HIBAPRESS
A wide-ranging consultative meeting was held yesterday, Wednesday, at the headquarters of the Sidi Ifni prefecture, and was devoted to preparing a new generation of integrated territorial development programs at the provincial level.
This meeting, which was chaired by the governor of the province, Mohamed Derhem, falls within the framework of implementing the high royal directives, contained in the speech of His Majesty King Mohammed VI on the occasion of the Throne Day of the year 2025, and in His Majesty's speech on the occasion of the opening of the autumn session of Parliament, where His Majesty called for establishing a qualitative shift in the rehabilitation of territorial areas and addressing social and spatial disparities, and moving from traditional development approaches to an integrated approach. The meeting, which was attended by a number of heads of external services, civil society figures, economic actors, and elected officials, was marked by the presentation of a presentation that focused, in particular, on the needs of the province according to sectors, natural, economic and human qualifications, socio-economic indicators, as well as the possibilities of the territorial area, and the programs implemented during the last decade in the province. In this context, the governor of the province emphasized that this important consultative meeting falls within the framework of the renewed national dynamism that His Majesty King Mohammed VI launched, by calling for the development of a new generation of integrated territorial development programs aimed at achieving spatial and social justice, and promoting sustainable development balanced between the various regions and provinces of the Kingdom. Derhem pointed out that the main goal of these programs is to reduce disparities not only between territorial areas but even within the same territorial area, by developing the human being first through stimulating employment, improving education, generalizing access to health services and providing conditions for a decent life. He added that what distinguishes these new programs is the adoption of an approach that starts from the territorial area so that the local level constitutes the real starting point for planning and decision-making according to the needs and priorities of the population, stressing that the citizen and the local actor must be active partners in developing, implementing and following up on projects according to a new approach based on listening, consultation, sharing visions and joint commitment in order to implement projects in the field. He concluded that the implementation of this ambitious royal workshop requires collective mobilization and the effective involvement of all actors in order to build a territorial development model at the level of the aspirations of the population of the Sidi Ifni province. For their part, a number of the interveners reviewed the most prominent development challenges facing the territorial communities of the province in a number of sectors, stressing the importance of the participatory and integrated approach to ensure balanced and sustainable development, capable of enhancing the attractiveness of the province. They stressed the need to give priority to the employment, education, health and road infrastructure sectors, in addition to adopting forward-looking local policies that mainly address the youth and their urgent needs, and encourage them to create projects that generate job opportunities. It is expected that workshops will be organized on this occasion to deepen the discussion and provide recommendations on priority topics, including the revival of employment, education, health care, and the proactive and sustainable management of water resources, and integrated territorial rehabilitation.
