CHAPTER ONE: THE APR PROCESS AND ITS LAUNCH IN ALGERIA 11. Stage Four begins when the CRM‟s final report and the country‟s final PoA are sent to the APR Secretariat and the APR Panel for consideration. The Panel then submits the documents to the APR Forum of Participating Heads of State and Government for consideration and for the formulation of actions deemed necessary in accordance with the mandate of the APR Forum. If the country demonstrates a desire to remedy the identified shortcomings, it will be incumbent on participating governments to provide all assistance within their power, and to urge governments and donor institutions to assist the country under review. 12. Stage Five is the final stage of the APR process. Six months after the report has been considered by the heads of state and government of the participating countries, it is formally and publicly tabled in key regional and sub-regional structures. These bodies include the Regional Economic Commission to which the country belongs, the Pan-African Parliament, the African Commission on Human and People‟s Rights, the Peace and Security Council, and the AU‟s Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC). 13. The timetable for this process may vary considerably from country to country, depending on country specificity. The estimated duration for each peer review as from Stage One up to Stage Four is between six and nine months. 14. This country report marks the third stage of the APR process in Algeria and presents the findings of the CRM and the Panel‟s recommendations to the country. The report consists of seven chapters. In addition to the Executive Summary and the two first two chapters on the implementation of the APR process and the historical overview of modern Algeria respectively, the next four chapters assess the achievements and main challenges in the four focus areas (Democracy and Political Governance; Economic Governance and Management; Corporate Governance; and Socio-economic Development). Chapter Seven is a discussion of the overarching issues identified as crucial in the light of their impact on governance in the country and the immediate and urgent attention they necessitate. 1.1.2 Implementation of the APR process in Algeria 15. 32 Algeria was one of the pioneer countries in the accession to the APRM. In conjunction with Ghana, Kenya and South Africa, Algeria voluntarily acceded to the APRM in March 2003 in Abuja, Nigeria. This accession led to the appointment of the Minister of State for African and Maghrebian Affairs as the Focal Point, and to the establishment of a National Governing Council (NGC) by the head of government on 12 March 2005. From 21–25 July 2005, Madame Marie-Angélique Savané, Member of the Panel of Eminent Persons of the APRM, visited Algeria as part of the CSM for the implementation of the self-assessment process. The main goal of the CSM was to launch the selfassessment process in Algeria. More specifically, it was a matter of: