Critical appraisal of the mutual engagement of the African states in the african peer review and universal periodic review mechanisms : a human rights perspective

Abstract

We must face the matter squarely that where there is something wrong in how we govern ourselves, it must be said that the fault is not in our stars but in ourselves. We know that we have it in ourselves, as Africans, to change all this. We must assert our will to do so – we must say that there is no obstacle big enough to stop us from bringing about an African renaissance – Nelson Mandela. Africa’s woes - social disequilibrium, civil wars, ethnic unrest, poverty, corruption, disease, bad governance, violations of human rights, decrepit institutions, are all public knowledge and are hardly new to academic discourse. They have been the subject of several studies and analyses by scholars, politicians and policy makers.