This year, the Data for Governance Alliance (D4GA) has been actively participating in various events aimed at promoting good governance, transparency, and accountability across Africa. One of the significant events D4GA attended was the Africa High Level Forum of South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTrC) for Sustainable Development, hosted by the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). The forum, which took place in Kampala, Uganda, focused on building national capacities for South-South and Triangular Cooperation Ecosystem in Africa and forging horizontal partnerships for sustainable and resilient societies. Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni, officially opened the event.

D4GA Project Leader Nyasha Mpani with APRM CEO Ambassador Eddy Maloka in Kampala

D4GA took part in the discussions and emphasized the importance of data in informing and guiding the approach that the African Union (AU), United Nations (UN), and other partners can use to accelerate the implementation of Agenda 2063. The key takeaways from the APRM events reinforced the project’s goals of promoting good governance, transparency, accountability, and the need for African countries to work together to achieve sustainable development goals.

From Kampala, D4GA had the opportunity to participate in a workshop on Countering Transnational Organized Crime, hosted by Good Governance Africa. The project leader, Nyasha McBride Mpani, presented on “Perceptions on Crime and Security in Southern Africa,” emphasizing the importance of understanding citizens’ perceptions on security and crime-related issues and their impact on our ability to combat crime effectively. D4GA’s participation in this workshop reinforced the importance of collaboration and knowledge-sharing in addressing transnational organized crime. The project looks forward to continuing its work with other stakeholders to promote good governance and data-driven solutions to complex challenges in the region.

In addition, D4GA participated in the first workshop of the year run by the African Governance Architecture (AGA) support project hosted by Expertise France. The support project brought together five African Union organs and members of the African Governance Architecture Platform, including civil society consortiums, D4GA and Charter Project Africa. The outcome of the meeting was the creation of a blueprint for the Voices of African Citizens campaign, set to launch in 2023. The campaign is designed as a tool to raise awareness and visibility of AGA-SP organs and partners on the core themes of democracy, governance, and human rights by building more proximity with African citizens, civil society organizations, and the media. Asafika Mpako, the Communications Coordinator for Southern Africa, represented D4GA at the Voices for Africa workshop, where the blueprint for the campaign was developed. Her participation was critical in ensuring that D4GA’s perspective was included in the planning process, and the project looks forward to contributing further to the campaign’s success in promoting democracy, governance, and human rights in Africa.

On the 7th of March, the D4GA joined forces with APRM and ECOSOCC in co-hosting a webinar to celebrate APRM’s 20th anniversary and explore how data-driven approaches and the collective power of civil society organizations can strengthen the impact of democracy, governance, and human rights across the continent. Through this webinar, the project presented data on how Africans view democracy and good governance and introduced its AGP website (agp.africanlii.org), which gives access to over 5000 legal and policy instruments, judgments, and communiques produced by AU Organs.

The D4GA has exciting activities lined up for the next quarter, which will be communicated in due course. The project remains committed to promoting good governance, transparency, and accountability on the African continent and looks forward to continuing its work with other stakeholders.

Nyasha McBride Mpani – Project Leader for Data for Governance Alliance