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The document examines the systemic overlap between political party officials, government officials, and the business sector in Mozambique, a phenomenon termed 'interwovenness'. It argues that the ruling party, Frelimo, has captured state power, leading to a culture of patronage and cronyism where state resources are exploited for party interests. While Mozambique has established various anti-corruption laws and institutions, such as the GCCC and the Law on Public Integrity, the brief contends that these are poorly implemented due to a lack of political will and the influence of Frelimo over the legislature and judiciary. The author highlights specific vulnerabilities in the extractive industries and foreign investment contracts, which are exempt from public procurement transparency rules. The brief recommends that the government publicise extractive industry concessions, that civil society increase its monitoring of business deals, and that the APRM Panel of Eminent Persons push for the domestication of the AU Convention against Corruption.

The Green Climate Fund's Information Disclosure Policy mandates a presumption in favour of disclosure for all GCF information and funding activities, while defining specific exceptions for personal, legal, and confidential data. It outlines procedures for proactive disclosure via the GCF website, timelines for responding to information requests, and the establishment of an Information Appeals Panel (IAP) to review denied requests. The policy also specifies disclosure requirements for environmental and social reports based on project categories and sets a three-year review cycle for the policy's implementation.

The document reviews Tanzania's climate risks, highlighting a high vulnerability due to reliance on climate-dependent livelihoods and poverty. It evaluates the government's progress in establishing institutional structures and strategies, such as the National Climate Change Strategy (2012), while noting gaps in sectoral policy integration and the need for more targeted funding for priority sectors like forestry and infrastructure.

The document argues that in interconnected societies, security is no longer a state of protection but an emergent process of activity. It posits that resilience has become a way of governing where insecurity is accepted as unavoidable, shifting the focus from predicting risk to developing a 'know-how-to-respond'. The author highlights the role of digital technologies in creating 'interconnection ecosystems' and facilitating self-organization through the 'crowd', while distinguishing between resilience as a general principle and resilience as a prescriptive program of control.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), acting on behalf of several community and environmental organisations, submitted comments on 11 December 2015 regarding the updated Terms of Reference (ToR) for the implementation of the Highveld Priority Area (HPA) Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP). The CER argues that the ToR must be expanded to ensure broader government participation, mandatory attendance from industry and municipal leaders, and improved transparency and accessibility of air quality data and meeting documentation.

The authors argue that current analytical approaches to sustainable transitions provide incomplete pictures, necessitating an integration strategy based on alignment, bridging, and iteration to better support decision-makers.

The document evaluates the Open Government Partnership (OGP) against other peer-review mechanisms like the APRM, UPR, and OECDA, highlighting the OGP's flexibility, civil society involvement, and potential for harmonisation with existing governance reviews to benefit African states.

African civil society representatives condemn the sudden cancellation of the 2nd Extraordinary Summit of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) scheduled for September 2015 in Nairobi. They highlight critical failures within the APRM, including a lack of leadership since 2008, financial instability due to member state arrears, and a stagnation in the production of Country Review Reports. The statement urges the APRM Forum Chairperson to reconvene the summit to fill vacant leadership roles, reform funding mechanisms, and increase civil society engagement.

The policy brief examines the transition of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) from initial 'base' reviews to 'second-generation' periodic reviews. It identifies systemic weaknesses in the first-generation process—including excessive costs, cumbersome reporting, and poor implementation of National Programmes of Action (NPoAs)—and recommends institutional reforms to regain momentum. Key suggestions include maintaining National Governing Councils (NGCs) for institutional memory, improving continental leadership at the Secretariat, and tailoring future reviews to emphasize specific issues identified in previous assessments to ensure greater accountability.

The Makeni Project has provided significant infrastructure, employment, and agricultural training in Sierra Leone, but its transformative potential is limited by poor government oversight and risks to local resource access.

The document examines the 'adaptation deficit' and 'scale mismatch' in SIDS, where national adaptation plans often fail to incorporate local community needs. Using the GIVRAPD project's research in Jamaica, Mauritius, the Seychelles, and St Lucia, it argues that many implementation barriers are surmountable through stakeholder workshops and collaborative governance. A case study of the Soufriere Marine Management Area in St. Lucia illustrates how evolving from a top-down institution to a multi-stakeholder association can improve adaptive capacity.

