CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION: THE APRM PROCESS AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN BURKINA FASO _____________________________________________________________________ following the two presidential decrees of 25 May 2007 establishing, respectively, the APRM National Council (NC-APRM), directed by Professor Hassimi Kwanda, and a permanent secretariat to provide technical and administrative support. Comprising 27 members from different sectors of Burkina Faso society – including 14 from public institutions (the government and Parliament), four from the private sector (employer organisations and independent economic operators), and nine from civil society – the NC-APRM is chaired by the Head of State Permanent Secretary. 17. The NC-APRM’s mission is to: • popularise the principles, processes, objectives and actions of the APRM in order to achieve ownership thereof by the various development actors; • raise national awareness regarding APRM issues and challenges; • popularise the APRM MOU and declaration; • ensure Burkina Faso’s influence on the international scene through APRM implementation; • define the pillars of the national programme of action within the APRM framework; • monitor the implementation of national actions retained under the APRM; • promote greater integration of national actions falling within the APRM framework; • draft periodic reports on the progress of APRM implementation; and • define the methodologies considered in the context of self-evaluation. 18. To carry out its mission effectively, the NC-APRM is supported by a secretariat of heads of technical departments in charge of defining the methodology to be followed as part of the self-assessment, and accompanying the process, by interacting with Technical Research Institutes (TRIs) in the four APRM thematic areas. 19. The self-assessment exercise could not succeed without competent, honest and credible technical institutions. As of October 2007, the NC-APRM had appealed to the INSD, the ISSP, the CGD and the CAPES for assistance. These institutions were mandated to deal, respectively, with corporate governance, economic and social development, democracy and political governance, and economic governance and management. 20. The APR Panel’s work schedule provided for the launching of the Burkina Faso evaluation process during the fourth quarter of 2005. However, due to the presidential and legislative elections, self-assessment actually commenced only in 2007. 41