History, Vision & Objectives

History: Dakar ForumThe AfriGAP was initially conceived as a follow-up mechanism to the Africa Forum on Civil Society and Governance Assessments, held in Dakar (10-12 Nov. 2011) and co-convened with Trust Africa, CIVICUS, the African Governance Institute and the CONGAD.

3 days 150 participants from 35 countries ++ 3 themes:

a) Govt-CS partnerships in assessmentsb) CS assessmentsc) Use of ICTs in assessments

History: Dakar Forum

97.9% of respondents expressed interest in joining an online platform to connect

participants from the Forum and provide a space for learning and collaborative initiatives.

Three features of the envisaged Platform were rated as ‘most needed’:

1) to provide easy access to methodologies and assessment reports (56.3%)

2) to provide information on relevant news and upcoming events (62.5%)

3) to facilitate mentoring schemes between experienced practitioners and researchers, and less experienced stakeholders (43.8%).

Highlights from respondents

• “Need to nurture & showcase African leadership and innovation in this thriving field” (vs. proliferation of external assessments)

• “Need for bridge-building between like-minded governance monitoring constituencies across Africa (from civil society, think tanks, parliaments, media, UNDP Country Offices, national M&E units) who rarely interact with each other, in spite of their complementary skill set and of their common purpose (i.e. to use governance data to hold Governments to account, as well as to inform/influence policy).”

Towards a shared vision for the AfriGAP

Now over to you, AfriGAP Partners:

What challenges do YOU face? (which the AfriGAP could help address…)

Technical/methodological Operational Advocacy/outreach Etc.

Our own diagnostic: 3 ‘gaps’ to fill

1. GA conducted externally by int’l orgs have less impact at country level than GA conducted locally.

2. A lot of existing governance data remains unknown to potential data users.

3. There is no mechanism in place for leading orgs involved in the production or promotion of GA in Africa to coordinate their work & achieve better results.

Our proposed objectives for the AfriGAP

1. To promote the production & use of governance data in Africa, by Africans, for better policymaking & strengthened accountability;More local data collection

2. To facilitate a two-way dialogue btw producers & users of governance data;More impact

3. To offer a strategic platform for collaboration btw leading orgs involved in the production or promotion of GA in Africa.More collaboration