Egypt’s NIGSD participates in a Training Workshop for the APRM on “Aligning National Action Programs with National Development Plans”

Dr. Sherifa Sherif, Executive Director of the National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (NIGSD), participated recently in a training workshop on “Aligning National Action Programs with National Development Plans” organized by the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM); in a session entitled "Introduction and Overview of Training".During the session, Dr. Sherifa Sherif referred to the self-assessment process, referring to the Egyptian experience in this regard and the stages of the process of drafting the self-assessment report for the Arab Republic of Egypt.Sherif gave an overview of the African Peer Review Mechanism, noting that it was established in 2003 and serves as a tool used by member states of the African Union in monitoring the performance of governments. It is also a platform for national dialogue and helps promote governance and development in Africa.Dr. Sharifa Sherif explained that the mechanism relies on the national self-assessment process on four main axes or topics; it is represented in democracy and political governance, economic governance and management, corporate governance, and sustainable social and economic development.The Executive Director of the National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development also referred to the different types of reviews, as well as the second generation review, which ensures that development programs are compatible with meeting the needs of citizens. Sherif referred to Egypt's first report, which received continuous support from the political leadership, and was carried out through a participatory and transparent process by independent institutes, with an emphasis on consistency with national action programs and Egypt's Vision 2030.Dr. Sharifa Sherif noted the stages and criteria for selecting members of the Egyptian National Peer Review Committee headed by Ambassador Ashraf Rashid, reviewing its most prominent tasks, as well as the criteria for selecting research institutes involved in preparing and drafting the report. Sharif emphasized the importance of specialization in this matter. The Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies handles the first topic, which is democracy and political governance, and the Center for Economic Studies at Cairo University handles the topic of economic governance and management.
 The Center for Public Administration Studies and Consultations also handles the issue of corporate governance, while the issue of social and economic development is handled by the Institute of National Planning.Sherif continued that statistics and surveys are handled by the Center for Surveys and Statistics Applications at Cairo University, referring to the competencies of the specialized technical institutes entrusted with preparing the report.
In conclusion, Dr. Sherifa Sherif reviewed the methodology of the self-assessment report, which was carried out through desk research, interviews, surveys, and workshops. Sherif explained that an evaluation was carried out for the institutes involved in preparing the report to ensure compliance with credibility and objective conditions and that the final results were reviewed and verified by the National Peer Review Committee and the final report was translated into Arabic and English.In February 2020, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi presented the final version of the report to the African Union.In this context, Dr. Khaled Zakaria Amin, Head of the Center for Macroeconomic Policies at the Institute of National Planning (INP) and a consultant to the first economic governance project funded by the US Agency for International Development, reviewed the National Action Program in harmony with Egypt’s Vision 2030 and the African continent’s Agenda 2063, which places it on top of its priorities; promoting social justice, protecting human rights, highlighting economic growth, administrative reform, combating corruption, and empowering local administration.