91. Finally, at the special summit on revitalisation of the APRM on 29 January 2016, several Heads of State and Government of participating States made highly insightful and welcome contributions by identifying the real challenges, presenting options on how to overcome them, revitalise the APRM and improve its practical relevance and impact. Among the ideas shared at the Summit to guide the APRM are: (i) The ever-increasing relevance of good governance in Africa and globally; (ii) The impact of APRM’s dwindling financial capacity in potentially compromising Africa’s ownership of the Mechanism; (iii) The waning enthusiasm and commitment of participating states towards the APRM and the concomitant slowdown in the review process; (iv) The need for renewed commitment to the APRM by the Member States to enable the Mechanism to fulfil the mandate conferred on it by the founding fathers; (v) The need to reposition the APRM so that it plays a central role in the implementation of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); (vi) The need for expeditious integration of the APRM into the AU structures and processes in a manner that does not compromise the autonomy and integrity of the Mechanism; (vii) The need for the APRM to foster dynamic practices aimed at improving governance, while correcting shortcomings in the conduct of the reviews; (viii) The need to overcome the tendency to limit governance reviews to a narrow definition of what constitutes a democratic process, and to underrate the potential for local solutions in taking as a normative view that governance solutions for Africans must necessarily come from elsewhere; (ix) The need for reappraisal of the ideals and values of the APRM; (x) The need for all AU countries to join the APRM and contribute to the achievement of the socioeconomic objectives of Agenda 2063 and the SDGs; (xi) The need to translate political will into concrete financial contributions to sustain the Continental Mechanism; and (xii) The need to establish a firm timeframe for payment of Member States’ arrears. 92. The Special Summit of the APR Forum concluded with the decision to appoint Professor Edward Maloka as the CEO of the APRM Secretariat. The Forum also directed that the Chairperson of the Committee of Focal Points and the Focal Point for Kenya, Honourable Mwangi Kiunjuri, convene a small team consisting of the APR Secretariat, Focal Points, the African Union Commission and Strategic Partners to make recommendations on revitalisation of the APRM for consideration by the Forum at the next Summit due to take place in Kenya in August 2016. 93. Ahead of the Committee meeting scheduled for 9– 10 May 2016 in Nairobi, the CEO convened an Expert Group Meeting to provide a platform to discuss and deliberate on elements of the shortterm Turnaround Strategy as well as this Strategic Plan for APRM from an experts’ point of view. The EGM deliberated on three identified pillars of the turnaround strategy – restoration, reinvigoration and renewal – and included discussion on important developments on the Continent including AU Agenda 2063 and the SDGs, with a view to outlining key strategic priorities on the way forward. 94. The Restoration pillar focuses on addressing the immediate challenges faced by the APRM including: (i) Development and implementation of the 2016 Work Plan; (ii) Strengthening principles; compliance with APRM (iii) Resource Mobilisation; (iv) The integration of the APRM into the AU systems and processes, and (v) Implementing the APRM Work Plan. issues which, however, are slightly different: poverty eradication, gender balance, decentralisation, country capacities to participate in APRM, access to and dissemination of information, corruption, broad-based participation, and sustainability in financial, social and environmental issues. –18–