EXECUTIVE SUMMARY __________________________________________________________________________ development programmes. Benin has, for a long time, benefited from the HIPC Initiative and is one of the Cotton 4 (C4) LDCs in the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) cotton initiative, along with all its commitments at the subregional level (WAEMU, ECOWAS, and so forth). All these factors undermine autonomy in effective socioeconomic development. 3.65 Furthermore, the eradication of poverty and improvement of the quality of life constitute major challenges that the authorities will need to address. Indeed, the authorities will have to address the concerns of the population, which in March 2006 expressed the need to have a renovated political class that can provide concrete answers to its problems as soon as possible. Economic vigour is one way of achieving this objective. To that end, the new authorities set the target date of 2011 for improvement in the society’s quality of life and poverty reduction. It envisaged that the incidence of poverty would be reduced from 27% in 2005 to 19% in 2011 and to 15% in 2015. 3.66 This goal falls within the vision expressed in Alafia Bénin 2025. The achievement of such a vision requires implementation of reforms centred on good governance, which will help to consolidate the institutional bases of democracy; streamline the management of human, financial and institutional resources; formulate and implement relevant economic and social policies; and ensure accountability of local authorities through effective decentralisation. 3.67 Another dimension and challenge in the socioeconomic development ownership process concerns the participation of all stakeholders. Generally speaking, the players concerned deem such participation to be inadequate, particularly at the local level, as they do not always feel they are included in the preparation and implementation of projects and programmes that concern them. However, the CRM feels that the conditions for enhancing such participation exist in Benin, since civil society is already relatively active and committed to defending human rights and improving the conditions of the most underprivileged social groups. The government should take appropriate measures to put in place a legal and regulatory framework conducive to more active participation of civil society, political parties, the private sector, all economic players and all the regions of the country. Finalising the decentralisation process is a way towards the promotion of such participation. 3.68 All these measures should be accompanied by the effective enhancement of the participation of all stakeholders in the socioeconomic development process through broadening the consultation space, accelerating the finalisation of the decentralisation process to foster participation at the decentralised level, and establishing joint consultation organs between the government and the major development partners of Benin. The broadening and sustainability of participation space could also be fostered by transforming or even institutionalising the self-evaluation exercise as a national practice. This will help foster a spirit of co-ownership and mutual accountability between the state, its private sector partners and civil society. An observer institution or similar entity for monitoring governance in Benin would be appropriate for this mission. 21