AfriMAP: Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project
| Name of Organization | |
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| Geographical Scope | |
| Purpose |
The Open Society Institute's Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project (AfriMAP) is an initiative to promote compliance by African states with the requirements of good governance set out in African and international treaties.
AfriMAP was established in 2004 as a response to the new commitments to good governance undertaken through the adoption of the Constitutive Act of the African Union (AU), as well as programmes such as the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and the Conference on Security, Stability, Development and Cooperation in Africa (CSSDCA), and their peer review mechanisms. These commitments supplement those already contained in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and other regional and international human rights instruments.
AfriMAP aims to establish a systematic and standardized process of reporting on governance issues, based on a framework that links respect for human rights to progress in development, a link recognized by NEPAD in particular. But AfriMAP aims to go beyond noting compliance with the minimum standards laid down by international human rights law in order to develop a deeper understanding of why those minimum standards are so often not met and what can be done about it. AfriMAP will highlight successful reform initiatives, so that other governments can benefit from the lessons learned.
AfriMAP will also draw on the concept of mutual accountability of donors and aid recipients to consider the conduct of donor countries and institutions and the extent to which they reinforce or undermine efforts to improve the accountability of African governments to their citizens. Through its in-depth analysis of particular themes AfriMAP hopes to complement and support the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and other initiatives undertaken at government level.
All reports will be publicly available and distributed within and without the continent, for use by African citizens, African governments, continental institutions, and donors of development assistance to the continent.
Themes: AfriMAP has chosen the following three interlocking themes as the principal focus of its work:
AfriMAP's mission: AfriMAP aims to help build open societies in Africa by:
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| Area of Governance |
Democracy
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| Website of initiative | |
| Publications |
All reports will be publicly available on project web-site. |
| Cost (specify currency) |
about 500 000 USD per year
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| Funding sources |
Open Society Institute
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| Source of Data |
Using a combination of own and existing data
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| Type of Data Collection |
Administrative Data In depth interviews Performance assessment / Desk studies Secondary sources
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| specifications of type of data collection |
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| Measurement Methods / Tools Generated or Used |
In order to complete its reports, AfriMAP first develops a detailed questionnaire on each theme, through a process of consultation with experts from around the continent. These questions are designed to collect information to provide a comprehensive description and analysis of the issues surrounding each topic of investigation. The questionnaires will be made publicly available, so that any institution or person wishing to use them or comment upon them may do so.
AfriMAP will then work with the Open Society Institute's African foundations:” the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, the Open Society Initiative for West Africa and the Open Society Foundation for South Africa to identify in-country partners in civil society to refine and then complete the questionnaire in relation to their countries. AfriMAP will work closely with those partners to identify priorities and carry out research at country level and to write a report that can also enable cross-country comparison and learning. Each draft report will be discussed with government and other stakeholders before final publication. The aim is for the in-country partners to repeat this process at regular intervals, building capacity in the analysis of governance problems and enabling identification of trends and lessons learned.
AfriMAP's methodology is based in part on the system used since 2000 by the Open Society Institute's European Union Accession Monitoring Programme (EUMAP), which examines governance issues in the ten eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004, and, more recently, the five largest existing EU members (see www.eumap.org).
It also draws on the work of 'democracy assessment' developed by International IDEA and other organisations (see www.democraticaudit.org). AfriMAP's assessments of respect for good governance standards will be based on a qualitative analysis of the data we collect. The project does not aim to rank states according to a quantitative scoring system but rather to identify critical issues that need addressing, positive or worrying trends, and successful reform efforts from which other countries could learn |
| List of Indicators |
AfriMAP uses a wide range of indicators relevant to the topics being covered, taken from both international and African standards. |
| Main Outcomes (Products) |
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| Main Users |
Civil society Donor agencies International agencies Media Policy makers Researchers
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