Bienvenue aux Nations Unies
Main Expectations: - the improvement in parliamentary processes in Africa through the use of ICT tools; - the increased ability of parliamentary administrations, academia and research centres to share good practices, lessons learned and new; - increased understanding on the part of parliamentarians of the use and importance of ICT tools in parliamentary processes and capacity of MPs to network with peers and counterparts.
Objective/Purpose of Project: To strengthen the capacity of national and regional legislatures in Africa to harness the potential of ICT to better fulfill their constitutional legislative, representative and oversight functions.
Key Accomplishments (to-date): The project facilitated the operationalization of the Africa Parliamentary Knowledge Network (APKN) that was established in 2008.
The ownership and sustainability of the project by stakeholders has been ensured by involving representatives of African parliaments and staff since the first stages of its implementation (i.e. People’s Assembly of Egypt National Assembly of Nigeria, the Pan African Parliament, etc.) and by the endorsement of the Charter of the APKN by parliaments. The text of the Charter was agreed upon by 36 parliamentary assemblies in Africa and later endorsed by 11 as of December 2008.
Strong linkages and coordination have been established with the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament and the UNDESA-led programme Africa i-Parliaments Action Plan to ensure cooperation and coherence, which in the long term will be beneficial to the APKN sustainability.
A dedicated portal (www.apkn.org), enhanced with new features and tools, was created to facilitate collaboration and the start up of the Network’s activities.
Cooperation Partners:Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
Time Frame: January 2007 - December 2009
Funding: Development Account (DA)
Proposed Budget: US$249,672
Division: PACB