CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION: THE APRM PROCESS AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN BURKINA FASO _____________________________________________________________________ 21. From 19 to 22 June 2006, Professor Mohammed Seghir Babès, a member of the APR Panel of Eminent Persons, visited Burkina Faso, leading a delegation of six persons on a support mission relating to the implementation of the evaluation process. 22. The main objective of this mission was to launch the self-assessment process in Burkina Faso. More specifically, the aim of the mission was to: • sign the technical MOU on the peer review mechanism; • assess the procedures and mechanisms established by Burkina Faso in order to undertake its self-assessment exercise; • meet the NC-APRM and TRIs in order to assess the potential of the researchers to be involved in the process; and • agree on a roadmap for the NC-APRM with a view to accelerating various self-assessment activities. 23. The CRM was received by His Excellency the president of the republic of Burkina Faso and the minister of foreign affairs and regional cooperation (formerly the focal point of the APRM in Burkina Faso), both of whom personally and closely followed the work of the mission. 24. The CRM worked intensively with the permanent secretariat. It also held several working meetings with representatives of civil society and the private sector as part of the workshops organised by the authorities to launch the selfreview exercise in respect of Burkina Faso. 25. On 10 and 11 January 2008, a draft national self-assessment report was submitted for validation to nearly 200 national and local actors in both the state and parastatal spheres. Participants in the workshop came from national, centralised and decentralised administrations, from the formal and informal private sector and from civil society organisations, including traditional authorities. 26. A national programme of action in each of the APRM thematic areas was proposed in order, on the one hand, to reinforce the gains made and existing good practices and, on the other, to take up the challenges identified in areas suffering from well-known deficiencies. 1.3 The CRM 27. The Burkina Faso review mission was conducted jointly by Professor Mohammed Seghir Babès and Mrs Marie-Angélique Savané – both members of the APR Panel of Eminent Persons – from 18 February to 10 March 2008. Burkina Faso became the ninth country to be evaluated and the second nonmember country of the NEPAD Implementation Committee; hence it was less informed about the APRM and was less prepared for the process. Most 42