President, John Evans Atta Mills announced to the Forum of Heads of State and Government of the Implementing Committee (HSGIC) at the just ended 14th Summit of the African Peer Review (APR Forum) that Ghana was ready for a second review. He said this at the APRM meeting held at the margins of the Sixteenth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Saturday, January 29, 2011.
The Forum reviewed the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia as the fourteenth country to complete the review process. Ethiopia’s Country Review Report commended the country for being one of the fastest-growing non-oil economies in the world. It also indicated that though Ethiopia does not have a stock exchange, it has a Commodity Exchange in line with the Arusha Declaration and Plan of Action on African Commodities of 2005.
The report also praised Ethiopia’s pro-poor spending pattern which ensures that over 90 percent of the Government’s capital budget is allocated to enhancing pro-poor growth and social sectors such as agriculture, rural development and food security, roads, irrigation, water supply and sanitation, education, health and HIV/AIDS.
The report, however, indicated that the challenges faced by Ethiopia are real and huge. Some of the challenges faced by the country include: deepening inclusive participatory processes and strengthening institutions of political, social and economic governance that manage diversity and build national cohesion. Ending the Ethiopian-Eritrean conflict was also recommended. The Government was urged to ensure that freedom of expression as guaranteed under the Constitution prevailed.
The Forum also welcomed its thirty-first member when H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia signed the Accession Memorandum of Understanding. The Forum readmitted Mauritania which was suspended from the APRM following the coup d’état in August 2008.
Ghana’s delegation to the Forum included Hon. Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hon. Betty Mould Iddrisu, Minister for Education and Rev. Prof. S.K. Adjepong, Chairman of the National APRM Governing Council.
Ghana was the first country to be reviewed in January 2006 in Khartoum, Sudan. For the past five years Ghana has been implementing the recommendations made in her Country Review Report. To ensure successful implementation of the recommendations, the country mapped its National Programme of Action unto the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II). With the expiry of the GPRS II, outstanding issues were mapped unto the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda.
Ghana has made remarkable achievements, especially in emphasizing grassroots participation in governance through the establishment of District Oversight Committees. The country continues to share experience and commendable practices with countries in the sub-region and other parts of the continent.
A number of challenges still remain, but the government expressed its commitment to addressing them.
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