Executive Summary 1. The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) is Africa’s most innovative and ambitious initiative on governance. It was launched in 2003 as a voluntary mechanism for self- and peer-assessment of governance policies and practices by Member States of the African Union. 2. In the thirteen years since its formation, the APRM has registered significant progress, with its member states increasing from six at the beginning to 35 today. As of May 2016, twenty Member States have completed APRM Country Review Missions. However, the APRM has also faced a number of challenges in recent years, some of an institutional nature. This has led to the launching of a threepronged strategy of revitalisation aimed at restoration, reinvigoration, and renewal of the APRM. 3. methods by which the deficiencies would be rectified, and the best practices disseminated and replicated across the continent. The ultimate aim of the APRM is to encourage and foster the building of transformative leadership and continuing constructive national dialogue through inclusive and participatory self- and peer-assessment processes. The work of the APRM can contribute to better service delivery by making public officials accountable to ordinary citizens, who are given a special avenue through the national review exercise to express their views on the performance of their governments in all four thematic areas. The revitalisation effort further aims to bring the APRM in line with the evolving realities on the Continent and globally. The APRM was founded at the time of transition from the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to the African Union (AU) and at the beginning of the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which since have expired. The AU is now a mature institution, with most of its organs fully operational. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have since replaced the MDGs. In addition, the AU has now developed a 50-year plan for Africa's renaissance, known as Agenda 2063. Therefore, in its revitalisation, and in order to remain relevant, the APRM has to keep abreast of these new developments and provide leadership in its areas of competence. This is the goal of the APRM’s five-year Strategic Plan (2016–2020). 4. In pursuit of these aims, the APRM shall be guided by the African Union Shared Values that were endorsed by the 14th Session of the AU Assembly in January 2011. The pursuit of these values is vested in the African Governance Architecture (AGA), where the African Peer Review Mechanism has been identified as one of the key Pan-African institutions. 5. Informed by these values, the APRM has, as its core mission, the deepening of democratic practices through, inter alia, review of national policies and practices against established standards of good governance, identification of deficiencies as well as best practices, and development of tools and –1– 6. In the first thirteen years of its operation, the APRM has consistently pursued the cause of transformative governance in the continent. The continental call for transformational change has resulted in the adoption of the African Union Agenda 2063, which is a combined Vision and Action Plan for the next 50 years that comprises seven aspirational goals for the Continent. Several Agenda 2063 goals are central to the mandate of the APRM, including aspirational goal three, which seeks “an Africa of good governance, democracy, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law”. 7. At the 23rd AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on 24–26 June 2014, the Assembly adopted a Decision to integrate the APRM as an autonomous entity within the AU System. This Decision will catalyse the ability of the APRM to play a greater role within the African Union System. The African Union has observed that participation and inclusion of all stakeholders in the implementation and monitoring and evaluation of Agenda 2063 is one of the building blocks for the success of the Agenda. The APRM is able to make an invaluable contribution to the implementation of Agenda 2063 through its inclusive processes and capability to mobilise its vast network for input from the public and private sectors, civil society and all levels of government.