The Governance and Public Administration Division (GPAD) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Regional Centre for Eastern and Southern Africa jointly organized a Workshop on “Harmonizing the APRM-National Programme of Action (NPoAs) and other national plans into a Common Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF)”, in Kampala, Uganda from 29 to 30 September 2010.
The main objective of the Expert Group Meeting was to provide an opportunity for experts from APRM countries to exchange views on NPoA key challenges and suggest concrete tools and ways to make the NPoA a credible and an operational document for the national socioeconomic development. To do so, practitioners at the meeting shared country experiences, by evaluating the links between the NPOAs and the national development strategies, between the NPoA and the annual budget within the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).

A synthesis report commissioned by the APRM Strategic Partners on harmonizing the APRM-NPoAs and other national development plans using case studies of four countries was discussed and validated by the participants, in order to develop simplified guidelines on integrating and harmonizing the APRM-NPoAs and to close the financing gaps.

The workshop brought together key APRM national practitioners engaged in the designing, costing, implementing and monitoring of the NPoA, from the 14 countries that have completed the peer review process. The targeted participants included the National APRM Focal Points, Heads/Members of the National Governing Councils and staff directly involved in the formulation of the national budget in the Ministry of Planning or the Ministry of Finance. A total of 65 participants attended the workshop.

The workshop ended by validating the Synthesis Report, and establishment of a standard framework for the integration of the NPOA into the National Development Plans and better organization of APRM countries in mobilizing funds for the implementation of the NPoA.