NEPAD/APRM/Panel3/guidelines/11-2003/Doc8 NEPAD/APRM/Panel2/country /10-2003/Doc 7 Guidelines for Countries to Prepare for and to Participate in the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) I Introduction 1. At the 6th Summit of the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) of the NEPAD, held on 9 March 2003, the HSGIC adopted the following documents on the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM): (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the APRM [NEPAD/HSGIC/03-2003/APRM/MOU] which is the accession document for the APRM; Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance [AHG/235(XXXVIII) Annex I]; APRM base document [AHG/235(XXXVIII) Annex II]; APRM Organisation and Processes [NEPAD/HSGIC/03.2003/APRM/Guideline/O&P] Objectives, Standards, Criteria and Indicators for the APRM [NEPAD/HSGIC/03-2003/APRM/Guideline/OSCI]; and Outline of the Memorandum of Understanding on Technical Assessments and the Country Review Visit [NEPAD/HSGIC/03-2003/APRM/Guideline/Outline] 2. These documents spell out the principles, elaborate on the organization and the processes of the APRM, and provide indicative criteria and some examples of indicators of the peer review. The APRM Organization and Processes Document also states that the APR Secretariat will produce guidelines for the conduct of the country review visits for approval by the Committee of Participating Heads of State and Government of the APRM ( APR Forum). 3. This paper elaborates on the Guidelines for countries to prepare for and to participate in the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). 4. The primary purpose of the APRM is to foster the adoption of appropriate laws, policies, standards and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated sub-regional and continental economic integration. This is done through sharing of experiences and reinforcement of successful and best practice, including identifying deficiencies and assessing the needs for capacity building [APRM Base Document, paragraph 3]. 5. It is obvious that the potential benefits of the Africa Peer Review (APR) process will unavoidably vary depending on the level of Page 1 of 20

Select target paragraph3