New Partnership for Africa's Development

HC Deb 18 March 2003 vol 401 c735W

Mrs. Spelman

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the strength of the peer review mechanism of the New Partnership for Africa's Development. [102749]

Clare Short

At the Abuja meeting of the NEPAD implementation committee in November 2002, 13 countries signed up for peer review. There has been considerable debate since then clarifying the objectives of peer review; and on 9 March 2003 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed agreeing the mechanisms. The Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) will be launched in April 2003. A group of Eminent Persons will oversee reviews carried out by technical experts. The UNECA will be involved in the technical reviews of economic governance and has had a series of useful exchanges on the process of peer review with the OECD DAC. The APRM should develop into a good mechanism for long-term sharing of best practice; African ownership will be key to its success.