CHAPTER ONE: THE APR PROCESS AND ITS LAUNCH IN ALGERIA 34. The team was received by the ministries concerned and by parliamentary institutions such as the National Assembly and Senate; and at the local level by decentralised authorities and local people‟s assemblies. The CRM also held meetings with the Bank of Algeria, specialised institutions such as the CNES, the High Islamic Council, the High Council of the Arabic Language and the High Commission for Amazighité. Other entities consulted included various commercial and professional bodies, the Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises and the Chamber of Commerce. 35. In addition to these consultations, the CRM also held working sessions with United Nations organisations (UNDP, UNICEF, WFP and UNHCR), the World Bank, representatives of the European Union and the G8. One of the high points was the working session with the African diplomats assigned to Algeria, in which the CRM introduced the ambassadors to the APRM and engaged in interesting debates on its implementation and future prospects in terms of a greater number of African countries acceding to this continental initiative. 36. Alternating with the stage of the visit in Algiers, the CRM toured 11 wilayas, representing the geographical and sociocultural diversity of the country and covering the six regions: Coastal Region, East, West, High Plateaux, South and Great South. The following wilayas were visited: Guelma, Annaba, Sétif, Bordj Bou-Arréridj, Oran, Mostaganem, Tlemcen, Ghardaïa, Ouargla, Tamanrasset and Tizi-Ouzou. 37. At each stage the CRM organised forums for 300–500 participants depending on the location, followed by thematic workshops with stakeholders grouped according to areas of interest. In these wilayas, the CRM visited development projects and programmes, and infrastructural and social housing projects. 38. The role of the NGC, the Deputy Minister for Maghrebian and African Affairs and the APR Focal Point in Algeria, as well as the Chair of the NGC, played a particularly important role in the organisation of the CRM. A joint communiqué was released at the conclusion of the mission. 39. Despite these successes, the CSAR revealed shortcomings in the analysis of the complex situations in this vast country. The CRM felt that opinion surveys should be conducted to obtain a wide spectrum of views on the state of governance in the country, as required by the Base Document adopted by the Forum of APRM Heads of States. A road map was drawn up jointly by the CRM and the Focal Point in view of the CRM‟s return to Algeria in March to learn about the results of the surveys and incorporate them into the final report. 40. In order to do this, these technical research institutes were selected to carry out the exercise: the INESG for democracy and political governance; CREAD for economic governance; the Research Centre for Social and Cultural Anthropology for socio-economic development; and Tlemcen University for corporate governance. The detailed results of the surveys and studies were 37