Citizens Participation (MO0016)

Strengthening citizen participation through the civil society’s appropriation of the mechanisms of participatory democracy
30 July 2018 – 30 June 2020
Lead implementing agency/actor
Delegated Ministry to the Head of Government, Responsible for Relations with Parliament and Civil Society. Government Spokesperson
Commitment description
What is the public problem in response to which the commitment has been made?
The constitution’s adoption in 2011 through a national referendum granted citizens and civil society new roles in terms of their participation in the crafting, implementing, oversight, and assessment of public policies. The government adopted new organic laws on participatory democracy that define the mechanisms through which citizens and associations exercise their right to file petitions and legislative motions. These legislative provisions alone are not sufficient to achieve a level of effective citizen participation that meets the goals set by Moroccan lawmakers. Awareness raising and capacity building of civil actors (citizens and associations) are also required in order to strengthen in practice these participatory mechanisms.
What is the commitment?
This commitment consists of facilitating the appropriation of citizen participation mechanisms by civil actors (citizens and associations) to reach a real, effective, and widespread exercise both at the national and local levels. This will occur through: ▪ carrying out of an awareness-raising and concertation campaign in all twelve regions, conducted through open meetings (10 meetings) with civil actors, and by distributing publications, brochures, and guides on the subject of participatory democracy (petitions and legislative motions); ▪ Planning a detailed training program (both theoretical and practical) on participatory democracy across a two-years period (2018-2020) with a special focus on the exercise of the rights of petitions and legislative motions. ▪ organising training seminars on participatory democracy (petitions and legislative motions) in all twelve regions. The goal is to train: ➢ 1,200 managers of associations each year on the process of filing petitions and legislative motions, selected from all 12 of the Kingdom’s regions in several phases: ▪ Phase One: 360 actors from associations; ▪ Phase Two: 560 actors from associations; ▪ Phase Three: 280 actors from associations. ➢ Organizing a yearly program of training for trainers targeting 100 association trainers covering the following subjects:
participatory democracy (petitions and legislative motions); ▪ the crafting, implementation, oversight, and assessment of public policies; ▪ Advocacy techniques to file complaints, projects, and lawsuits to national and local public authorities; ▪ Techniques of animation, communication and trainings
How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem?
A theoretical and practical training in participatory democracy will lead to the appropriation of all participatory mechanisms by civil actors and to their effective participation in the decision-making process related to public policies and projects
Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?
This commitment is an effective measure that will facilitate and encourage citizen participation through the mastery of the legal framework, process and techniques of proper exercise of participatory democracy mechanisms.
Additional information
The budget is covered by the Ministry Responsible for Relations with the Parliament and Civil Society; ● A close link to the 1st axis of the government programme to promote citizen participation; ● Link with the Country-OECD programme; ● Link with SDG goals 16 and 17; ● Programme to support civil society financed by the European Union; ● UNDAF Programme on citizen participation and advanced regionalisation, in conjunction with the Ministry of the Interior and UNIFEM. ● Related commitment: Commitment 14
Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable
Trainer of trainings
Trainings on Participatory democracy
July 2018 July 2020
October 2018 June 2020
Contact information for the focal point
Name of focal point (Project manager)
Mr Noureddine Zaalami
Title and department
Delegated Ministry to the Head of Government, Responsible for Relations with Parliament and Civil Society, Government Spokesperson.
Email and telephone
[email protected], [email protected] /+212661796552
Other actors
NA

Commitment 16: Participatory Democracy Civil Society Training

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan:

“The constitution’s adoption in 2011 through a national referendum granted citizens and civil society new roles in terms of their participation in the crafting, implementing, oversight, and assessment of public policies. The government adopted new organic laws on participatory democracy that define the mechanisms through which citizens and associations exercise their right to file petitions and legislative motions. These legislative provisions alone are not sufficient to achieve a level of effective citizen participation that meets the goals set by Moroccan lawmakers. Awareness raising and capacity building of civil actors (citizens and associations) are also required in order to strengthen in practice these participatory mechanisms.

