Governance Perspectives is a monthly update published by the Governance and African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Programme at the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA). Governance Perspectives aims to contribute to a robust and informed debate on the nature of Africa's governance challenges and successes. We hope to keep civil society groups, researchers, governments and development partners informed about issues relating to governance, accountability and democracy. Each month, Governance Perspectives will feature SAIIA Occasional Papers as well as opinion articles, and links to interesting, relevant new material.
We hope that you will visit our website to subscribe in order to continue receiving this newsletter, and look forward to hearing your views. Steven Gruzd, programme head, APRM Programme, steven.gruzd@wits.ac.za
APRM in the News
APRM Secretariat seeks new CEO, deputy and coordinator. The APRM’s website is advertising posts for a Chief Executive Officer, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, and Coordinator: Country Review Process. Interested candidates should visit the APRM website for further details. The closing date for applications is 20 June 2010.
APR Forum likely on 25 July in Kampala. The African Union has announced the following dates for meetings forming part of the next AU Summit, to be held in Kampala, Uganda: (a) Permanent Representative Committee of Ambassadors (PRC): 19-20 July 2010; (b) 17th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council: 22-23 July 2010; (c) 5th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of States and Governments: 25-27 July 2010. The Summit’s theme will be “Maternal, Infant and Child Health and Development in Africa”. The meeting of APRM Focal Points with the APRM Panel is now expected to be on 24 July, with the APRM Forum on 25 July.
ECA and PAP find common ground on the APRM. A Memorandum of Understanding signed between the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the Pan-African Parliament on 14 May creates closer ties between these continental institutions. It was signed at the end of a workshop for French- and Portuguese-Speaking MPs on the APRM in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 12-14 May. A press release stated that MPs “called on national governments to create standing committees to facilitate the APRM process. They also called for the establishment of a strategic partnership between civil society and media with national parliaments to aid dissemination of the APRM, and the creation of an ad hoc committee that would follow up on APRM work and submit annual reports.”
Pan-African Parliament’s value questioned, so too Nepad and APRM. An article in the Canadian newspaper the Globe and Mail entitled Toothless parliament a symbol of Africa’s failed ambitions criticises the PAP and other African governance initiatives. The website also links to an interesting online discussion between the author, the Globe’s Africa bureau chief Geoffrey York and Kenyan blogger-activist Ory Okolloh chatted on the question of Africa and governance earlier Monday.
Events
Lessons from Lesotho’s peer review process. On 29 March 2010, SAIIA hosted the former APRM Focal Point from Lesotho, His Excellency Ambassador HM Leteka as the main speaker in a round table discussion on ‘Lessons from Lesotho’s APRM Process’ in Johannesburg. Respondents were Professor Roger Southall from Wits University, who has followed Lesotho’s politics from 30 years, and SAIIA’s Tšoeu Petlane, who was the former research coordinator in Lesotho’s APRM Process. Read the event report and see photos of the event.
The APRM: Taking peer learning to the next level, Kampala, Uganda, 20-21 July 2010. An international workshop for African civil society jointly hosted by the Africa Governance Monitoring & Advocacy Programme (AfriMAP), the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA), Institut Africain de la Gouvernance/Africa Governance Institute (IAG-AGI), Kituo Cha Katiba (Eastern Africa Centre for Constitutional Development (KCK)) and the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) and a Ugandan civil society partner will be held in Kampala, Uganda on 20-21 July 2010. Two new books on the APRM will be launched, and the workshop will focus on the types of peer learning that occurs (or should occur) at many different levels in the APRM – between heads of state, government officials, researchers and CSOs to name just some of the peer groups created by this process – and how this aspect of the APRM can be strengthened in the future. Although places will be limited, the organisers hope to allow interested delegates who are in Kampala for the AU Summit to attend. Please contact steven.gruzd@wits.ac.za for further details.
Ten Reasons to Keep Faith with Africa's Peer Review Process
by Steven Gruzd
SAIIA Policy Briefing, No 17, May 2010
Download - English [.pdf]
Read more...
Blue Helmets for Africa: India’s Peacekeeping in Africa
by Frank van Rooyen
SAIIA Occasional Paper No 60, May 2010
Download - English [.pdf]
Read more...
Falling between the Cracks? Prospects for Environmental Litigation Arising from Oil Production in Southern Sudan
by Issac Yak Tutdel
SAIIA Occasional Paper, No 61, May 2010
Download - English [.pdf]
Read more...
The Myth and Reality of Chinese Investors: A Case Study of Chinese Investment in Zambia's Copper Industry
by Pengtao Li
SAIIA Occasional Paper, No 62, May 2010
Download - English [.pdf]
Read more...
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The South African Journal of International Affairs seeks article submissions focused on Africa's (and South Africa's) international relations, and key governance and developmental challenges.
The Table of Contents for Volume 17.1 is:
1. Will they have table manners? The G20, emerging powers and global responsibility by Jorge Heine
2. Refocusing South Africa’s economic diplomacy: The ‘African Agenda’ and emerging powers by Mzukisi Qobo
3. The incentives and informal forces of development cooperation: Key challenges for South Africa to consider by Ross Herbert
4. South Africa’s politics of peace and security by Alex Vines
5. Political movements and coalition politics in Kenya: Entrenching Ethnicity by Gilbert Khadiagala
6. In permanent opposition: Botswana’s other political parties by David Sebudubudu and Bertha Z Osei-Hwedie
7. Bilateral investment treaties: The foreclosure of domestic policy space by Nicole Yazbek
African scholars are especially encouraged to make submissions. Articles should be 7000 to 10000 words long, employing endnotes for referencing. All submissions will be subject to a blind peer review, and articles must not be simultaneously under consideration for publication elsewhere. Please forward an abstract of the article to the Editor, Martha Bridgman, at sajia.editor@saiia.org.za or on CD in MS Word format via post to:
SAJIA,
PO Box 31596,
Braamfontein,
2017, South Africa.
Authors of successful abstracts will be notified with regard to submission of a full article.
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The APRM Toolkit has been updated and now includes the Nigeria APRM Country Review Report, the latest SAIIA Occasional Papers and a new external links page. If you would like to submit a paper or an article for the APRM Toolkit please email Yarik Turianskyi at yarik.turianskyi@wits.ac.za with the subject line "APRM Toolkit'.
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If you would like to submit an original, unpublished, governance-related manuscript for possible inclusion in the SAIIA Occasional Paper series, please email steven.gruzd@wits.ac.za
Opinions expressed in papers and articles are those of their authors, and not SAIIA.
SAIIA gratefully acknowledges the Royal Netherlands Embassy in South Africa, which has generously supported the Governance & APRM Programme and this series.
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