SAIIA’s chief executive Ms Elizabeth Sidiropoulos and her counterpart from the APRM Secretariat Professor Eddy Maloka inked the agreement at a special signing ceremony in Sandton, South Africa.
Both organisations share the common goal of improving governance across the African continent. The MOA will facilitate enhanced cooperation between SAIIA and the APRM Secretariat in key areas such as research and publications, events, capacity building, awareness raising and joint fundraising projects.
On Facebook, Maloka wrote “We are delighted to have finally formalised our relationship with #SAIIA.”
SAIIA has been working on multiple aspects of the APRM since the mechanism was first developed in 2002-2003. Three books on the subject have been published, including the ground-breaking African Peer Review Mechanism: Lessons from the Pioneers in 2008. SAIIA has also published many shorter studies on the APRM, and developed a user-friendly on-line repository on governance in Africa in its APRM Toolkit, in English and French. SAIIA was one of the Technical Support Agencies for South Africa’s first APRM Country Self-Assessment Report in 2006-2007, and worked on the revision of the APRM’s Self-Assessment Questionnaire in 2010-2011. In 2018, SAIIA worked closely with civil society in Namibia in a capacity-building project to produce a joint civil society submission for their national APRM process. Over the years, SAIIA has worked in over 20 APRM countries. The Institute foresees bringing this experience and expertise to bear through this MOA.
Sidiropoulos said, “The signing of the MOA is an important recognition of SAIIA’s work on the APRM and governance in Africa over many years. We will give our full support to further strengthening Africa’s most important governance assessment and promotion instrument, and we look forward to working closely with the APRM in realising its vision.”
