UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- A U.N. Africa adviser Monday said many African nations are opening their governments to peer-review inspection in a new voluntary program.
Ibrahim Gambari told reporters at U.N. World Headquarters in New York that 23 of the continent's 53 nations have joined the scheme, in which the continent's leaders agree to allow their standards of governance, economic management and human rights activities to be scrutinized.
The African Peer Review Mechanism is part of the New Partnership for Africa's Development, the main development framework adopted by African leaders in July 2001 and endorsed unanimously by the U.N. General Assembly in November 2002.
Gambari added that the international community must improve its development assistance plan to Africa. He said African countries often use aid funds to pay debts rather than develop infrastructure. Some debts are incurred by the policies of donor nations, he said, citing agricultural subsidies in North America and Europe as an example.
