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Government has maintained that it would remain committed to the implementation of the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) to foster socio-economic development.
The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) is a mutually agreed instrument founded in 2003 and voluntarily acceded to by the member states of the African Union (AU) as a self-monitoring mechanism.
Deputy Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Mwansa Kapeya said the APRM was an important instrument for reducing inequalities, raising basic standards of living and fostering equitable economic growth and development.
Mr. Kapeya has since called on stakeholders, particularly the media, to acquaint themselves with the mechanism in order for them to accurately and adequately inform and educate the public.
He was speaking in Lusaka today at the APRM regional workshop organised by the Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) and the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA).
Mr. Kapeya has further reiterated government’s desire to create a favourable environment for the media to promote the APRM as a medium for improving people’s living standards.
And FODEP Executive Director McDonald Chipenzi has called on government to entrench the APRM into the national plan of action and translate it into local languages for the benefit of the public.
Mr. Chipenzi said it was only through analytical coverage of the APRM that the review can be appreciated and understood by ordinary people and further for it to become relevant to sustainable development.
He has since commended the media for the role it played in the country’s peer review held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia recently.
He also challenged the media to give the public the full truth and not ignore or blackout other players in the governance of the country.
Meanwhile, South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) programme manager Yarik Turiansky said only about 12 per cent of journalists in the region know and understand the APRM despite it having been in existence for 10 years.
Mr. Turiansky said in a recent survey of 100 journalists who were asked what the review was, only 12 of them knew what it was with 88 having never heard of it.
The mandate of the APRM is to encourage conformity in regard to political, economic and corporate governance values, codes and standards among African countries.
It has four thematic areas which measure its performance and progress.
These areas are democracy and political governance, economic governance, corporate governance and socio-economic development.
