afrol News, 6 October - The 2008 Ibrahim Index of African Governance published today by Mo Ibrahim Foundation shows that between 2005 and 2006 Lesotho improved its overall score to 63.3 out of 100 as country climbed one place to rank 12th out of 48 sub-Saharan Africa countries.

According to index’s comprehensive measures of governance performance, Lesotho has improved by at least 2.0 points in four out of five categories; Participation and Human Rights; Sustainable Economic Opportunity; Human Development; and Rule of Law, Transparency and Corruption. In the category of Safety and Security, Lesotho’s score remained consistent, ranking 33 out of 48 countries.

The most notable improvement was in Participation and Human Rights, where Lesotho’s score rose by 3.0 points.

A number of countries within Southern African Development Community (SADC), have also demonstrated strong performance in the Ibrahim Index, with five members ranking in top ten and a further seven members ranking in top half. SADC provided top two countries, with Mauritius ranking first and Seychelles second overall. Within SADC, Lesotho ranks seventh out of 16 countries.

The Ibrahim Index indicates that two thirds of sub-Saharan African countries have improved their governance performance during last year. Liberia, is said to be fastest riser, ranking 38th with a change in score of 10.4 points to give a score this year of 48.7.

Participation and Human Rights is category with largest improvements, according Ibrahim index, with 29 countries demonstrating progress, adding that many of these have demonstrated improved participation in elections generally deemed free and fair by international observers. "However many issues remain across the continent in this area particularly with regard to women’s rights. A majority of countries also recorded improvements in the categories of Rule of Law, Transparency and Corruption; Human Development; and Sustainable Economic Opportunity between 2005 and 2006," observes newly published data.

For second year running, Mauritius tops the Ibrahim Index, scoring 85.1 this year. Membership of top five remains unchanged and is comprised of Seychelles, Cape Verde, Botswana and South Africa all of which scored over 71.0.

Ibrahim Index of African Governance is a comprehensive ranking of sub-Saharan African nations according to governance quality. It also assesses national governance against 57 criteria that capture quality of services provided to citizens by governments with focus on results that people of a country experience. These criteria are divided into five overarching categories which together make up core obligations which governments have to their citizens.

The full board of Mo Ibrahim Foundation convened in Addis Ababa, home of African Union, to make announcement this morning.

Mo Ibrahim, founder and Chairman of Foundation, said progress was being made across continent in a range of key governance indicators, adding, “Obscured by many of the headlines of the past few months, the real story coming out of Africa is that governance performance across a large majority of African countries is improving. According to this comprehensive analysis, progress is being made across the continent against a range of key governance indicators. I hope that these results will be used as a tool by Africa’s citizens to hold their governments to account, and stimulate debate about the performance of those who govern in their name”.

Mary Robinson, member of foundation's board who previously served as UN high commissioner for Human Rights and President of Ireland, also added: “It is particularly fitting that during the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights we are seeing the most notable improvement in governance take place within the category of participation and human rights. More sub-Saharan African countries than ever are holding democratic elections, and I am hopeful that this will help form the platform for continued progress across the continent”.

By staff writer

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