NEPAD -- THE PATH TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA?
Panel discussion organised by the Southern Africa Office of
the Heinrich Boell Foundation
Date: August 27
Time: 13h30-15h30
Venue: Boell Forum at the Global People's Forum +
[ where is it ]
Panel Discussion: The African governments promoting NEPAD have
recognised that good governance constitutes a fundamental precondition
and instrument for African development. To this end, they have agreed
to establish an "African Peer Review Mechanism" (APRM)
which makes government policies in individual African states subject
to review, criticism and - if necessary - pressure
by partner governments throughout the continent.Western donors have
declared that their future financial support for African developing
countries will depend on the outcome of the evaluation process instituted
under the APRM. As at now, few details about the APRM ’s mode
of operation are known; less so about its possible effects and results.
Its potential to
promote peace and good governance is as large as its potential to
create conflict,because the APRM implies an end to the principle
of non-interference in the internal affairs of other states, cherished
for long in OAU politics. But does the APRM really institute an
innovative means of international co-operation in Africa? Can it
be effective at all? Or does it merely provide African legitimacy
to donor conditionality?
Speakers include Davinder Lamba, Director, Mazinghira Institute,
Kenya; Eze Onyekpere, Executive Director, Shelter Rights
Initiative, Nigeria; NN, NEPAD Secretariat, South Africa; and Axel
Harneit-Sievers, Country Representative, Heinrich Boell Foundation,
Nigeria (moderation and introduction).
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