The Meeting of the Committee of the APRM Focal Points was held on 28 January 2015, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

In his opening remarks, Liberia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chair of the meeting Honarable Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan praised, NEPAD CEO and Interim CEO of the APRM Secretariat, Dr. Mayaki for providing strategic direction and guidance to the Secretariat during the transitional period. He said the administrative strides that have been achieved by the NEPAD CEO are commendable and should be carried forward by the incoming leadership. 

In the meeting, Dr. Mayaki presented the Progress Report on the Transitional Management of the APR Secretariat. He reported that the APRM Secretariat and AUC have jointly developed a draft roadmap that will be tabled at the upcoming APR Forum. The Roadmap outlines the progress recorded to date by the Secretariat in developing AU rules and regulations for its administration, finance and HR issues. The Roadmap further elaborates options on the integration modalities into the African Union.

‘In the last quarter of 2015, the APRM has picked up a sound momentum in the implementation of sound administrative reforms, accelerated the Peer Review Process and the implementation of the NPOAs. In collaboration with our strategic partners, UNDP, UNECA and AfDB, we have fielded support missions, follow-up missions as well as sensitization and harmonization missions” said Dr. Mayaki.

He reported that there are planned Regional Workshops early 2015, this as part of the strategy to raise awareness and profile of the Mechanism. He also outlined the ongoing transformational reforms that were undertaken to improve the finance situation of the APRM.

The Meeting of the Committee of Focal Points also urged APRM Member States to exercise extra efforts in making sure their financial contributions to the APRM are honored. 

In addition, the Focal Points chair extended a formal welcome to the New Focal Points Representatives from Chad, Kenya, Zambia and Algeria.