High-level panel discussion at the United Nations Headquarters on the theme "The Africa We Want: Support of the United Nations System to the African Union's Agenda 2063". Photo Credit: Bo Li/Africa Renewal

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The African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency, African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), Office of the UN Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Department of Public Information (DPI) are co-organising a series of activities to mark the “Africa Week” (13-17 October) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on the margins of the UN General Assembly Debate on Africa.

This year marks the 51st anniversary celebration of the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). It is a little more than a decade since the formation of the African Union, which seeks to promote “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in global arena”.

The Africa Week at the UN General Assembly Debate is expected to facilitate and celebrate African narratives of past, present and future that will enthuse and energise the African population and use their constructive energy to accelerate a forward looking agenda of Pan-Africanism, the African Union's Agenda 2063.

The NEPAD Agency

Background

The NEPAD Agency, an African Union strategic framework for pan-African socio-economic development, is both a vision and a policy framework for Africa in the 21st century. NEPAD is a radically new intervention, spearheaded by African leaders, to address critical challenges facing the continent such as poverty, development and Africa's marginalisation internationally.

The NEPAD Agency provides unique opportunities for African countries to take full control of their development agenda, to work more closely together, and to cooperate more effectively with international partners.

African Peer Review Mechanism working for the people of Africa

Background

The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) was established on 9 March 2003 by the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee of the NEPAD Agency as an instrument for self-monitoring for better governance.

The APRM has, at its fulcrum, the deepening of democratic practices with a view to strengthening achievements, disseminating best practices and rectifying underlying deficiencies in governance and socio-economic development processes among AU Member States. The aim is to encourage and build transformative leadership and constructive national dialogue, through an inclusive and participatory self-assessment process, and foster policies and practices that would lead to the attainment of the NEPAD Agency objectives of political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated sub-regional and continental economic integration.