The Eastern Regional Council receives the shield of membership of the Moroccan Network of Open Territorial Communities

Heba Press – Ahmed Al-Musaed As part of the Eastern Region’s involvement in the local Open Government Partnership program, Mohamed Bouaruru, President of the Eastern Region Council, received Tariq Al -Nashnash, coordinator of the Open Government Partnership in Africa and the Middle East, in the presence of Saliha Haji, vice-president of the Council, Nawal Qortobi, director of the presidency and affairs of the Council, and Al-Bakai Zarrougui , the linchpin of open local government in the region. of membership in the Moroccan Network of Open Territorial Communities and the local program of the Open Government Partnership was handed over to the President of the Council. As a reminder, the Eastern region received the shield on the sidelines of the organization of the National Forum of the Moroccan Network of Open Communities, which was held in the city of Saïdia, on November 12 and 13, to celebrate its involvement in the local program. of the Open Government Partnership. Since joining the Moroccan Network of Open Territorial Communities in 2022, the Eastern Regional Council has developed, in a participatory manner, the opening action plan which is structured around four strategic axes, 17 projects and 69 activities which were approved during the work of the Council. ordinary session of October 2023, and started uploading it immediately afterwards, in addition to its work on the participatory preparation of the open local government action plan for the region 2025-2027. The organization of this meeting comes two years after the launch of the Open Communities Program, which to date brings together 126 local authorities. Including 12 regions, 7 prefectural and regional councils and 107 communities, in order to take stock of achievements, explore the prospects for expansion and support for the groups involved in the network, and to support networking between them, with the aim of disseminating and enshrining the principles of openness to all local authorities in Morocco, estimated at 1,590 local authorities. This forum saw the participation of around 350 people, including elected officials, administrative executives and representatives of the consultative bodies created by the territorial councils that are members of the network. On the program of this event, organized in partnership with the Support Program for Open Francophone Governments (PAGOF), financed by the French Development Agency (AFD), included the organization of workshops on the role of communication in serving the opening of territorial groups, the development of evaluation projects and indicators, citizen participation and cooperation between actors, in addition to workshops to support the networking of local authorities.