PRE-EIGHTH AFRICAN GOVERNANCE FORUM (AGF-VIII)
ARUSHA, Tanzania, May 25, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — More than 80 participants drawn from the five regions of Africa will gather for the Pre-Eighth African Governance Forum (AGF-VIII) multi-stakeholder Sub-Regional Forum on the theme “Democracy, Elections and the Management of Diversity in Africa”.
The Forum will take place at the Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge in Arusha, Tanzania on 30 – 31 May 2012. The dignitaries to grace the official opening of the Forum on 30 May 2012 include Hon. George Mkuchika, Minister of State for Good Governance, Government of Tanzania who will deliver welcoming remarks; Mr. Alberic Kacou, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative to Tanzania who will make introductory remarks; His Excellency Amb. Dr Richard Sezibera, Secretary-General of the East African Community who will officially open the Forum.
The Special Guest of the Forum, Advocate Pansy Tlakula, Chairperson of both the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa and the Electoral Commissions Forum of Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries will deliver the Keynote Address following the official opening ceremony.
The Sub-Regional forum is jointly hosted by the East African Community (EAC), African Union Commission (AUC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
The primary goal of the sub-regional forum is to examine and deliberate on the state of democracy, elections and diversity management in each of the 5 sub-regions of the African continent, namely Central, East, North, Southern and West Africa. The deliberations will highlight progress made on the democratization path of the continent; identify remaining challenges; profile best practices and offer concrete policy recommendations.
The Forum’s deliberations will provide a bird’s eye view of sub-regional dynamics in relation to democracy, elections and diversity management, sharing lessons of experience on both commendable and avoidable practices. The policy recommendations will aim to influence appropriate electoral and governance reforms at both national and regional levels to address the challenges. The reform agenda, an outcome of the Forum, will relate directly to elections, governance reforms and the related institutional and policy mechanisms aimed at inculcating a culture of constructive management of diversity and peaceful resolution of conflicts.
The Forum will involve a wide array of stakeholders including the eight Regional Economic Communities (RECs) recognized by the African Union, Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs), Civil Society Organizations, think-tanks and governance experts, development partners and UN agencies.
It is hoped that this Forum will contribute to positive electoral and governance reforms in Africa aimed at promoting democratic, credible and transparent elections and constructive management of diversity. Additionally, the Forum is one of the continental initiatives aimed enhancing complementarity and building synergies on core issues of democratic governance and management of diversity.
The Sub-Regional Forum will offer concrete policy-relevant and development-oriented recommendations for the promotion of democratic, credible and transparent elections and constructive management of diversity in Africa.
The Sub-Regional Forum is a precursor to the Eighth African Governance Forum (AGF-VIII) on Democracy, Elections and Management of Diversity, which takes place in November 2012. More details about AGF-VIII can be obtained from our website at http://www.africangovernanceforum.org
SOURCE
East African Community (EAC)
