and ensure the provision of adequate funding to enable it to successfully discharge their responsibilities in an independent and autonomous manner. 6. Member States shall legally constitute their NGC through normal government processes of announcements through Government Gazettes. Article 17 The APRM National Secretariat 1. There shall be an APRM National Secretariat in each Member State of the APRM, to provide secretarial, technical and administrative support to all national APRM bodies. 2. The APRM National Secretariat shall be led by a CEO appointed in accordance with the rules and procedures of each Member State. 3. The APRM National Secretariat shall liaise between the NGC and the Continental Secretariat. 4. The APRM National Secretariat shall facilitate and support the work of the technical research institutions. Article 18 The National Technical Research Institutions 1. Technical Research Institutions shall be appointed by the NGCs on the basis of their technical competence and capabilities in areas directly relevant to the APRM review process. 2. The Technical Research Institutions shall, inter alia, ensure that the APRM assessment tools, including the questionnaire,are understood fully and widely among all stakeholders in their respective countries and support the production of a country self-assessment report that is objective, accurate and representative of the views of the public. Statute of the African Peer Review Mechanism, August 2016V11082016 21