ALF’s annual regional summit of African Parliamentarians held in Kampala Uganda in November. The summit, which enjoyed the collaborative support of the Regional Bureau of Africa of the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, and the United Nations Officer of High Commissioner on Refugees and the Parliamentary Support center in Canada, convened in November with the theme “Regional Conference on the Africa Peer Review Mechanism”. As usual the conference had in attendance a cross section of Parliamentarians from twelve African countries that have acceded to the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).  

The Conference held as part of the process of deepening and widening the support base of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). The Africa Leadership Forum (ALF) had in the past three years organised high-level meetings for African women and Parliamentarians on NEPAD as part of its determination to broaden the support base and popularise NEPAD as a continental initiative among the various segments of the African society. 

The immediate objectives of the conference were to: 

• Provide a platform to broaden the awareness and knowledge of parliamentarians on the evolution, aims and objectives of the APRM and NEPAD;

• Imbue the parliamentarians and other participants from civil society with a clear understanding of APRM, its country level processes and technical assessments and encourage them to develop a wide range of conclusions and recommendations that could enhance the implementation of the APRM;
• Facilitate and strengthen the capacity of African parliamentarians in developing adequate response mechanism for the implementation of the APRM within their countries;
• Identify the legislative and administrative requirements of the APRM at the national and sub-regional levels;
• Create a broad based network of African parliamentarians that will work together in advancing APRM at the country and regional levels.

ALFs averred commitment to towards facilitating a broad understanding and grasp by African Parliamentarians of the implications of recent strategic development initiatives in Africa informed the meeting. Realizing that African parliamentarians remain relevant as the most galvanising force for sustainable development in Africa and thus ought to be consulted on issues relating to the future of the continent.

ALF responded to this need as part of the leadership challenges confronting Africa. The first of a three-day Regional Conference for African Parliamentarians on Recent Strategic Development Initiatives in Africa held at Accra, Ghana in April 2002. That meeting had in attendance a cross section of Parliamentarians from 25 African countries. They were joined by other distinguished and accomplished men and women from business, the organised civil society, the professions, international organisations, from countries across the African continent as well as Europe and North America.>>> see full report, PDF required)

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