"The right to participate in the political and economic life of one's state is guaranteed in most African constitutions as well as in regional and international human rights instruments. It is practiced in various froms, one of which is through elections. Zambia and Uganda are among African countries that have embarked on the democratisation process. The leadership of the two countries ascribed to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), launched in October 2001. NEPAD emphasises a "common vision and a firm and shared conviction" by African leaders for Africa's development. It is the determination of Africans to extricate themselves and the continent from the malaise of underdevelopment and exclusion in a globalising world. ... Since the return to multiparty politics in 1991, Zambia has had periodic elections every five years, the latest being in December 2001. Uganda too, after two decades of instability and military dictatorship, returned to the path of democracy under the leadership of Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and the National Resistance Movement (NRM) and had the latest elections in June 2001, although in contrast to Zambia, it was held on the basis of a "no-party" system. Common to the elections in the two countries are alleged electoral malpractices. The electoral processes in place in the two countries have perpetuated the trend. As a result, the electorate have been cheated of their genuine choices. For NEPAD to achieve the vision it postulates, Africa requires committed leadership borne out of free, fair, open and democratic electoral processes. Africa needs electoral practices that guarantee fairness, inclusiveness and accountability of the elected to the electorate. Zambia and Uganda must adopt electoral practices that would foster democracy in the two countries and in line with the NEPAD vision for Africa stipulated in the Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance (DDPECG). ... This thesis consists of five chapters. The first chapter outlines the context of the study. Chapter two is devoted to a study of NEPAD objectives, goals and tasks with particular attention to democracy, good governance, and free and fair and periodic elections. Chapter three looks at the electoral and legal framework of Zambia while chapter four addresses the electoral and legal frame of Uganda. Chapter five is a summary of the study and makes conclusions from the entire study and some recommendations for the adoption of particular electoral practices by the two countries, NEPAD, the civil society and the donor community." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2004. / Prepared under the supervision of Professor J. Oloka-Onyango at the Faculty of Law, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

<p>In this mini-thesis, I explore the New Partnership for Africa&rsquo / s Development&rsquo / s (NEPAD) Economic and Corporate Governance Initiative (ECGI). I argue that although this initiative is not the only means to, nor the end of determining whether the NEPAD is being implemented, the ECGI can be used as a good indicator of whether one important dimension of the NEPAD is implemented. I establish whether, through an analysis of the ECGI, that dimension of the NEPAD is being implemented by looking at the countries where the ECGI was implemented. I maintain the position that through the NEPAD, good governance in African countries is promoted and that is why the authors of the NEPAD document created the ECGI.</p>

<p>In this mini-thesis, I explore the New Partnership for Africa&rsquo / s Development&rsquo / s (NEPAD) Economic and Corporate Governance Initiative (ECGI). I argue that although this initiative is not the only means to, nor the end of determining whether the NEPAD is being implemented, the ECGI can be used as a good indicator of whether one important dimension of the NEPAD is implemented. I establish whether, through an analysis of the ECGI, that dimension of the NEPAD is being implemented by looking at the countries where the ECGI was implemented. I maintain the position that through the NEPAD, good governance in African countries is promoted and that is why the authors of the NEPAD document created the ECGI.</p>

Magister Artium - MA / In this mini-thesis, I explore the New Partnership for Africa's Development's (NEPAD) Economic and Corporate Governance Initiative (ECGI). I argue that although this initiative is not the only means to, nor the end of determining whether the NEPAD is being implemented, the ECGI can be used as a good indicator of whether one important dimension of the NEPAD is implemented. I establish whether, through an analysis of the ECGI, that dimension of the NEPAD is being implemented by looking at the countries where the ECGI was implemented. I maintain the position that through the NEPAD, good governance in African countries is promoted and that is why the authors of the NEPAD document created the ECGI. / South Africa

