South Africa – President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to attend the 20th anniversary celebration of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) to be held in Johannesburg, on Tuesday evening .
“The APRM 20th Anniversary is being celebrated through a series of meetings and events from 10 to 14 December 2023 under the theme ‘Accelerating and Deepening Governance Reform, Measures, and Intervention,” the Presidency said in a statement .
The review mechanism is an institution of the African Union voluntarily acceded to by Member States .
The anniversary event includes the participation of current and former Heads of State and Government; the Chairperson of the African Union Commission; high-ranking officials from the African Union Commission; representatives of APRM governing structures, as well as delegates of African Union organs and entities, international organisations and civil society .
The event will also mark the launch of the South Africa Second Generation Country Review Report .
“The South African Second-Generation Country Review Report will give insights into the progress made by South Africa in various areas, highlighting its successes and identifying areas for improvement as per its recommendations .
“The review process involves an in-depth analysis of a country’s policies, institutions, and practices, conducted by a team of African experts,” the statement read .
The Presidency explained that the APRM serves as an “African-owned and African-led platform for self-assessment, peer-learning, and experience sharing in democracy and good governance” .
The mechanism, the Presidency added, promotes transparency, accountability and the sharing of best practices among African Union Member States in the following thematic areas:
democratic and political governance
economic management and governance
corporate governance
socio-economic development
state resilience
“Since its inception, the mechanism has recorded a number of achievements including deepening democracy and good governance through its unique process of peer reviews and assessments .
“The review processes have strengthened the participation of citizens in governance matters and fostered peer-to-peer engagements at the level of Heads of State and Government .
In this way the Mechanism has become a means of realising the sacrosanct principle of African solutions to African problems .
“The Mechanism fosters the adoption of policies, standards and practices that enable political stability, high economic growth, sustainable and inclusive development and accelerated regional and continental economic integration .
This is enabled through the sharing of experiences and data,” the statement read .
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