * Once we have developed a Country Self Assessment Report and a Programme of Action, they are submitted to the APRM Secretariat. * A Country Review Team led by the Panel member responsible for South Africa will visit us to consult a wide range of stakeholders on the report. * The Country Review Team writes a response to our report and all the Reports are all submitted to the APR Forum and later publicly released. * Progress by countries in implementing their Programmes of Action is reviewed in later years. Over forty years ago, Frantz Fanon said |
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