African Monitor Launches New Work

(Press Release)- The African Monitor Launches its Initial Monitoring Tools and three new pieces of work. African Monitor’s primary agenda is to ensure that the needs of the grassroots are a top priority for decision makers in Africa and the donor community. The effectiveness of all development interventions and resources must be judged according to the extent to which they reach the grassroots, and change the lives of the grassroots for the better.

Where are the Grassroots in Africa’s Development Agenda?

The launch of African Monitor’s Initial Monitoring Tools

Date: 19 November 2007

Time: 11h00 – 15h00 (Cape Town)

Watch the launch live from your office via webcast – go to http://www.africanmonitor.org.

African Monitor is introducing three pieces of work, which in various ways evaluate the extent to which the grassroots are targeted, and made a priority by decision makers through policy, programmes, resource allocation and other development activities.

The Development Support Monitor 2007, the first publication of its kind, catalogues commitments made by donors and African governments to support development in the continent since 2005. This annual publication further highlights progress made by donors and African governments to support development in the continent. Developed as a baseline matrix, this publication will give African governments and donors alike, as well as international and continental development organisations a useful resource for identifying implementation gaps. Furthermore, it gives different stakeholders within civil society, including faith-based communities, grassroots organisations, non-governmental organisations, business, academia and the media a great monitoring resource to track progress being made to attain development objectives in the continent.

The 4-Country Pilot Synthesis Report will introduce results from a study conducted in Ghana, Rwanda, Mozambique and Chad to comprehensively track donor commitments (Aid and Debt Relief) and flows; as well as evaluate the effective use of development resources by African governments. The study measures the extent of their impact on the grassroots, and highlights the need for better targeting, prioritization and participation of the grassroots in Africa’s development agenda.

The Grassroots Focus Index (GFI) is a composite index being introduced by the African Monitor as an initiative to measure the extent to which African governments and donors prioritize the grassroots in policy, sectoral focus, budget allocations, service delivery and participation activities. The GFI is an initiative that will promote a development policy environment that puts at the centre stage the needs of the grassroots populations, as they are the most poverty-affected populations in Africa.


Notes:
The Most Reverend Njongo Ndungane is the outgoing Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town. He is the founder of African Monitor and also chairs its board of trustees as the President.
The afore-mentioned documents will be made available on the day of the launch, as well as on African Monitor’s website. Please visit http://www.africanmonitor.org


African Monitor is an independent African body, which acts as a catalyst to monitor development funding commitments, delivery and impact on the grassroots, and to bring strong additional African voices to the development agenda.

For further information, contact Jill Kronenberg at or by fax to +27 21 712 1082. For further content-related information please contact Namhla Mniki, Programmes Director of African Monitor, on tel. +27 21 713 2801/2/3/4 or e-mail .

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