CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION: THE APRM PROCESS AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN BURKINA FASO _____________________________________________________________________ all levels, to render all necessary assistance to the mission and, especially, to provide the information requested independently and frankly. 39. After this initial contact, the mission organised seminars with members of the government as a whole (35 ministers and deputy ministers took part in these seminars). During such seminars, the evaluation team conducted a dialogue with the ministers on the strategic trends of the country, on the issues and challenges of political and economic governance, on the socioeconomic targets that the country is meeting or should meet, and on possible medium and long-term solutions. 40. The mission worked in stages: During the Ouagadougou stage, Burkina Faso’s capital and main city, Ouagadougou (in which governmental and diplomatic services are located) was visited. In the regional stage, the mission visited all 13 regions of the country, thus covering, for the first time in the APRM assessment process, all the geographical areas of a member country. In the final stage, the report at the end of the mission was drafted. 41. In Ouagadougou, the mission met with the focal point and the NC-APRM and discussed the self-evaluation report. Thereafter, in the first five days that followed, the mission met with all stakeholders, including representatives of civil society, the private sector, women, youth and political parties. The mission then met with all presidents of the republic’s institutions, namely the Constitutional Council, the Court of Appeal, the State Council, the ESC, and the Supreme Council for Communication (CSC). The mission also met with the ombudsman of Burkina Faso, the lord chancellor of the CNE, the Audit Court, the HACLC, the IGE and the president of CENI. In addition, the mission met with the ambassadors of the Group of Eight (G8) countries accredited to Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou and resident in Ouagadougou – i.e. the ambassadors of the United States of America (US), France, Canada and Germany – as well as with other bilateral partners and with technical and financial partners (TFPs). The meeting with the ambassadors of African countries accredited to Burkina Faso and resident in Ouagadougou was one of the highlights of the mission’s activities. The mission also met with the Technical Research Institutes (TRIs). 42. The CRM also held a women’s forum, a youth forum, a forum for officials and intellectuals, a media forum, a forum for political parties and a forum for trade unions to discuss the issues and concerns of each of these organisations. These meetings, which included hundreds of participants, were the occasion for intense dialogue. Finally, the mission held meetings with the representatives of several thematic groups such as the president of the National Council of Private Investors, representatives of the Professional Association of Banks and Financial Institutions, representatives of the Youth Association, representatives of the Women Entrepreneurs Association, and representatives of economic operators and several financial institutions. 43. The evaluation team then toured the 13 regions of the country and held meetings in their respective capitals Zignaré, Kaya, Dori, Bobo-Dioulasso, 45