Libreville, Gabon, 9 August 2018 - The African Parliamentarians’ Network on Development Evaluation (APNODE) held its 4th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Libreville, Republic of Gabon, from 8-10 August 2018. The event, hosted by the Parliament of the Republic of Gabon, attracted over 60 delegates from 18 countries.
The event was officially opened by Victorien Alouba, 4th Vice-President of the Senate of Gabon, who used the opportunity to emphasize the importance of evaluation as a powerful tool to improve the effectiveness of public policies and programs. He also lauded APNODE as a network which helps parliamentarians improve the quality of decision-making.
In attendance was the Deputy Speaker of Parliament of South Sudan, who expressed a desire to learn about the role parliamentarians play in promoting a culture of accountability and evidence-based decision-making. Delegates from Algeria, Burundi, Central African Republic, Malawi, Republic of Guinea and South Sudan attended the APNODE Annual General Meeting for the first time.
The forum also attracted a number of development partners including UN-Women, the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs, the African Development Bank, as well as key evaluation stakeholders such as the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results for Anglophone Africa (CLEAR-AA), and the Ghana Institute for Management and Public Administration.
Opening the meeting, the Chairperson of APNODE, Senator Roger Mbassa Ndine, welcomed returning members, and called upon new attendees to not only join the Network, but to also embrace the values and mandate of the Network so as to help APNODE realize its ambitious but laudable objectives. The deliberations of the 4th AGM reflected on the APNODE journey and took stock of the successes achieved to date – notably the growth in Network membership, its enhanced visibility across Africa and beyond, as well as its ever increasing footprint made possible by the establishment of National Chapters at the country level. The AGM further addressed the change APNODE seeks, the institutional arrangements required, and the key strategies and modalities necessary.
The gathering reviewed the Network’s achievements over the past year, the activities of National Chapters, milestones and planned activities, as well as resource mobilization efforts. Among the many suggestions from the floor was the call to convince more parliaments to sign up as associate institutional members, and for all individuals present to pay their membership dues in full, but to also actively support the Network’s outreach, communication and resource mobilization efforts at national and local level.
The AGM, in line with its commitment to capacity development, co-opted CLEAR-AA and UN-Women to deliver a half day training session to all participants on the topic: The Role of Evaluation in Oversight with Gender as a Cross-cutting Theme. Central to the training was the goal to give participating APNODE members a basic introduction to the tools and methodologies required to effectively use evaluation for oversight. The session also provided participants with the skill set essential to leveraging on effective good governance with a gender lens.
Most of the first time attendees expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to attend, while confirming their willingness to become full members of APNODE.
About APNODE
Founded in March 2014, the objective of APNODE is to enhance the capacity of African Parliamentarians to improve their oversight, policy making, and national decision making by ensuring it is evidence-based. The network works to bridge the gap between evaluators (who provide impartial evidence) and parliamentarians; encourage parliamentarians to institutionalize evaluations; and support them in ensuring that evaluations conducted at country level are responsive to the needs of women and vulnerable groups.
Membership of the Network is open to current and former Parliamentarians from Africa and other regions, civil society organizations, private sector organizations, research institutions, national and regional evaluation associations, African national Parliaments, development partners and other individuals and organizations demonstrating a keen interest in the network.
Press contact
- Mr. Kobena, Hanson: k.hanson[at]afdb.org
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