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / South Africa

This study seeks to investigate the effectiveness of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) in fostering good governance practices in Africa. The APRM was established in 2003 subsequent to the launch of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) in 2001, as an instrument to monitor the adoption and implementation of policies and practices that would lead to political stability, high economic growth and accelerated regional cooperation and integration as set out in the NEPAD document. The ultimate goal of the APRM is to instil good governance in Africa, which NEPAD considers the sine qua non for Africa’s development. The principal finding of this study is that the mechanism of peer review through the APRM has the potential to foster good governance in Africa, and thus, to pave the way to poverty alleviation and development. The peer review process provides an opportunity for participating countries to become aware of the strengths and shortcomings in their policy-making, governance institutions and practices and to share best practices of administrative, political and economic governance. It offers a forum for dialogue, peer learning, and regional and continental cooperation in which the challenges facing African countries, both individually and collectively, can be tackled. The APRM has initiated a process of dialogue between government and other societal actors (mainly civil society and business) about governance and development issues and how these can best be addressed. This is an important step towards the consolidation of democracy and better governance in Africa. It is for these benefits and for the potential for better governance that the APRM needs all the political and financial support it can get. The APRM is, however fraught with many challenges, which are likely to impede the effectiveness of its contribution. These challenges include the voluntary nature of the APRM, its inability to enforce policy, the absence of adequate funding, poor and limited administrative resources for implementation. In addition, the weak civil society in most African states militates against meaningful participation in and contribution to the process of peer review. Addressing these obstacles is imperative for the APRM to deliver its full potential. To this end, the study proffers a number of recommendations, which include the provision of strong political and financial support from African states, capacity building of national institutions that oversee government performance, such as the parliament and civil society, and the consistent financial support of donors and the international community. The study reveals that the road to a successful and effective APRM, and thus to a peaceful and prosperous Africa may lie in the future, but the foundation for Africa’s political and economic renaissance must be laid now. / Thesis (PhD (Public Affairs))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA) / unrestricted

"The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is an African Union (AU) mandated programme whose main focus is to address key social, economic, and political issues for the African continent. Within the NEPAD programme and vision is the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), which has been described as a system of self-assessment, constructive peer dialogue, persuasion, and sharing of experience among member states of the African Union. The APRM is the execution mechanism for NEPAD, whose mandate is to monitor the preformance of states in different programme areas including human rights. The mandate on human rights monitoring falls within the political governance component of the NEPAD Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance (NEPAD Declaration). The APRM has been introduced with a human rights monitoring component in a context where there already exist a number of other human rights mechanisms and institutions such as the African Commission. The proposed processes of the APRM in monitoring human rights in some ways resemble those of the African Commission while at the same time there are major differences between these mechanisms. For example, while the Africa Commission is a quasi-judicial body, which engages in legal processes, the APRM is a political process where heads of state are among the main actors. Some analysts have expressed the view that the creation of the APRM as a political process adds a vital component to the human rights monitoring in Africa which, since the creation of the African Commission, has remained purely legal and thus had limited success in ensuring human rights protection in Africa. While some have shared their doubt over the added value and role of the APRM in human rights monitoring, others have hailed it for providing a forum where heads of state will make political commitments for the protection of human rights. In this regard, the aim of this study is to analyse the role that the APRM will play in human rights monitoring in Africa. This analysis is done in relation to the work that is being done by the African Commission and the challenges that it has confonted over the years. In analysing the role of the APRM in human rights monitoring, this study unpacks the concept of peer review and analyse its practical implementation in Africa, especially in the field of human rights. This study also explores the implications on human rights protection and promotion of the co-existence of the African Commission and the APRM. ... Chapter 1 states the research questions/hypothesis, objectives of the study, relevance of study and literature review. It also looks at the scope and limitations of the study. Chapter 2 gives background information to the concept of peer review, how it is used in ensuring compliance with set standards by states and organisation. An analysis of the use of peer review by other international organisations is done. Further it gives an analysis of the APRM with a specific focus on its human rights monitoring role. Chapter 3 provides a brief background of the African Commission, its mandate and the challenges confronting it in its work. Thereafter there is an analysis of the challenges of the APRM in human rights monitoring and protection. Furthermore, the chapter critically analyses and evaluates peer review and its application in human rights monitoring in Africa. This chapter also highlights the similarities, overlaps and differences in the work and mandate of the APRM and the African Commission. Chapter 4 is the concluding chapter, which also provides recommendations for enhancing the efficiency and the co-operation of the APRM and the African Commission." -- Chapter 1. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2003. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

