Review Criteria

In the Objectives, standards, criteria and indicators for the APRM , there is a clear and precise emphasis on the political commitment to the APRM. Section 1.4 states that "the rate of progress [of the APRM] will depend critically on the level of commitment and political will of each country to take deliberate steps to realise its vision".

The clear intention of this document, which outlines the key indicators and review criteria used for assessment in the APRM process, is to highlight the voluntary and genuine commitment of African states to the common objective of improving the quality of their governance standards through the process of peer review. As such, the criteria outlined in the document are not conditional to continued membership of the APRM, but are rather the benchmarks which countries should strive towards.

The document outlines several key general objectives as well as specific objectives and review criteria for each of the four (4) thematic areas of governance in the APRM.

The key objectives of the APRM are referenced from the NEPAD Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance (The Declaration).

The standards of the APRM are also outlined in the Declaration, and are consistent with the standards of the African Union and internationally recognised standards of governance.