The APKN Secretariat is convening the 2nd APKN Council of Secretaries-General. The Meeting kindly hosted by the East African Legislative Assembly with the support of UN/DESA Africa i-Parliament Action Plan, will take place at the AICC Building in Arusha, Tanzania on the 27-28th of October 2011

Established in June 2008 at the International Conference hosted by the People’s Assembly of Egypt and attended by representatives from 37 national and regional assemblies from Africa, the APKN has been modeled around successful parliamentary networks like the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) in the United States and the European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation (ECPRD) in Europe. APKN has in the last two years become instrumental in promoting common information services and high quality continent wide capacity building programs for Parliaments.

The 1st APKN Plenary took place on 19 and 20 October 2010 at the Pan African Parliament Chamber, in Midrand, South Africa. It was run consecutively with the first Africa Speakers Conference and the World e-Parliament Conference. At the Conferences, Speakers, Members of Parliaments, Secretaries-General, Parliamentary staff and officials, experts from international organizations and academics who work and deal with information and communication technologies in legislatures had the opportunity to analyze good practices, exchange views on latest trends and institutional developments, learn from each other’s experiences, network with peers, and build partnerships in an international setting.