Civil Society Monitoring of the APRM

The report details a scoping workshop held in Johannesburg in October 2010 to launch the APRM Monitoring Project (AMP). The project seeks to empower civil society organisations (CSOs) in Southern Africa to track the implementation of National Programmes of Action (NPoA) through the APRM Monitoring & Advocacy Template (AMAT). The workshop identified challenges such as limited CSO resources, low public visibility of the APRM, and the need for collaborative rather than antagonistic relationships with governments. Lessons from Uganda's NGO Forum highlighted the value of aligning APRM monitoring with existing governance networks. The workshop concluded with a consensus on the need for an independent, inclusive, and grassroots-oriented review process.

• The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) faces significant challenges in monitoring and reporting the implementation of National Programmes of Action (NPoA), characterized by loose guidelines and a lack of concrete evidence or civil society input in official reports.
• The APRM Monitoring Project (AMP) aims to empower Southern African CSOs to conduct independent reviews of APRM implementation using the APRM Monitoring & Advocacy Template (AMAT), with pilot fieldwork planned for South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Mauritius in 2011.
• In South Africa, the visibility of the APRM is low, with a noted scarcity of references to the mechanism in official speeches, media, and policy documents, which may hinder funding and national integration.
• Civil society participation in the APRM is hindered by a lack of resources—particularly for smaller CSOs—and a general lack of awareness regarding the mechanism.
• The AMAT is designed as a five-stage guide for CSOs to conduct independent reviews: desktop research, interviews, assessment, identification of priorities, and the creation of an action plan.
• Experience from the Uganda Governance Monitoring Platform (UGMP) suggests that APRM monitoring is most effective when integrated into existing civil society governance networks and aligned with broader developmental goals.
• Workshop participants emphasized that civil society monitoring should be positioned as a complementary process that strengthens formal government reviews rather than an antagonistic critique.
• The workshop recommended that the AMP should be an inclusive platform accessible to all levels of civil society, including grassroots organisations, to avoid becoming an 'elite project'.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2008). Civil Society Monitoring of the APRM. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/ampt_scoping_workshop_report_20101012.pdf

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Civil Society Monitoring of the APRM. 2008. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/ampt_scoping_workshop_report_20101012.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Civil Society Monitoring of the APRM |date=April 2008 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/ampt_scoping_workshop_report_20101012.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2008civil, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Civil Society Monitoring of the APRM}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2008}, month = apr, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/ampt_scoping_workshop_report_20101012.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }