ATI Awareness Raising (MO0001)

Increasing public awareness about the right of access to information
December 2018 -December 2019
Lead implementing agency/actor: Ministry of Administration Reform and Civil Service
Commitment description
What is the public problem that the commitment will address?
In March 2018, Morocco adopted a new law on the right of access to information, which shall enter into effect one year after its publication. This is the first time in Moroccan history that a law of the Right of Access to Information is adopted, and the popular awareness about its existence has been limited so far. The full enjoyment of this right by Citizens requires a degree of awareness about the law and its provisions. An appropriate communication strategy is necessary to reach different target audiences.
What is the commitment?
This commitment consists of: Developing a communication plan around the law on the right of access to information Developing informational content on right of access to information Defining the appropriate media to use to facilitate the flow of information pertained to this right Producing the means of popularisation on the basis of informational content developed in several languages Disseminating the means of popularisation on the most appropriate channels, in accordance with the communication plan. The commitment will: Familiarise the public with the right of access to information how to benefit from it Ensure a positive reactivity from public officials and servants to proactive requests for information and publication Help the public effectively enjoy this right. The implementation of this commitment will be assessed on the basis of the following indicators: Number of forms of communication produced Percentage of the communication plan’s implementation. Number of requests for information made by people requesting information
How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem?
The production of means of popularisation and the organisation of communication and awareness-raising campaigns right of access to information will help the public know its rights in terms of the types of information, relevant government bodies, procedures for obtaining information, and means and procedures for appealing
Once the public is aware of this law, it will enjoy its right to access information.
Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?
The public awareness and enjoyment of the right to access to information, is a condition for more transparency, better accountability and citizen participation.
Additional information
Related commitments: Commitment 2 Commitment 4 Commitment 6
Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable
Developing a communication plan around the law of the right of access to information
December 2018 January 2018
Developing informational content on the right of access to information
January 2018 June 2019
Defining the appropriate media to use to facilitate the flow of information pertained to the right of access to information
June 2019 June 2019
Producing the means of popularisation on the basis of informational content developed in several languages
July 2019 September 2019
Using the means of popularisation in accordance with the communication plan on the most appropriate channels
September 2019 December 2019
Organisation of meetings at the central, regional, and local levels
September 2019 December 2019
Contact information
Name of responsible person from implementing agency
Mr Hatim MOURADI
Title and department
Head of Division of Innovation and Modernisation Programmes / Ministry of Administration Reform and Civil Service (MRAFP)
Email and telephone h.mouradi@mmsp.gov.ma / 00212 5 37 67 99 61
Other actors involved
NA

Commitment 1: Increase Public Awareness of the Right to Information

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan:

“The commitment will:

• Familiarize the public with the right of access to information how to benefit from it
• Ensure a positive reactivity from public officials and servants to proactive requests for information and publication
• Help the public effectively enjoy this right.

The implementation of this commitment will be assessed based on the following indicators:

• Number of forms of communication produced
• Percentage of the communication plan’s implementation.
• Number of requests for information made by people requesting information

Milestones:

• Developing a communication plan around the law of the right of access to information
• Developing informational content on the right of access to information
• Defining the appropriate media to use to facilitate the flow of information pertained to the right of access to information
• Producing the means of popularisation on the basis of informational content developed in several languages
• Using the means of popularisation in accordance with the communication plan on the most appropriate channels
• Organisation of meetings at the central, regional, and local levels"

Start Date: December 2018

End Date: December 2019

Editorial Note: the commitment description provided above is an abridged version of the commitment text, please see the full action plan here: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/morocco-action-plan-2018-2020/

Context and objectives

This commitment seeks to inform the general public and civil society about the legal rights and processes around access to information requests. Article 27 of the 2011 Constitution granted citizens the right to access government-held information. One year later, the government of Morocco began drafting a law on access to information. The law was adopted by parliament on 6 February 2018, and it was published in the official bulletin on 12 March 2018. ^[1] The law went into effect one year later, with the exception of Articles 10 and 13 which took effect in 2020. Abderrahim Foukahi, civil society representative in the national commission on access to information, explains that civil society’s role to advance access to information “laid the groundwork for considering access to information as a fundamental human right, and all of which Morocco signed and ratified.” ^[2] This commitment is related to Commitments 2 and 3 in this action plan.

Civil society organizations such as REMDI (Réseau marocain pour le droit à l’accès à l’information) and Transparency Morocco demanded that the right to information be part of the constitution and made into law in a report on the issue in 2006 and a subsequent national debate in 2010. ^[3] Civil society considered Article 27 of the 2011 Constitution to be a milestone for these. ^[4] However, civil society also considered the law’s final version to be restrictive in scope and plagued with multiple exceptions, not in line with international standards, and highly dependent on the executive branch for its application. Civil society proposed 67 amendments to the law, of which the government retained 10. ^[5] As it currently stands, the law contains a number of restrictions relating to national security, intellectual property, monetary or fiscal policy, and information relating to privacy. ^[6] Mohammed Laouni, journalist and member of the Steering Committee for OGP, stated “that society was longing for the right to access to information but that government did not fully understand this right or its recognition.” ^[7] However, Dr. Azzedine Akesbi stated that “the law has an extremely restrictive scope, we’d rather keep Article 27.”

Both the public and civil servants lack knowledge of the law and its application. According to Transparency Morocco, communication about the new law was largely limited to CSOs, journalists, and parliamentarians involved in the lobbying or drafting process, leaving the public largely unaware. ^[8] Therefore, the commitment seeks to inform the general public and civil society about the legal rights and processes around access to information requests. Proposed solutions include a national communication plan in several languages and communication channels to raise awareness about the law in addition to regional meetings. This commitment is relevant to the OGP value of access to information as it seeks to carry out a dissemination strategy to raise awareness among citizens of the existence of the law on access to information. Dr. Azzedine Akesbi, expert in the field, mentioned that the communication plan was not shared with CSOs at this point. ^[9]

This commitment is for the most part verifiable. The verifiable components of the commitment are the number of forms of communication that are produced; the percentage of the communication plan’s implementation and the number of subsequent citizen requests for access to information. The completion of this commitment can be assessed by verifying if the communication plan is carried out; looking at the “means of popularization” this commitment will do and looking at whether meetings take place. It is worth noting, though, that the milestones proposed could be more specific, give a concrete number of requests the government seeks to achieve, and specify their rate of completion and satisfaction, as well as the details of the communication plan, and a proposed target audience/ number or threshold.

If implemented as written, this commitment carries a moderate potential to increase citizens' awareness of their right to information and procedures to access that right. The Access to Information Law requires active citizen engagement through information requests in order to increase government transparency. Therefore, this commitment is a modest but essential contribution towards greater access to information reforms. Evidence that this reform opened government would include the use of previously inaccessible government information by journalists, academics, and advocates to inform public debate and policy advocacy, for example.

This commitment would likely have a greater open government impact if it included activities that addressed civil servants' hesitancy to release information and the previous culture of government secrecy. Many civil servants are not aware of the legal changes and their obligations to provide information. ^[10] Hatim Mouradi, Head of Division of Innovation and Modernization Programmes in the Ministry of Administration Reform and Civil Service and point of contact for this commitment, states that the commitment would remove the restrictions placed on civil servants responsible for information by Article 18 of the General Statute for Public Service and Article 445 of the Penal Code, which deal with the contractual and legal ramifications of releasing professional secrets. ^[11] Dr. Abderrahim Foukahi adds that successful implementation of the law would include a change of culture about access to information and the standardization of government procedures. ^[12]

