Why the African Peer Review Mechanism must remain voluntary

Membership of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), which stands at 35 of the 54 states of the AU, is based on voluntary accession. Speculation about making participation mandatory has long existed but is a mistake. As a voluntary process, the APRM is almost wholly reliant on the perceived credibility and desirability of its processes and reports to remain relevant and attract new member states. Evidence suggests that Africa’s more open societies, which tend to have acceded voluntarily, are best placed to produce the credible reports that will underpin this. Mandatory accession to the APRM would actually undermine it.

Recommendations from this briefing paper include:

• the APRM must remain a voluntary association. Mandatory accession should be rejected. Encouraging accession by nonmembers should not currently be a priority, although members acceding voluntarily should be welcomed
• at continental level, the APRM’s financial and administrative problems must be addressed. Its institutions need to have adequate resources, in particular to support member countries in conducting their reviews
• directly linked to the functioning of the continental system is the willingness of individual countries to meet their obligations. They need to sustain their financial contributions to the APRM – holding errant countries to this would be a valuable step in realising the APRM’s peer guarantee
• APRM countries must demonstrate a clear commitment to the standards the APRM establishes in their own conduct, and in holding their peers to their undertakings and to the APRM’s governance standards. This must be coupled with active and visible support for positive reform initiatives. The APRM’s participants should stand out as a ‘caucus of excellence’ within the AU