The report finds that while religious radicalism in Côte d’Ivoire has not reached the scale seen elsewhere in West Africa, the country remains vulnerable due to political instability, regulatory gaps, and socio-economic marginalisation. It details how Pentecostalist 'prophets' influenced the hardline posture of former President Laurent Gbagbo during the 2010-11 crisis and notes the presence of Wahhabi Islam. Additionally, it examines the Lebanese diaspora, noting that while most view Hezbollah as a 'national resistance movement' and provide financial support, there is currently no direct threat to Ivorian national security from this community.

The Green Climate Fund is developing a template accreditation master agreement (AMA) to formalize legal arrangements with accredited entities, utilizing a 'fit-for-purpose' approach that tailors conditions to an entity's specific accreditation scope. The draft incorporates existing Fund policies on fiduciary standards, environmental and social safeguards, and gender, while using placeholders for pending policies on fees and fraud. Consultations with entities accredited under decision B.09/07 have highlighted concerns regarding compliance and fees, with the Secretariat planning to circulate a discussion draft in June 2015 and conduct face-to-face meetings in July 2015.

The document describes an assessment of Uganda's legal and administrative readiness to operationalize the IGF Mining Policy Framework (MPF). Supported by the Canadian International Development Agency, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) evaluated Uganda's existing government measures against the six themes of the MPF to help the government target implementation and capacity-building efforts.

The document examines the critical role of National Governing Councils (NGCs) as the link between political leadership and technical research in the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). It identifies significant inconsistencies in NGC size, composition, and legal status across participating states, which hinder the consistency and legitimacy of Country Self-Assessment Reports (CSAR). The brief argues that meaningful independence from government, clear legal mandates, and robust technical support from the APRM Secretariat are essential for the mechanism's success. It recommends that the Secretariat develop coherent guidelines and that civil society organisations (CSOs) hold governments accountable for the composition of these councils.

The document examines the diverse range of 'Sahel strategies' produced by multilateral actors, noting a general consensus on objectives—security, development, governance, and education—but significant variations in geographical scope and implementation capacity. It highlights that while some organisations possess substantial internal funding, others rely on external contributions, creating a risk that more powerful actors may dominate the region. The brief emphasizes the need for detailed action plans and transparent monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to avoid redundancy and ensure that interventions meet the needs of populations in core countries like Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger.

The policy brief examines the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), noting that 35 of 54 African Union (AU) states have voluntarily joined. It argues against making membership mandatory, asserting that the process relies on the political will and openness of participating states to produce credible reports. The author highlights that more open societies are more likely to complete reviews and that mandatory accession would likely introduce non-credible, manipulated reviews from closed societies, thereby damaging the APRM's reputation. The brief recommends focusing on consolidating the system among committed members and addressing the APRM's financial and administrative shortcomings.

The document argues that African regional integration remains a state-centric process, largely excluding citizens and businesses due to an information deficit and a lack of organized non-governmental constituencies. While some countries like Mauritius show successful business-government integration, most of the continent suffers from low public awareness and underdeveloped civil society organizations. The author recommends public education, high-quality research into stakeholder needs, and infrastructure upgrades to ensure that opening borders provides tangible benefits to the informal sector and private enterprise.

A pilot study in Accra and Maputo found that future climate information is not directly used in city planning, as socioeconomic vulnerabilities and governance issues currently outweigh climate concerns. The authors propose a 'co-exploration' approach that prioritises non-climatic stressors before integrating climate data to avoid over-weighting climate sensitivity in decision-making. Key barriers to science uptake include sparse and unverified historical observational data. Proposed adaptation options for both cities include upgrading drainage systems and improving urban planning and building code enforcement.

The document assesses the capacity of SADC to implement post-conflict reconstruction and development (PCRD), arguing that the organisation is currently constrained by a state-centric security model and structural silos. It examines South Africa's role as a regional power, noting that while South Africa has significant capacity, its efforts are often hindered by perceptions of hegemony and inconsistent diplomacy. By comparing SADC with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the paper highlights the benefits of a human-security approach and suggests that South Africa should move from bilateral to multilateral PCRD implementation via SADC and the South African Development Partnership Agency (SADPA).