Accra, Sept. 14, GNA - The first National African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) District Oversight Committee constituted to monitor the implementation of the National Programme of Action (NPoA) at the district level will be inaugurated at Akim Oda in the Birim South District of the of the Eastern Region on Friday.

The District is the first of the 138 APRM District Oversight Committees across the country to be inaugurated by the National African Peer Review Governing Council (NAPRM-GC).

The Committee is a microcosm of the NAPRM-GC at the district level, a statement issued in Accra on Thursday and signed by Mr William Kofi Dowokpor, Public Affairs Manager of the APRM-GC said. The Committee will monitor the implementation of the NPoA and be responsible for information, education and communication of APRM processes as well as information flow from the national to the district level and vice versa.

"The committee will also serve as the 'eyes and ears' of the National Council in the District," the statement explained. For the past two years, the NAPRM-GC has trained and built the capacities of prospective members to ensure that they perform their roles efficiently and effectively. Membership of the committee is open to civil society groups such as women's groups youth groups, persons with disability and disadvantaged groups. Others are community-based organizations, faith-based organization, non-governmental organizations as well as minority groups.

Mr Dowokpor said political parties and party activists were not eligible for membership of the APRM District Oversight Committees. He added that the exclusion of political activists was to ensure and preserve the openness, objectivity, neutrality and nationalistic tenets of the NAPRM-GC and its activities in the country. The APRM is the mutually agreed instrument for self-monitoring by participating African Union member countries to ensure that the policies and practices of African states conform to the agreed political, economic and corporate governance values, codes and standards contained in their Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance.

Its primary purpose is to foster the adoption of policies, standards and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated sub-regional and continental economic integration through sharing of experiences and reinforcement of successful and best practice. This includes identifying deficiencies and correcting them for the benefit of the citizens of the participating country. Ghana has so far produced and presented three successive progress reports on the implementation of the NPoA to the participating Heads of State and Government through the APRM Secretariat in South Africa. The reports have also been made available to stakeholders and the public at large. 14 Sept. 07