SPACES FOR CITIZENS’ PARTICIPATION AND THE MANAGEMENT OF LOCAL DEVELOPMENT IN MOROCCO

Abstract

In this article, the author presents the two principal initiatives that have provided new spaces for citizens’ participation in Morocco: the National Initiative for Human Development launched in 2005, and the community development plans provided for in the 2008 amendment to the Municipal Charter. At the same time, a programme of development cooperation (the ART GOLD Morocco Initiative) was implemented to accompany the decentralization process, aiming particularly to increase government accountability towards the population. According to the author, one of the main contributions of this programme to the Moroccan decentralization process is its support to the creation of political and technical intermediary structures (working groups) that foster participation - through developing competence in management and community planning, providing tools for territorial analysis, organizing training activities and, most of all, the exchange of experiences and good practices with decentralized cooperation partners.

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