Numerous civil society leaders in the transparency field underscored the benefits of fully implementing the access to information law. First, previously inaccessible information would become available, such as the attendance of MPs at plenary sessions in parliament. ^[13] The law will also lead to the release of data in a useable format on the website http://www.data.gov.ma. ^[14] Mrs. Sofia Rais, director of the CSO Droit et Justice, adds that the availability of all data in one single outlet would make their work and citizen requests easier to process. ^[15]

Interviewees also underscored that comprehensive implementation of the ATI law would bring about positive changes in regard to the relationship between media, citizens, and the state. Dr. Azzedine Akesbi contends that if properly implemented, public media would be more open and consultation with civil society would increase. ^[16] Mohammed Laouni, journalist and member of the Steering Committee states that this law would have an impact on state-citizen relations. ^[17] Additionally, Ahmed Bernoussi, Secretary General of Transparency Morocco, claims that the commitment would help informed citizens to hold local governance structures accountable, that the proactive publication aspect of the law would be a positive step, and that citizens would participate in the process of requesting information. ^[18]

Next steps

This commitment is central to Morocco’s national action plan and it is recommended to include in future action plans, because of the importance of this law in terms of framing the context of Open Government Partnership, as well as changing government culture around releasing information. The IRM recommends taking the following into account:

• In future iterations of this commitment, collaborate with civil society to address restrictions in the access to information law that may inhibit use, such as criminal sanctions for misuse of government information and broad language around exemptions to information requests.
• Use trainings as an opportunity to receive feedback from the public on their ability to use the online information request portal, the governments' response time, redress system, and other factors that impact accessibility.
• Ensure that communication efforts are tailored to both urban and rural contexts. Communication in urban areas can be done through the Internet, and billboards, TV, or radio. However, in rural areas, communication could be closer to citizens, such as announcements at rural markets, or posters in common meeting points, and an explanation of the meaning and tools of the law in simpler, more practical terms.
• Ensure public outreach seeks to address citizens' attitudes towards information requests by focusing on citizens' rights to information, rather than purely introducing the legal framework and online portal.
• Consider introducing the right to information in higher education or civic education courses.
• The government should partner with civil society to raise awareness in the general public about the law and its use. Implementors could consider working with partners beyond the 'usual suspects,’ such as the private sector, by highlighting the law's benefits to the business environment.

1. Increase Public Awareness of the Right to Information

Complete:

This commitment, related to commitments 2 and 6, seeks to inform the general public and civil society about the legal rights and processes surrounding access to information. Article 27 of the 2011 Constitution granted citizens the right to access government-held information. [1] The law on access to information was adopted by parliament in 2018. The law came into force one year later, with the exception of Articles 10 and 13, which took effect in 2020. [2]

Hatim Mouradi from the Department of Administrative Reform of the Ministry of Economy, Finance, and Administrative Reform [3] explained that the Department started implementing the commitment by drafting an internal action plan on access to information, which includes a communication plan presented before the general secretaries of ministerial departments in 2018. According, to the self-assessment report, [4] a new action plan on access to information will be drafted for the period 2021-2023, including measures on furthering awareness of the right, creating a call center, etc.

Implementation resulted in several new documents to clarify and facilitate access to information procedures. In February 2020, the Department drafted and published a reference guide on access to information, in Arabic and French, on the access to information platform chafafiya.ma. [5] In June 2020, the Minister of Economy, Finance, and Administrative Reform issued a circular on access to information. [6] The Ministry, in partnership with the OECD, published a guide on access to information for citizens [7] along with the circular. [8] Mouradi added that another guide on training for officials and civil servants was also prepared by the Ministry, although it has not been published. [9]

As part of the awareness-raising activities, the Ministry participated in a seminar on access to information as part of a conference organized by the civil society organization Tafra in November 2018. [10] The Department also organized a seminar on access to information and media coverage. [11] Mouradi also provided several examples of TV shows discussing access to information in Morocco. [12]

While complete, this commitment was not evaluated for early open government results as it was limited to the important but modest ambition to increase awareness surrounding the access to information law.