Morocco Results Report 2021-2023

Morocco’s second action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... achieved modest early resultsEarly results refer to concrete changes in government practice related to transparency, citizen participation, and/or public accountability as a result of a commitment’s implementation. OGP’s Inde.... Notably, digitalization of justiceTo address barriers that prevent citizens from having their justice needs met, OGP participating governments are working to expand transparency, accountability, and inclusion into all systems of justi... processes and administrative procedures increased transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More and access to key government services. Noteworthy progress was also made to increase access to information across local governments. However, open parliamentEnsuring access to legislative information and creating mechanisms for public participation are critical to building an open, trusting relationship with citizens. Technical specifications: Commitments... commitments saw limited progress due the one-year implementation timeline. Reformers continue important work to strengthen inclusivity and collaboration in OGP processes.

Early Results:

Commitments 4, 15, 16 and 21, highlighted in the Early Results Section, improved public access to government information and services by the end of the implementation period. Digitalization of administrative procedures under CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... 4 strengthened public knowledge and access to administrative services and reduced opportunities for corruption. Commitments 15 and 16 increased transparency of judicial services. Commitment 21 led to the integration of local authorities into the national access to information platform and facilitated proactive publication of information at the commune level. These commitments were supported by broader government strategies and legislationCreating and passing legislation is one of the most effective ways of ensuring open government reforms have long-lasting effects on government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or r....

Several commitments not highlighted in this report may demonstrate results in the longer term. For example, the national integrity portal under Commitment 9 was designed through consultations but not launched during the implementation period. Similarly, more health information was made public under Commitment 8. This reform could see progress if there is a shift to systematic and comprehensive publication of data in an accessible location. Commitment 3 was the only parliamentary commitment to achieve early results. Positively, implementation resulted in increased public visits to parliament, new outreach materials, and public access to the parliamentary archives and library.

CompletionImplementers must follow through on their commitments for them to achieve impact. For each commitment, OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) evaluates the degree to which the activities outlin...:

Morocco’s second action plan achieved lower levels of completion than the first. This is partly due to the addition of seven parliamentary commitments a year into the implementation period. Morocco’s 2021 electionsImproving transparency in elections and maintaining the independence of electoral commissions is vital for promoting trust in the electoral system, preventing electoral fraud, and upholding the democr... also led to a deprioritization of some open government reforms. For example, Commitment 11 was highlighted as promising in the Action Plan Review based on its milestones that sought to increase women’s participation in government decision-making. However, the change in government, and therefore ministerial leadership, shifted the focus of Commitment 11’s implementation to women’s economic empowerment. Commitment 11 therefore did not achieve notable early results, in regard to open government.

Some commitments achieved a high level of completion but no notable early results. For Commitments 2, 3, 7, and 13, completed activities were internal and did not directly open government to citizens. Commitments 5, 6, 10, and 22 were limited in their ambition and resultantly implementation did not lead to significant open government changes. This report’s assessment is based on the revised action plan submitted by the Government of Morocco in August 2022, which included the addition of parliamentary commitments.[1]

Participation and Co-Creation:

Morocco continued to strengthen inclusion and collaboration with civil society and the public throughout the action plan cycle. The Department of Administrative Reform, Ministry of Digital Transition and Administrative Reform oversees the OGP process in Morocco. A formal process to select Steering Committee (COPIL) members was established. The Department held 10 co-creation events that reached 800 citizens and generated 232 proposals for the action plan, which received individual responses. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many co-creation events took place virtually.^[2] Partners, such as the OECD, supported co-creation. However, challenges such as resource constraints and an irregularity within the COPIL involvement persisted.^[3]

During implementation, COPIL held regular meetings to monitor progress. Information on implementation was provided on the Moroccan OGP website.^[4] A lack of an allocated budget for OGP activities and dependence on sectorial budgeting and international development agencies limited the quality of COPIL interventions. In particular, civil society members are expected to self-finance their participation, which hinders their ability to monitor implementation.

The Department initiated the establishment of thematic working groups through a call of interest for civil society participation. Around 804 CSOs expressed interest from across Morocco. Working groups are intended to strengthen civil society’s role in implementing, monitoring, and evaluating implementation alongside the implementing agency. Membership will be renewed every two years to reflect action plan policy areas.^[5] Working groups were not established in time to monitor the second action plan but aim to play a role during the next action plan cycle.

Implementation in context:

Morocco’s 2021 elections led to a significant reorientation of government priorities, which impacted the trajectory and continuity of some commitments. For instance, the new administration’s focus on digitalization facilitated commitments like 3 and 4. However, internal government reorganization introduced challenges in coordinating and executing commitments, such as 17, 18 and 19. In the instance of commitments 15 and 16 to open the judicial sector, internal transitions benefited their implementation.^[6] This underscores the complexity of navigating political transitions, and the potential benefit of a national strategy of openness in the country. Morocco hosted the OGP Africa and Middle East Regional Meeting in November 2022, bringing together government and civil society open government reformers from across the region.[7]

[1] Morocco 2021-2023 Revised National Action Plan. August 2022. Open Government Partnership website. https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/morocco-action-plan-2021-2023/

[2] Virtual co-creation webinars across thematic areas were held between 9 October and 3 November 2020. See Morocco’s OGP website “events”: https://gouvernement-ouvert.ma/events.php?lang=fr.

[3] COPIL (Comité de Pilotage) is the abbreviation used to designate the multi-stakeholder forumRegular dialogue between government and civil society is a core element of OGP participation. It builds trust, promotes joint problem-solving, and empowers civil society to influence the design, imple... in Morocco.

[4] Government of Morocco OGP Website. https://www.gouvernement-ouvert.ma/index.php?lang=fr.

[5] Ouiame El Moustamide (Minister Delegate in Charge of Digital Transition and Administrative Reform, Department of Administrative Reform), interview with the IRM researcher, 15 November 2023.

[6] “Samia Chakri, the first women responsible for modernizing justice.” Medias24. 20 January 2020. https://medias24.com/2022/01/20/samia-chakri-la-premiere-femme-chargee-de-moderniser-la-justice/.

[7] “African and the Middle East Regional Meeting” Open Government Partnership website. https://www.opengovpartnership.org/events/africa-and-the-middle-east-regional-meeting/