6 INTRODUCTION Burkina Faso has made accountability a linchpin of its governance. Based on this general vision and in accordance with the basic documents of the African Peer Review Mechanism, this document is the fourth report on implementation of the APRM National Programme of Action presented by the country. To improve its reporting system, the Permanent Secretariat with the support of the Programme for strengthening political governance, financed by the United Nations Development Programme, has conducted a diagnostic study on current modalities for reporting on implementation of the National Programme of Action. The results of the said study helped in improving the collection data for finalizing the report. Hence, the 2012 report is solely devoted to the preparation of interim reports as prescribed by the methodologies of the Mechanism. It was prepared through the collection of data from the governance actors in the country. The said data were analysed and processed by the Permanent Secretariat. The prepared report was discussed and validated at a workshop that brought together actors from the administration, the private sector and civil society organizations. It is structured around the actions undertaken in 2012 in the main focus areas covered by APRM, namely democratic and political governance, economic governance, corporate governance and socio-economic development. The last section is devoted to cross-cutting issues. The annex of the document presents in a summary table, the progress made, the challenges and prospects as narrated in the document. Finally, the conclusion presents prospects of improving the governance system on the whole.