Africa Governance Forum (AGF)

Together, towards Good Governance in Africa

UNDP AGF

Together, towards Good Governance in Africa

Kemal Dervis

"Governance matters: institutions, rules and political processes play a major role in determining whether economies grow, whether children go to school, and whether development goes forward. The challenge of development is, therefore, not only social, economic and technological: it is also political and institutional."

Kemal Derviş
UNDP Administrator

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

VIEW AGF7 HOMEPAGE

KEY PARTNERS

UNECA

Africa Development Bank

African Union

About the Africa Governance Forum (AGF)

The Africa Governance Forum (AGF) is a flagship governance programme of UNDP in Africa. It was established in 1997 in partnership with UNECA within the framework of the United Nations Special Initiative for Africa (UNSIA.) with four specific objectives, namely to:

Strengthen development cooperation and partnerships among African governments, civil society organizations and Africa’s development partners for improved governance
Increase awareness and facilitate the exchange of information, experiences and best practices among African governments, the private sector, civil society organizations, development partners and other stakeholders on good governance
Encourage the development of concrete programs of action to promote good governance related issues and facilitate the mobilization of resources for these programs at the national level
Create an environment that is supportive of resource mobilization for follow-up governance related activities in Africa

Since its establishment six editions have been held- The first on Governance in general in Addis Ababa (1997); second on Accountability and Transparency in Accra (1998); third on Conflict Management for Durable Peace and Sustainable Development in Bamako in 1999; fourth on Parliament as an instrument for good governance in Kampala in 2001; and fifth on Local Governance for Poverty Eradication in Maputo in 2002. The sixth session was held in Kigali in 2006 under the theme, "Implementing APRM: Challenges and Opportunities."

The successive AGF sessions have provided a platform for African leaders and CSOs as well as partners among others for policy dialogue, mutual learning and exchange of experiences on meeting governance challenges on the continent. In addition and as part of its preparatory process, AGF has supported the elaboration of key policy papers, instruments and reports that have informed policy dialogue and governance norm setting and continue to be used by policy makers, academia and partners as reference on African governance is sues. The respective sessions have also spawned concrete programmes to promote good governance and the Forum has proven to be an effective instrument for promoting partnership on governance with African countries as well as with key African and partner institutions. AGF continues to be a critical instrument of UNDP Governance work in Africa.