CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION: THE APRM PROCESS AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN BENIN __________________________________________________________________________ which is based in Porto-Novo and is entrusted with the mandate to resolve disputes arising between the state and citizens. 41. For the first time in the history of the APRM a ‘recap’ meeting was held at the end of the visit at a dinner, chaired by the president of the republic. It was attended by members of government and top officials of the administration, as well as representatives of civil society and the business community. During this meeting the review team presented the main provisional results of the consultations, highlighting the great achievements by Benin and the challenges identified in the review. In his address, the head of state of Benin reaffirmed his willingness to make the APRM a tool for good governance in his country. He emphasised the fact that the people of Benin were committed to developing a robust programme of action for implementing the recommendations of the APRM assessment. 42. At the end of the first mission the review team could not produce an initial draft report. This was because of the limited time set for the mission, which had been spent mainly on the discussions that were characterised by massive and inclusive participation of all sections of Beninese society. However, the activities were continued at an accelerated pace during the three weeks that followed the review mission. In order to finalise the report and to get clarity on the relevance of some documents provided to the CRM, a follow-up mission was carried out between 4 and 12 October 2007. During this visit the CRM had the honour of attending a Cabinet meeting at the invitation of the president of the republic. This was also the first meeting of its kind in the history of the APRM. During this memorable session, personally chaired by the head of state, the APRM had the opportunity to exchange views with all members of the government on issues or information of concern. The CRM also visited the Songhaï Centre, which is internationally renowned as an agricultural training and production extension centre for young Beninese and Africans. Its work is based on the principle of “Don’t Lose Anything”, either in agriculture or stock breeding. 43. The outcome of this intensive work is organised as follows. This introductory chapter is followed by the presentation, in Chapter Two, of some historical landmarks. Chapters Three to Six present the findings of the review mission in the four focus areas of the APRM: democracy and political governance, economic governance and management, corporate governance, and socioeconomic development. Each of these four focus chapters begins with an analysis of the situation in Benin concerning the signing and ratification of the codes and standards contained in the APRM methodology. The analysis of each objective begins with a brief summary of the country’s self-assessment report on the particular objective. This is followed by the findings of the meetings between the review mission and stakeholders at both national and departmental levels and then by the conclusions of the assessment mission. The conclusions are based on documentary research and on meetings with stakeholders at both national and departmental levels. The analysis ends with the recommendations by the APR Panel on those issues of governance that are considered to be important for the completion of measures that the authorities themselves are already taking, or intend to take, following the self-assessment 41