African Union 6 BROAD-BASED SUSTAINABLE SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Definition In the light of the NEPAD declaration, sustainable Socio-economic development implies a continuous improvement in the well-being and the standard of living of the people, which could be summarized in terms of income, health, education, environment and freedoms. For the first three of these, per capita income, life expectancy at birth, infant mortality and adult literacy are the proxies to be measured and compared. In other words, sustainable socioeconomic development is a process, which manages to combine the social, economic and environmental aspects of development, and establish a close link between these three pillars. Good governance, which is about appropriation, participation, responsiveness, accountability and sustainability, constitutes the above link and one of the preconditions for sustainable development. Indeed, broad-based sustainable socio-economic development is by the people for the people, and the paradigm of building on the indigenous is therefore the necessary condition. The African masses themselves should own, participate and become the end and the means of their development. As indicated in the document on objectives, standards, criteria and indicators for APRM, the socio-economic development section is intended to highlight efforts and progress made in designing appropriate policies and delivery mechanisms in key social development areas. To this effect, the following four objectives will be dealt with under this section: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) 6.1 Promote and accelerate broad-based sustainable socio-economic development; Encourage broad-based participation in development; Poverty, unemployment and inequality; and Progress towards gender equality, particularly equal access to education for girls at all levels Conceptual framework Cognizant of the fact that economic growth alone does not automatically lead to sustainable socio-economic development and the elimination of poverty, African heads of state and government adopted in 2001, the New Partnership for Africa‟s Development (NEPAD) with a view to eradicating poverty and alleviating other social and environment impediments to sustainable growth and development. To this effect, the NEPAD underscores the importance of peace, security, democracy, sound economic management, human rights and good governance as preconditions for sustainable development. Good governance is also endorsed by the African Peer review Mechanism (APRM). The main objective of this mechanism, established in 2003 as part of the NEPAD, is to foster the adoption of policies, standards and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated sub-regional and continental economic integration. 69