EXECUTIVE SUMMARY __________________________________________________________________________ 3.37 In light of these findings, the APR Panel makes relevant recommendations on results-based budget monitoring, the public procurement system, as well as the internal and external auditing of public expenditure. 3.38 Fight against corruption and money laundering. Corruption has become a dreadful scourge that affects the entire political, economic and social fabric of the country. The areas most affected are the public administration in general, and the financial administration of the state in particular (taxation, customs and public procurement), as well as politics and justice. The causes of corruption in Benin are many, ranging from the struggle for survival to make ends meet at the end of the month due to meagre salaries, to a culture where political parties and the state machinery are turned into vehicles for individual success through illegal enrichment, corruption and mismanagement. The practice is entrenched in the behaviour of managers, leading to a weakness in the audit function and governing organs, in turn breeding a sense of impunity for economic crimes. 3.39 Efforts have been made by the authorities and civil society organisations to put into place instruments to lift the moral fibre in public life and to combat corruption. However, the effectiveness of these instruments remains doubtful or even nonexistent. The consequences of the scourge are evident in politics and in public resource management. There is a worsening of poverty and increased social inequalities; a loss of competitiveness of the public administration and the private sector; deterioration of the quality of human capital; and a lack of progress in the area of socioeconomic development. Furthermore, the CRM noted that Benin had not yet ratified all the international conventions on combating corruption and money laundering. The CRM noted that the bill on preventing and combating corruption and money laundering, initiated by the government in November 2006 and brought before the National Assembly, has not yet been discussed in order for the law to be adopted. WAEMU directives on combating money laundering in member countries have not yet been implemented in Benin. 3.40 The recommendations of the APR Panel call for strengthening the audit function and organs responsible for the adoption and effective application of relevant standards and codes. These are zero-tolerance measures, which the highest echelons of leadership could employ in the fight against corruption; improvement in the working conditions of civil servants; studies on the phenomenon of corruption; and improving the regulations on the declaration of assets of senior political officials. 3.41 Accelerating regional integration through harmonising monetary, trade and investment policies. Benin is a member of major regional integration groupings in West Africa, and also signed the treaty establishing the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA). It also signed and ratified most of the standards and conventions listed in the APRM questionnaire. The CRM noted that, since 1999, Benin’s performance in terms of compliance with the WAEMU primary convergence criteria was noteworthy. However, the situation is not always the same with regard to the secondary criteria, where efforts still need to be made. 15