18 Wednesday, 2007… The APRM Secretariat stated that that the four institutions designated to assist in preparing the review reports of the member states as mentioned in the resolutions issued by the mechanism summit in Kigali in 2004 are: The African Union, the African Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. The Secretariat indicated that that several institutions, in particular the South African Institute for International Studies (SAIIA) have been claiming to be the designated experts or representatives of the APRM, which is not true. The mechanism warned against dealing with the abovementioned bodies –as such- and requested circulating this statement in the relevant bodies. The statement issued by the APRM Secretariat in this regard is as follows: “It has been brought to the attention of the APR Panel and Secretariat that several institutions, in particular the South African Institute for International Studies (SAIIA) have been posturing on the continent as designated experts or representatives of the APRM. The APRM wishes to clarify that only four institutions have been designated by the APR Forum as strategic institutions for the APRM, These are the African Union, The African Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme Regional Bureau for Africa and the United Nations Commission for Africa. These are the only institutions with which the APRM has a collaborative working relationship within the parameters agreed to by the Heads of State and Government at their meeting in Kigali in February 2004. All other institutions purporting to have a mandate, collaborative arrangement or specific expertise on the APRM are doing so of their own volition. Countries are advised to exercise the requisite caution in their dealings with such institutions. The APRM Secretariat would be grateful if you could widely disseminate this information including publication in media outlets.