EXECUTIVE SUMMARY __________________________________________________________________________ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. INTRODUCTION: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE APRM PROCESS IN BENIN 1.1 Benin’s commitment and the launch of the review 1.1 Benin signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 31 March 2004, indicating to citizens and the international community the commitment of Benin’s political leaders to observe the principles of democracy, socioeconomic development and good political, economic and corporate governance through periodic reviews by the country’s African peers. 1.2 Initially, the APR Panel envisaged that the process would be launched in the fourth quarter of 2006. However, the president of the republic of Benin, who was to finish his term in office at the beginning of 2006, wanted the process to begin prior to his leaving office. That would allow him the opportunity to provide his successor with strategic guidelines on those questions of governance that the people of Benin deemed a priority. Therefore, in response to this request from the head of state, Mrs Marie-Angélique Savané, a member of the APR Panel of Eminent Persons, visited Benin from 14 to 17 November 2005 as the head of a delegation of seven persons with a view to provide support for the implementation of the assessment process. It was at this time that the Benin authorities and the APR Forum signed the MOU on the Technical Assessment Mission and on the Country Review Mission (CRM). 1.3 The awareness campaign began immediately after this visit, in December 2005, but had to be suspended in February and March 2006 to avoid possible confusion among the population during the presidential election campaign. The self-assessment began only after the election fever had subsided. The first draft of the Country Self-Assessment Report (CSAR) was available in December 2006, following a period of uncertainty after the presidential elections. However, there was a further delay in its release and authentication by the public owing to the legislative elections which were to take place in March 2007. Thus, the final CSAR was not available until the end of June 2007. As the programme of action had not been validated by the relevant authorities, the CRM requested the APR Focal Point and the INCI-APRM to review the report before its submission to the head of state for ratification and approval by the government. 1.4 Some time after the APRM process had begun, the country underwent a change in government with the election in March 2006 of Dr Thomas Boni Yayi as president of the republic. The APR Panel was delighted at the new head of state’s personal determination to continue and reaffirm Benin’s commitment to make itself available for assessment by its African peers. In fact, he invited the APR Panel to dispatch a review mission in July 2007 in order to present the report on Benin at the Forum Summit of Heads of State 1