The Pan-African Parliament and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) have sealed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the official opening of the Pan-African Parliament’s 5th Ordinary Session of the 6th Parliament. The signing marks a decisive step towards deepening collaboration on governance, accountability, and people-centred development across the continent.
The MoU, signed at the Parliament headquarters in Midrand, South Africa, marks a new dawn in inter-AU institutional collaboration to enhance democratic governance, human rights, and sustainable development for the continent.
H.E. President, Chief Charumbira, President of the Pan-African Parliament, highlighted the historical importance of the MoU. “This agreement will enable the Pan-African parliament and APRM to work together more efficiently in promoting ratification, domestication, and implementation of AU common values and legal instruments”.
H.E. Chief Executive Officer, Marie-Antoinette Rose Quatre of the APRM emphasised the significance of the MoU in supporting the further consolidation of Africa’s governance framework.
“The APRM welcome the cooperation with the Pan-African Parliament as a significant step to take advantage of the strengths of each other for the promotion of participatory governance and accountability frameworks relative to the visions of Agenda 2063,” she emphasised in the signing ceremony.
The MoU outlines the areas of cooperation between the two AU organs, like mutual country mission reviews, Model Laws on common values development, mutual governance and peace studies, and follow-up on resolutions and recommendations. The MoU also leaves room for the exchange of resources, expertise sharing, and participation in each other's statutory meetings to facilitate the harmonisation of governance priorities.
The MoU will see the APRM and the Parliament collaborate in joint advocacy, research, and public information efforts to promote civic engagement and participation in governance processes. This will include having joint meetings with country parliaments during reviews for access to policy inputs as well as ensuring African citizens’ voices are used to inform governance reforms.
The partnership will also support the African Governance Architecture (AGA) Platform's goal of enhancing coherence and complementarity of AU organs to promote shared values. Through coordinating their work streams, APRM and the Pan-African Parliament will address challenges of duplicated mandates among AU institutions while experiencing enhanced impact at regional and national levels.
The two have resolved to conduct routine consultation at the political and technical levels to monitor progress and address emergent issues of mutual interest. The annual planning and review meetings will ensure accountability in the implementation of the MoU objectives and ensuring coherence with the AU’s overall policy frameworks.
The signing occurs at a time when the Pan-African Parliament is taking steps to heighten its legislative, oversight, and representative functions within the AU system, while the APRM is also expanding its mandate in pursuit of good governance on the continent.
With Africa developing toward Agenda 2063 and the AU theme of justice and reparations in 2025, the APRM-Pan-African Parliament partnership demonstrates a strong commitment to putting African people first in the provision of information to inform governance, peace, and development outcomes on the continent.
The MoU, as non-binding as it is, shows an unconountable commitment by both AU organs towards working towards an Africa that's governed in a participatory, transparent, and accountable fashion with a view to advancing justice and dignity for all Africans and persons of African descent.
The successful signing is a lead-in to the Pan-African Parliament’s fifth Ordinary Session of the sixth Parliament, which convenes in Midrand, dealing with major legislative and governance issues while further entrenching the vision of “The Africa We Want”.
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