The emergence of the African Union (AU) is seen as an effort to reposition Africa for the challenges of contemporary global realpolitik and, in particular, it provides a road map towards the attainment of a political union. The institutional architecture of the AU, modelled after the European Union (EU), indicates an intention on the part of the architects of the AU to endow the organisation with supranational attributes. However, none of its institutions has as yet started to exercise supranational powers. It is against this background that this thesis explores the feasibility of transforming the AU from a mere intergovernmental organisation into a supranational entity. In the course of the investigation, it was found that a major obstacle to realising this is the absence of shared democratic norms and standards, a consequence of the unconditional membership ideology of the AU. This thesis argues that the starting point of closer integration in Africa should be the cultivation and adoption of shared norms and values. To address this, the study proposes that the AU design an institutional mechanism for regulating its membership. Using the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) as a case study, this study shows that it is possible to establish a regulatory regime based on strict adherence to shared fundamental norms and values. A major recommendation is the transformation of the APRM into a legally binding instrument for setting continental democratic standards, assessing whether member states fulfil these standards and ultimately determining which member states are qualified, based on objective standards, to be part of a democratic AU. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Public Law / unrestricted

This thesis examines the notion of monitoring mechanisms and their ability to identify non-compliance. The Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) of the World Trade Organization constitutes the main focus of analysis. The purpose of the thesis is to improve the current empirical account of the functioning of the mechanism, and to examine the extent to which the mechanism is able to detect rule violations before they are taken up to the court, as well as factors affecting this ability. From theoretical standpoint, the thesis draws mainly upon rational institutionalism and other approaches related to notions of transparency and compliance. In particular, the thesis focuses on the concept of the so called information systems in international regimes. As regards methodology, the thesis relies on the method of content analysis the purpose of which is to procure empirical evidence of occurrence of matters related to non-compliance in trade policy reviews. Thus procured empirical evidence is then subjected to statistical analysis, including logistic regression. The thesis finds that TPRM covers surprisingly large number of matters that later become subjects of judicially confirmed rule-violations at the WTO. As much as 72% of the matters that are eventually taken up to court are mentioned in trade policy...

近年來英語教學特別重視聽力對於英語學習的重要性，然而臺灣的英語教育仍以播放CD為最廣泛使用的英語聽力練習方法，無法因應個別學習者聽力上的個別差異需求，進行重聽段落的自我調整。隨著科技的進步，電腦輔助語言學習已成為發展趨勢，本研究發展一影片標註聽力複習機制（Video-Annotated Listening Review Mechanism, VALRM），可輔助學習者依據自己的學習需求，進行英語聽力重聽段落的標註與重聽。為了驗證此一機制對於提升英語聽力的成效，本研究比較使用VALRM以及利用Youtube進行自主聽力複習機制（Self-Determined Learning Review Mechanism, SDLRM）的學習者，在英語聽力理解成效、學習滿意度、科技接受度，以及認知負荷是否具有顯著差異。此外，也進一步比較不同英語起始能力學習者，以及不同學習風格學習者（場地獨立型與場地依賴型），分別採用VALRM及SDLRM在英語聽力理解成效、學習滿意度、科技接受度，以及認知負荷上是否具有顯著的差異。 研究結果發現，使用VALRM的學習者，其聽力理解成效顯著優於使用SDLRM的學習者。此外，使用VALRM的學習者，其學習滿意度與科技接受度高於使用SDLRM的學習者；認知負荷度則低於使用SDLRM的學習者。最後，採用VALRM及SDLRM之不同英語起始能力學習者，以及不同學習風格學習者的英語聽力理解成效、學習滿意度、科技接受度，以及認知負荷度不具有顯著差異。研究結果顯示，學習者使用VALRM輔以英語聽力學習，能有效提昇學習者的英語聽力理解表現。