This conference, held under the theme “Citizen participation in the context of open government: what good practices?”, offered a platform to take stock of progress in open governance and collectively reflect on ways to further strengthen transparency , justice and participatory democracy at the local level.
In a statement to MAP, Mohammed Sbai, representative of the Citizen Alternatives movement, underlined the capital importance of this meeting which concludes a series of meetings as part of a project on local open government.
He highlighted the significant scope of this project in terms of participatory approach, emphasizing its capacity to bring together various key stakeholders, including local authorities, civil society associations and all stakeholders concerned by this theme.
Mr. Sbai recalled the long-standing commitment of the Citizen Alternatives movement to strengthen the participatory approach, anchoring the values of transparency, responsibility and clarity, with the aim of building a solid societal project at the local level.
He insisted on the need for increased mobilization of all actors, both institutional and civil, to achieve these objectives.
According to him, this meeting made it possible to analyze in depth and discuss the achievements accumulated throughout the duration of the project, thus underlining the importance of collective reflection and continuous evaluation in the open governance process.
Speaking at this meeting, Hayat Ndichi, community activist, shed light on best practices in the context of open government, with particular emphasis on strengthening gender equality.
Ms. Ndichi highlighted that this approach constitutes one of the main strategies adopted by countries that have made significant progress in gender equality.
She emphasized the importance of integrating these practices at both the open government and civil society levels, in order to improve and develop programs at the national and local levels.
For his part, Mohammed Bouchmal, researcher specializing in planning and participatory democracy, looked back on Morocco’s five years of experience in open government, initiated in 2018. He underlined the importance of a rigorous evaluation of taking stock of this period, identifying not only the achievements, but also the obstacles and constraints that hindered its implementation.
“After five years of Morocco’s engagement in this experience since 2018, it is imperative that we question the results of this initiative,” he maintained, calling for concrete proposals and recommendations aimed at strengthening the citizen participation, both in the management of public affairs and in the monitoring and evaluation of public policies.
“This is an opportunity to propose a set of suggestions and recommendations that can strengthen citizen participation efforts, not only in the management of public affairs, but also in monitoring the smooth implementation of public policies,” he added.
The closing was marked by the organization of two thematic workshops on “The issue of equality and the challenge of applying the values of open government at the local level: opportunities and challenges” and “Young people and the values of participation in local open government: opportunities and challenges”.