§ John BarrettTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made towards the formulation of a universal set of standards for use by the African Union for the peer review mechanism of the New Partnership for Africa's Development. [84629]
§ Mr. RammellThe NEPAD Steering Committee has tasked its Secretariat to develop detailed criteria and indicators for measuring performance on political and economic governance. These will be considered at the next meeting of the NEPAD Implementation Committee in February 2003. We understand that the process of the peer review mechanism will draw on expertise from both UN Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union, but the NEPAD Secretariat will have the key role in making sure the process gets started.
Pending the ultimate integration of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) with the African Union, the Implementation Committee has recommended that the specialist commission, units or organs of the AU responsible for democracy, political and human rights, be tasked to conduct technical assessments for the APRM.
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§ John BarrettTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether G8 funding for the New Partnership for Africa's Development is conditional on the inclusion of the peer review mechanism. [84630]
§ Mr. RammellThe G8 response to the NEPAD initiative is set out in the G8 Action Plan for Africa, which was placed in the House Libraries on 1 July this year.
As NEPAD is a political agreement between African leaders, not a funding mechanism, G8 countries will not be funding NEPAD directly. The G8 is committed to establishing enhanced partnerships with African countries whose performance reflects the NEPAD commitments. The peer review mechanism will inform our considerations of eligibility for enhanced partnerships. Each G8 member will make their own assessments. The bulk of UK bilateral assistance to Africa will flow to enhanced partnership countries, providing sustained and predictable levels of support to those countries best able to use it. Poor performers and those in conflict, will not be neglected, but the nature of the engagement will differ.
§ John BarrettTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the status of the peer review mechanism within the New Partnership for Africa's Development. [84644]
§ Mr. RammellThere has been welcome progress on NEPAD's African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), an African-owned and led initiative. At the 3 November NEPAD Implementation Committee meeting in Abuja, African leaders developed an agreement on a comprehensive, voluntary, peer review mechanism covering political, economic and corporate governance. We welcome the decision of 12 members of the Implementation Committee plus Uganda to sign a Declaration of Intent to submit to the peer review process.
The NEPAD Secretariat has been tasked with finalising the accession process (by January) and developing the indicators for measuring performance in time for the next Implementation Committee meeting in February. Review of the first countries should start in April 2003.