09
Mar
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has pledged to forge a strong collaboration with the APRM in driving the governance agenda in Africa. The two organization held a seminar which sought to provide a platform to share experiences and learning from each other, in Johannesburg, South Africa on 4 March 2015.
In his opening remarks at the APRM-OECD Methods and Practices of Peer Reviews session, OECD Head of Governance Reviews and Partnerships Mr. Martin Frost said the partnership with the APRM is the beginning of mutual learning and transfer of knowledge between the two organizations. He said the meeting will go a long way in exchanging ideas, identifying similarities and differences between the APRM and OECD peer reviews and will assist in exploring concrete areas for meaningful collaboration.
APRM Interim CEO, Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki said the dialogue between OECD and APRM should be supported and encouraged as it will contribute greatly in changing the governance and development landscape in Africa. Dr. Mayaki said the seminar will provide a platform for comparative analysis of methods and analytical instruments and tools for assessment to improve strategic orientation of the review report.
Delivering his opening address at the workshop, Lead Panel Member of the Mission, Dr. Mustapha Mekideche thanked and welcomed the OECD delegation. He said the OECD mission to the APRM is a demonstration of the commitment of the organization to its partnership with the Mechanism. He said the experience sharing and various strategies discussed will assist to maximise the impact of the peer review process. Dr. Mekideche pledged the support of the APR Panel to the initiative and committed to ensuring that the outcomes of the workshop are communicated to the APRM’s highest authority, the APR Forum.
The meeting was moderated by Panel Members Mr. Joseph Tsang Mang Kin and Prof. Mohamoud Youssouf Khayal and discussions focused on the quality of the peer review process and maximizing its impact. The deliberations also centered around country action plans, and the impact of peer reviews over time.
During the seminar, representatives from the APRM, OECD and from the European Center for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) shared presentations on the overview of the three organizations’ mandates, the quality of the peer reviews and maximizing its impact.
Participants at the meeting concluded with the recommendations that there should be greater cooperation between OECD and APRM and expressed the need to meet annually.
The workshop was also attended by representatives of the UNDP and NEPAD Agency.
About the OECD
The mission of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. The OECD provides a forum in which governments can work together to share experiences and solutions to common problems by working with governments to understand what drives economic, social and environmental change and measure productivity and global flows of trade and investment. With 53 years of experience in data collection and analysis, monitoring and providing policy recommendations on a wide range of issues from economy to corporate governance, employment, education, taxation, trade, science and technology, public governance, just to name a few, the OECD has accumulated a wealth of knowledge and solid analytical tools.
About the APRM
The APRM was established on 9 March 2003 by the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) of the NEPAD as an African-led instrument for self-monitoring for better governance. Recognizing that poor governance has been the major impediment to Africa’s development, the APRM was adopted to encourage African Member States to voluntarily monitor and assess the progress they have made in meeting their commitments toward achieving good governance, socio-economic reforms and sustainable development as contained in the NEPAD Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance.
Source: http://aprm-au.org/news/aprm-and-oecd-strengthen-collaboration-efforts