Strategic Focus

The African Monitor (AM) is positioning itself as a catalyst among stakeholders engaged in development of the continent in order to facilitate a dialogue that will accelerate the rate of development in Africa. The AM will monitor the delivery of promises by donor and African governments, as well as programme effectiveness at grassroots level in order to advocate for accelerated delivery and programme effectiveness based on evidence from the ground. The AM will be a source of information to all stakeholders and a catalyst for debate. The core functions of the African Monitor can be grouped into four categories:

  • Monitor

  • Advocate

  • Promote grassroots participation, and

  • Build Networks (of African voices across key stakeholder groups for stronger promotion of the development agenda at the grassroots)

The African Monitor is also organizing its work programme around four focus areas. These focus areas are indicative of the work the African Monitor is to focus on in the next three years, understanding that they will be refined within the first year depending on the needs and demand from the ground. The four focus areas are:

  • Monitoring of Development Aid, Development deliveries, Debt: This represents an important and core area for the AM. The AMs work will involve tracking aid, debt relief resources in Africa and how they impact on the capacity of African countries to deliver on development promises. It will include systemic monitoring in terms of development promises, commitments, volume, timeliness, delivery results on the ground, quality of aid, and prioritization. The programme will mostly work by leveraging existing information and data, and developing a strong advocacy programme to call for the efficient and effective delivery of AID promises to Africa and the grassroots, and increased debt relief and effective use for African countries.

  • Trade Monitoring: The Trade Monitoring will leverage existing data on trade policies and business regulations, in order to analyze how these hinder or enhance the ability of African countries to deliver on development. The programme will be steered by a strong advocacy agenda to call for international trade justice.

  • MDG Monitoring: The Millennium Development Goals will focus on ensuring that the MDG’s are met by African countries by 2015, by tracking progress, assisting in integrated policy making and facilitating increased stakeholder participation.

  • Development Effectiveness/Impact of development on Grassroots: DEP will focus on measuring the benefits of development programmes in Africa focusing on targeted sectors, in order to draw lessons from local communities about what works and what does not. The intention of this programme will be to listen to local voices and channel information through to decision makers at local, national and international level.