West African Centre For The Advancement Of APRIM Formed
The West African Centre for the Advancement of African Peer Review Mechanism (WACAA), a sub-regional body to enhance policies, standards and norms to promote regional co-operation and integration, was formed last Monday.
The centre, the brain child of Ghana, Togo and Benin, seeks to rely on home-grown solutions and factors in contextual issues in the different countries.
'This is in sharp contrast to the APRM Secretariat and ECOWAS which operate on formal procedures and mandates,' Dr Francis Appiah, the Executive Secretary of the National African Peer Review Mechanism-Governing Council (NAPRM-GC), stated at a roundtable conference in Accra.
The conference, which was attended by participants from the three countries and the donor community, discussed the building of a shared regional knowledge-based organisation to promote democracy and good governance in West Africa within the frame work of the APRM.
Dr Appiah said WACAA will also build a bridge between the state and civil society, foster dialogue at national, sub-regional and international levels and work to support other countries going through the APRM programmes.
Speaking on 'Promoting Good Governance in West Africa,' he said eight West African countries have subscribed to the APRM since its inception in 2003.
The APRM concept operates under the principles of participating states voluntarily submitting themselves to civil society assessment and evaluation in four thematic areas.
The areas are democracy and good political governance, economic governance and management, co-operate governance and socio-economic development.
Rev Prof S.K Adjepong, the Chairman of NAPRM-GC, said the APRM process has provided institutional space for civil society dialogue with the public, while the governing councils have created platforms for non-partisan discourse.
Using the Ghanaian achievement to encourage other African countries, Rev Prof Adjepong said the participation of the people in the APRM is being deepened with the formation of district APRM over sight committees.
He said those committees are voluntary associations of civil society and public sector actors who undertook education and sensitisation activities, as well as monitored the implementation of the programme of action at the local level.
Rev Prof Adjepong lauded the formation of WACAA, as it will help harmonise sub-regional efforts in promoting the tenets of democracy, good governance and accountable leadership.
Ms B. Do Rego, the Chairperson of the APRM Commission of Benin, commended Ghana for its leadership role in the sub-region, which serves as stimulus for other APRM participating countries to emulate. 'We will continue to compare notes with our Ghanaian brothers and sisters for the benefit of our two countries,' she stated.
The Accra WACAA Conference tasked Ghana and Benin to set up a steering committee to follow up on issues raised during the meeting, mobilise civil society participation in the APRM process and integrate APRM decentralised structures into WACAA operations.