The Africa Governance Report There are many discriminatory laws in African countries as a result of customary laws and practices that undermine gender equality, or perpetuate inequalities. One of the most glaring examples of these inequalities is the exclusion of women from land ownership. There are also many laws that exclude women from the administration of estates of deceased persons who die without a will. There are also cases where discrimination is the norm, with no laws to protect victims. In some countries there are no discriminatory laws per se, however, there are rebel or terrorist groups that perpetuate discrimination and exclusion. About half of AU Member States do not have programmes for minority groups. 3.4 3.3.4 Public Participation As for the mechanisms for expression of people’s concerns, just over half the Member States appear to have them. However, civil society groups often play a significant role in mobilising and providing a platform through which citizens can voice their concerns to the Government. 3.3.5 Prudent Management Anti-corruption strategies exist in just over half of the countries. Government anti-corruption strategies in Member States are often implemented through a specialised court, agency and/or a state anti-corruption institution. Assessing Governance Performance at Continental Level Assessing performance makes it possible to identify areas for improvement. The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) is an instrument for assessing the performance of participating states. Thirtyeight (38) of the fifty-five (55) Member States of the AU are part of the APRM. Twenty-one (21) have undertaken the review and three others are on course to complete the second review. Only one country conducts regular in-country governance performance assessment. The AU Assembly continues to urge Member States that have not acceded to the APRM to do so for there to be universal accession.15 3.4.1 Overall African Governance Performance Our assessment, which analyses information from various databases and sources with strong Africa local content using the APRM Methodology and Framework shows that, overall, governance in Member States, including non APRM participating countries, has improved since 2008. This progress is mostly due to positive performance in the socio-economic development sectors. Performance in the area of economic governance and management as well as corporate governance was also satisfactory. However, much work still needs to be done on the area of democracy and political governance. The following graph shows the trend since 2008 in the four (4) APRM focus areas. 15 Assembly of The Union Twenty-Eighth Ordinary Session, 30-31 January 2017 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Decision Assembly/AU/Dec. 631(XXVIII). Page 35 of 96