Morocco's Ombudsman Highlights Kingdom's Efforts to Establish Open Government Mechanisms in Cairo

Cairo - The Kingdom's Ombudsman Mohamed Benalilou highlighted, Tuesday in Cairo, the efforts made by Morocco to establish the mechanisms of an open government. Speaking at an international symposium on "open government" organized over two days by the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights, in cooperation with the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), Benalilou, who is also president of the Association of Ombudsmen and Mediators of the Francophonie, said that Morocco has worked for the implementation of comprehensive reforms aimed at establishing the mechanisms of an open government based on participatory democracy and good governance.

He underlined that the Kingdom's official adherence to the Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative is an addition to the efforts undertaken in terms of public reforms aimed at turning the provisions of the new Constitution into concrete public policies and into institutions and measurable results. He added that this adherence was made on the basis of constitutional references which make participation and pluralism a set objective, participatory democracy a line of conduct, and associations and NGOs contributors to decision making and project design. To ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of the principles of open government using a participatory approach, the Kingdom's ombudsman said that a governance system composed of three structures has been set up, namely the supervisory committee, the Executive Committee, and the Forum of civil society organizations.