Context and Rationale
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Mission and Scope
The APKN is built on existing regional initiatives (e.g. Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie: Région Afrique; Réseau Africain des Personnels des Parlements; the ICTs Network of the SADC region; et.) and favor the establishment of other regional networks while at the same time providing a wider framework for the creation of synergies and common services based on a wider critical mass and economies of scale.
The Knowledge Network is meant to promote and enhance the sharing of ideas, experiences and good practices among parliamentary administrations in the areas of legislation, information, research, documentation and ICTs. These Thematic Networks will promote at a continental level the training and capacity development of parliamentary staff through the organization of seminars and training sessions, the establishment of online fora and shared services, the promotion of thematic working groups and information portals, etc.
More specifically APKN will:
- promote the exchange of experiences and information on the different aspects of parliamentary works among parliamentary officials;
- develop at continental level the training and capacity development of members of parliaments and parliamentary staff in the areas of:
- legislative process
- information and research
- Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
- encourage the cooperation between parliamentary staff and services and explore possibilities of joint programmes and activities;
- support the establishment of regional groups;
- act as a hub and clearing house for innovation and harmonization of activities, facilitated where possible through the effective use of modern ICT tools.
Scope
The following proposed framework of the activities of the African Parliamentary Knowledge Network (APKN) is to be considered by the delegates to the International Conference on the African Parliamentary Knowledge Network in Cairo, June 2008. It is expected that the delegates to the conference will discuss and modify them as they deem appropriate and bring them into alignment with the Charter of the network that will be finalised at the Cairo's Conference.
No time frame or deadlines are included since the scope of this exercise is to determine the range of projects and related work the network may wish to undertake. For the same reason, a discussion of resources is deferred until agreement is reached on the initial activities. Resources can then be identified and plans and schedules can be formulated for subsequent approval.
The “Africa i-Parliament Action Plan” initiative of the UNITED NATIONS will provide support to the “Africa Parliamentary Knowledge Network” by:
- supporting the coordination and planning of the “Africa Parliamentary Knowledge Network”;
- providing technical expertise to the Networks thematic areas and supporting the development of services for “knowledge-driven Parliaments”;
- sponsoring the organisation of the annual “Africa Parliamentary Knowledge Network” conference;
- maintaining a knowledge repository to serve as a reference point for advisory services, e-training, best practices, etc.;
- providing proof-of-concept implementations of ICT applications which can then be deployed in the African Parliaments.
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BOA ME NA ME MMOA WO - "Help me and let me help you" that is the symbol of cooperation and interdependence.
We think that it may well represent the ambitions of the Network that wants to build on its members' skills and experience in order to learn from best practices and improve skills and competence of parliamentary staff in Africa in a sustainable way.
