ABOUT
The African-European Parliamentarians’ Initiative has teamed up with the East African Legislative Assembly to support the East African Parliamentary Institute (EAPI) to start discharging on its mandate under its parent Act. Starting March 2021, EALA with this support will start with a launch of courses which will be delivered both online and face to face. This course on Strengthening the Capacity of Parliamentary Staff is one of the modules that will be offered to staff of the East African Legislative Assembly and other Parliaments in the East African Community Partner States. The module will be delivered online in the pilot phase and once EAPI establishes a Secretariat, modalities will be developed on delivery online and other means. Alongside this module is the module on Strengthening the Capacity of Parliamentarians for Effective Representation, Legislation and Oversight which is addressed separately.
The African – European Parliamentarians Initiative (AEPI) was formed as an off-spring of the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA) after its dissolution in September 2017. Therefore, AEPI took over programmes left behind by AWEPA and went on to acquire AWEPA’s property rights, including intellectual property rights. It is in that sense that AEPI inherited AWEPA’s programmes as well as its publications.
Similar to AWEPA’s approach, AEPI’s activities are divided into programs that either take an institutional focus, or programs that are more thematic in nature. At the institutional level, AEPI works with African parliaments at a national, regional, or continental level as well as decentralized local authorities. Thematic programmes are programmes that carry a theme informing parliamentarians and mobilizing parliamentary action on specific issues through conferences, exchanges and publications.
AEPI’s overarching goal is to eradicate poverty and support the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals, through the realization of human rights, democracy and development in Africa.