{"id":7962,"date":"2025-02-20T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahead.africa\/?p=7962"},"modified":"2026-02-17T10:36:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T10:36:45","slug":"improving-how-democratic-progress-is-measured-in-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahead.africa\/en\/improving-how-democratic-progress-is-measured-in-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Improving how democratic progress is measured in Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance (ACDEG) serves as the blueprint for democratic governance in Africa. For this document to be more than just a manifesto of intent, it must be translated into action by those countries that have ratified it (39 out of 55). But, how can we know which of these countries are truly building democracy up? <span class=\"highlight-text\"><strong>State reporting<\/strong><\/span> is the key to determining whether being part of the ACDEG is a genuine commitment or just a polished fa\u00e7ade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-462264542891c8614cd8d36066c382c4\">EPD\u2019s Regional Advisor for African Union Engagement, Andrew Songa, reflects on how state reporting holds countries accountable, strengthens democratic practices, and highlights gaps in how the ACDEG is applied in this co-authored <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ahry.up.ac.za\/songa-a-tessema-mm\">article<\/a>.&nbsp;The article reviews the current system, challenges it and suggests <span class=\"highlight-text\"><strong>actionable steps to improve it<\/strong> :<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Build capacity in the reporting process.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Align state reporting obligations and simplify the process for countries.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Improve coordination among African Union members and regional organisations to reduce reporting burdens and enhance accountability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Engage civil society and use technology to make the reporting process transparent.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Protect civic space and allow civil society organisations to contribute to governance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u2018\u2018By improving coordination, transparency, and participation, the reporting process will become more effective, leading to greater compliance with the African Democracy Charter and supporting the AU&#8217;s goal of a stable and peaceful continent.\u2019\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-29244a23 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\" style=\"border-radius:15px;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-a89b3969 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-width wp-block-button__width-100 has-custom-font-size\" style=\"font-size:14px\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-text-color has-tertiary-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ahry.up.ac.za\/songa-a-tessema-mm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Read full journal article<\/strong> [EN]<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-columns stk-block-columns stk-block stk-146ee10\" data-block-id=\"146ee10\"><style>.stk-146ee10 {margin-bottom:-10px !important;}<\/style><div class=\"stk-row stk-inner-blocks stk-block-content stk-content-align stk-146ee10-column\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-column stk-block-column stk-column stk-block stk-5d512a9\" data-v=\"4\" data-block-id=\"5d512a9\"><style>@media screen and (min-width: 768px){.stk-5d512a9 {flex:var(--stk-flex-grow, 1) 1 calc(20% - var(--stk-column-gap, 0px) * 2 \/ 3 ) !important;}}<\/style><div class=\"stk-column-wrapper stk-block-column__content stk-container stk-5d512a9-container stk--no-background stk--no-padding\"><div class=\"stk-block-content stk-inner-blocks stk-5d512a9-inner-blocks\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-column stk-block-column stk-column stk-block stk-9b5debf\" data-v=\"4\" data-block-id=\"9b5debf\"><style>@media screen and (min-width: 768px){.stk-9b5debf {flex:var(--stk-flex-grow, 1) 1 calc(60% - var(--stk-column-gap, 0px) * 2 \/ 3 ) !important;}}<\/style><div class=\"stk-column-wrapper stk-block-column__content stk-container stk-9b5debf-container stk--no-background stk--no-padding\"><div class=\"stk-block-content stk-inner-blocks stk-9b5debf-inner-blocks\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-image stk-block-image stk-block stk-5a20eea\" data-block-id=\"5a20eea\"><style>.stk-5a20eea {border-top-left-radius:15px !important;border-top-right-radius:15px !important;border-bottom-right-radius:15px !important;border-bottom-left-radius:15px !important;overflow:hidden !important;margin-bottom:0px !important;}<\/style><figure><span class=\"stk-img-wrapper stk-image--shape-stretch\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"stk-img wp-image-7979\" src=\"https:\/\/ahead.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Strengthening-how-democratic-progress-is-measured-in-Africa-News-article-scaled.jpg\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" alt=\"Strengthening how democratic progress is measured in Africa | News article\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahead.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Strengthening-how-democratic-progress-is-measured-in-Africa-News-article-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/ahead.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Strengthening-how-democratic-progress-is-measured-in-Africa-News-article-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ahead.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Strengthening-how-democratic-progress-is-measured-in-Africa-News-article-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ahead.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Strengthening-how-democratic-progress-is-measured-in-Africa-News-article-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahead.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Strengthening-how-democratic-progress-is-measured-in-Africa-News-article-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/ahead.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Strengthening-how-democratic-progress-is-measured-in-Africa-News-article-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/ahead.africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Strengthening-how-democratic-progress-is-measured-in-Africa-News-article-18x12.jpg 18w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/span><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-column stk-block-column stk-column stk-block stk-cc99841\" data-v=\"4\" data-block-id=\"cc99841\"><style>@media screen and (min-width: 768px){.stk-cc99841 {flex:var(--stk-flex-grow, 1) 1 calc(20% - var(--stk-column-gap, 0px) * 2 \/ 3 ) !important;}}<\/style><div class=\"stk-column-wrapper stk-block-column__content stk-container stk-cc99841-container stk--no-background stk--no-padding\"><div class=\"stk-block-content stk-inner-blocks stk-cc99841-inner-blocks\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Actionable steps to enhance state reporting under the ACDEG.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7971,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"blog","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,76],"tags":[75],"grantees":[],"partner":[],"region":[45],"class_list":["post-7962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advocacy","category-research","tag-journal-article","region-continental"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahead.africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahead.africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahead.africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahead.africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahead.africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7962"}],"version-history":[{"count":40,"href":"https:\/\/ahead.africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9233,"href":"https:\/\/ahead.africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7962\/revisions\/9233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahead.africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahead.africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahead.africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahead.africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7962"},{"taxonomy":"grantees","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahead.africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/grantees?post=7962"},{"taxonomy":"partner","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahead.africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/partner?post=7962"},{"taxonomy":"region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahead.africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/region?post=7962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}