CHAPTER ONE 1. THE APR PROCESS AND ITS LAUNCH IN ALGERIA 1.1 Introduction: challenges for political governance ―The mandate of the African Peer Review Mechanism is to ensure that the policies and practices of participating states conform to the agreed political, economic and corporate governance values, codes and standards contained in the Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance. The APRM is the mutually agreed instrument for self-monitoring by the participating member governments.‖ NEPAD/HSGIC/03-2003/APRM/MOU/Annex II 1.1.1 The APRM and its processes 1. In an effort to enhance the quality of governance in Africa, the Sixth Summit of the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) of the New Partnership for Africa‟s Development (NEPAD), which was held in March 2003, in Abuja, Nigeria, adopted the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). During the inaugural Summit of the African Union (AU) held in Durban, South Africa in July 2002, the NEPAD Implementation Committee adopted the Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance approved by the heads of state in March 2003. Subsequently, the main documents expounding the core principles, processes and objectives of the APRM, including the APRM Base Document, the document relating to the organisation and procedures of the APRM (O & P Document), the document on objectives, as well as the document on APRM objectives, standards, criteria and indicators (OSCI Document) were adopted by the heads of state. 2. Member states of the African Union (AU) may voluntarily accede to the APRM, which is a self-assessment mechanism by Africans for Africans. The APRM essentially intends to ensure that policies and practices of participating countries conform to the political, economic and corporate governance values, codes and standards contained in the Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance. The primary objective of the APRM is to encourage participating countries to adopt policies, standards and practices that would lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated sub-regional and continental economic integration through sharing of experiences and reinforcement of successful and best practices. The mechanism also facilitates the identification of deficiencies and assessment of capacity-building requirements. 29