Opening of a meeting in Salé on the theme of “Local Government Open”

The President of the Commune of Salé, Mr. Jamaâ El Moâtassim, chaired, in the afternoon of Tuesday, October 10, in the large meeting room the opening session of the meeting organized by the municipality of Salé with the collaboration of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on the theme “Open Local Government” on 2 days, from 10 to 12 October 2017.

Representatives of the Ministry of Industry, Trade, Investment and Digital Economy; Ministry of Reform of Administration and Civil Service; members of the Bureau of the Council; the presidents of boroughs; the chairmen of the committees of the Council; representatives of the OECD; of the commune Sidi Bouknadel; civil society and community leaders attended the meeting .

As a prelude to this meeting, the communal president made a welcoming speech while highlighting the ongoing efforts of the city of Salé to strengthen the principles of local governance, namely transparency and participation, with the adoption of a series of related practices; noting that this project, the first joint work launched by the Organization with a territorial commune in Morocco after having co-operated on the same subject with the Moroccan government authorities since 2012, aims to identify these practices in the commune of Salé as as pilot experience, and to support them in strengthening open government; through the diagnosis and definition of the legal, policy and institutional framework as well as the identification of good practices. As a result, this diagnosis will make it possible to propose concrete reforms and to work for the dissemination and widespread dissemination of these good practices.

Subsequently, Ms. Charlotte Denise-Adam, Public Policy Analyst, was briefed by the OECD on a brief presentation of the Organization, its objectives and working methods, in addition to the stages of cooperation and partnership with the public authorities since 2012, in particular with regard to open government.

Ms. Sarah Lamrani, Director of Studies, Communication and Cooperation at the Ministry of Reform of Administration and Civil Service, spoke before the audience to recall the ministerial strategy in terms of modernizing the administration, the improvement of the reception of the users and the consecration of the principles of the Open Administration.

Mr. Lino Ramos Ferreiro, Head of Planning and Evaluation at the Spanish Municipality of Alcobendas, gave a presentation on the experience of his own city in his 15-year collaboration with the OECD and its means of remedying certain local problems.

The President of the commune of Salé then explained in detail the most important measures and procedures adopted by the Commune to establish and reinforce the practices promoting transparency and participation, considered to be advantageous, in particular in the fields of communication and participation of civil society in addressing local issues through innovative mechanisms for greater transparency and regular dissemination of information and its provision to the general public.

The speeches were closed by Mr. Brahim Azghar, representative of the Ministry of Industry, Trade, Investment and the Digital Economy, who spoke in turn about the the Digital Administration, noting the fact that its department has undertaken ambitious projects in close collaboration with other government sectors, such as the “integrity portal” project and the “open database” .

Afterwards, the debate opened on the unanimous mention of Salé’s experience in participatory democracy and the need for its development, in addition to the valorisation of the “Open Government” project, which in collaboration with the OECD; as well as the various issues raised have been answered by the President or by the representatives of the Organization.

At the end of the meeting, the President mentioned the program of work for the next two days, thanking all the participants and wishing the Forum’s work to be successful.