CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION: THE APRM PROCESS AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN BURKINA FASO _____________________________________________________________________ C HAP TE R O NE 1. INTRODUCTION: THE APRM PROCESS AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN BURKINA FASO “The mandate of the African Peer Review Mechanism consists in ensuring that the policies and practices of participating States are in conformity with the agreed political, economic and corporate values, codes and standards. The APRM is a mutually-agreed instrument for countries’ self-evaluation by the Heads of State and Heads of Government of the participating countries.” NEPAD/HSGIC/03-2003/APRM/MOU/Annex II 1.1 The APRM and its process 1. At the Inaugural Summit of the AU, held in Durban, South Africa, in July 2002, the NEPAD Implementation Committee adopted the Declaration on Democracy and Political, Economic and Corporate Governance. In its efforts to promote the quality of governance in Africa, the Sixth Summit of the HSGIC of NEPAD – held in Abuja, Nigeria, in March 2003 – endorsed the Durban Declaration and adopted the MOU regarding the APRM. Thereafter, the main documents outlining the basic principles, processes and objectives of the APRM – including the APRM Base Document, the APRM O & P Document, as well as the OSCI Document – were also adopted by the heads of state. 2. From the outset, AU member states can adhere voluntarily to the APRM, which is a self-evaluation mechanism by Africans, for Africans. The main objective of the mechanism is to ensure that the policies and practices of participating countries comply with the values, codes and standards pertaining to political, economic and corporate governance and to socioeconomic development, as outlined in the Declaration on Democracy and Political, Economic and Corporate Governance. As a result, the ultimate goal of the mechanism is to encourage participating countries to adopt policies, standards and practices leading to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated subregional and continental economic integration through the sharing of experiences and the reinforcement of successful practices. The APRM also aims at identifying deficiencies and assessing the requirements of capacity building. 37