Transparency is the foundation for accountability and participation in policy-making. That’s why we’re creating spaces for dialogue and providing digital tools to Moroccan civil society to advocate on, monitor and evaluate transparency and anti-corruption policies. Next week on 3 and 4 March, we’re kicking off the next phase of the “Information and Integrity” project – the multi-party dialogue – with a conference in Rabat.
In the past months, more than 30 civil society organisations have gathered to develop a participatory policy analysis and participatory assessment of the Moroccan national strategy to fight corruption. This shared diagnosis of the state of transparency and anti-corruption in Morocco will be the basis for the upcoming phase of the project. The conference in Rabat will bring together more than 40 civil society representatives and high-level representatives from the government, the parliament as well as the European Union. This event will serve to gather contributions and recommendations on common priorities to develop a roadmap of engagement and feed into the process of improving public policies on transparency and access to information.
Two key elements of the dialogue will include:
- Discussions around civic tech and the opportunities offered by digital technologies in leveraging transparency and access to information,
- Involvement of local entities through partnerships with local organisations implementing micro-grants offered under the project to promote collaborative initiatives and encourage debate at local level. The main aim of the dialogue is to strengthen civil society and public authorities’ exchange and cooperation on public policies regarding transparency, both at a local and regional level. Moreover, the project as a whole also seeks to raise citizens’ awareness of transparency and the advantages people can draw from a more efficient implementation of public policies on transparency.
Promoting transparency as a collective action
Since the adoption of the Constitution in 2011, the Kingdom of Morocco has implemented a series of reforms to promote public policies on transparency and citizen participation. The reforms include the National strategy to fight corruption (2016-2025) as well as the Law on the right to access information (no. 31-13, 2018), which allowed Morocco to join the Open Government Partnership. These initiatives can be integrated into the new development model, based on a more efficient, accountable, and transparent form of governance, particularly in rural and peripheral areas. As we have witnessed an acceleration of the digital transformation within public institutions over the last few years, digitalisation could fast-track the implementation of initiatives aimed at promoting transparency and access to information.
As civil society plays a crucial role in ensuring accountable policy-making and public service provision, our project aims to more closely involve them in these reform processes. Opening dialogue spaces and providing civil society with participatory and assessment tools to cooperate with public authorities and independent bodies are essential action points for a more efficient and accountable way of governance.
This event is organised in partnership with Impact for development and Westminster Foundation for Democracy and it is co-financed by the European Union
