NEPAD/HSGIC-03-2003/APRM/Guideline/OSCI 9 March 2003 e. Do organised and representative structures within civil society have the opportunity and capacity to have their views known? 5.6.3 Examples of Indicators a. Extent to which rural communities are empowered to manage their own development b. Measures of budgetary and fiscal decentralisation c. Adequacy and effectiveness of participatory practice in the country d. Availability of micro-credit to SMME’s and rural communities 6 CONCLUSION 6.1 As stated at the outset, the purpose of these guidelines is to provide participating countries with a framework within which the APRM will take place and within which each country can carry out its own assessment as part of the APRM, with the assistance of the APR Secretariat and develop its Programme of Action to improve its governance and socio-economic development. This framework is enabling rather than prescriptive, specifying objectives and standards, providing indicative definitions of criteria and examples of indicators to ensure broad coherence in the country level work and uniformity at continental level. 6.2 As countries will be expected to accede to the APRM on a voluntary basis, this document will provide a basis and a guideline for those countries that are ready and willing to do so earliest. Later accessions will benefit from the experiences of the participating countries and the APR Secretariat. Participating countries will benefit in sharing policies, standards and practices that will lead to Page 29 of 31