This commitment consists of facilitating the appropriation of citizen participation mechanisms by civil actors (citizens and associations) to reach a real, effective, and widespread exercise both at the national and local levels. This will occur through:

• carrying out of an awareness-raising and concertation campaign in all twelve regions, conducted through open meetings (10 meetings) with civil actors, and by distributing publications, brochures, and guides on the subject of participatory democracy (petitions and legislative motions);
• Planning a detailed training program (both theoretical and practical) on participatory democracy across a two-years period (2018-2020) with a special focus on the exercise of the rights of petitions and legislative motions.
• organizing training seminars on participatory democracy (petitions and legislative motions) in all twelve regions.

The goal is to train:

• 1,200 managers of associations each year on the process of filing petitions and legislative motions, selected from all 12 of the Kingdom’s regions in several phases:
  • Phase One: 360 actors from associations;
  • Phase Two: 560 actors from associations;
  • Phase Three: 280 actors from associations.

• Organizing a yearly program of training for trainers targeting 100 association trainers covering the following subjects:
  • participatory democracy (petitions and legislative motions);
  • the crafting, implementation, oversight, and assessment of public policies;
  • Advocacy techniques to file complaints, projects, and lawsuits to national and local public authorities;
  • Techniques of animation, communication and trainings.

Milestones:

• Trainer of trainings
• Trainings on Participatory democracy.”

Start Date: 30 July 2018

End Date:  30 June 2020

Editorial Note: the commitment description provided above is an abridged version of the commitment text, please see the full action plan here: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/morocco-action-plan-2018-2020/

Context and objectives

As mentioned under Commitment 15, the Constitution of Morocco and subsequent organic laws established citizens' right to submit petitions and motions at the national and local level. [157] These organic laws are central to Morocco's new legal framework, which created opportunities for citizens to participate in policymaking where none previously existed.

While the legal right, regulatory framework, and online platform for petitions and motions have been established, these novel participatory democracy mechanisms remain largely unknown and unfamiliar to Moroccan citizens and civil society. Therefore, this commitment aims to implement annual trainings across the country on participatory democracy, with a focus on submitting petitions and motions.

As described in more detail in the analysis for Commitment 15, the organic laws that establish the right to submit petitions and motions contain restrictions that may prevent citizens from being able to effectively wield these tools to influence policymaking. [158] Therefore, Commitments 15 and 16 both carry a moderate potential impact to strengthen citizens' knowledge and use of petitions and motions to influence government policy. Collectively, broadening the legal framework for civic participation, implementing the e-participation platform (Commitment 15), and conducting widespread and inclusive trainings would add up to an ambitious open government reform. Evidence that citizen input through petitions and motions influence policymaking would demonstrate that these efforts opened government. Nourredine Achemlal from TANMIA notes that government trainings for participatory democracy tend to only include influential CSOs and may fall short of creating a culture of participatory democracy. ^[159] Therefore, the impact of this commitment will largely depend on the extent to which trainings are inclusive and ongoing. This commitment is verifiable and relevant to the OGP values of access to information and civic participation.

Next steps:

While continuing participatory democracy reforms, the IRM recommends implementors consider the following:

• Ensure that a broad and inclusive cross-section of civil society participates in trainings that extend beyond the 'usual actors' in the governance field; this would include groups focused on advocating for women, youth, rural populations, and persons with a disability, for example;
• Use the annual trainings as an opportunity to consult civil society on the submission process, the platform's usability, and government transparency efforts to continuously strengthen the legal, regulatory, and technical aspects of civic participation.

16. Participatory Democracy Civil Society Training

Complete:

As mentioned under Commitment 15, the Constitution of Morocco and subsequent organic laws established citizens’ right to submit petitions and motions at the national and local level. This commitment aimed to implement annual trainings across the country on participatory democracy, with a focus on submitting petitions and motions. [180] The self-assessment report states that the Ministry of Human Rights and Relations with Parliament led multiple trainings for trainers and for citizens on participatory democracy tools, involving around 1,400 civil society actors. [181] As mentioned under the previous two Commitments 14 and 15, one-off trainings are a positive step forward for civic participation that require sustained efforts in the future to bring substantial impact. As a follow-up, the government plans to build an online training platform for civil society on public participation, according to the self-assessment report. [182]