Citizen Consultation on Public Policies (MO0023)

What is the public
problem that the
commitment will
address?
The Consultation and the engagement of citizens in the processes of public
policies ‘evaluation
What does the
commitment consist of ?
-Spur parliamentary groups and members of the parliament to propose topics
of programmes and public policies‘ evaluations, the latter target a population
which can be identified, and, therefore, consulted with by the taskforce in
charge of conducting the evaluation, both upstream as well as downstream, in
accordance with the referential framework set up for the evaluation of public policies.
- Spur the steering committee of the taskforce in charge of conducting the
evaluation decided by the bureau of the House of Representatives to opt for
evaluation criteria while taking into consideration the degree of impact of the
public policies on citizens’ lives.
These two criteria, which require field research, are up to making every
evaluation initiative an opportunity to communicate and allow for the
participation of a maximum number of beneficiaries and of the counterfactual
population of the programme, which is, indeed, the subject of the evaluation.
Such an association can be inscribed within the phase of the evaluation
preparation and that of the formulation of the conclusions together with the
recommendations.
-Invite the group in charge of the evaluation to ensure a good communication
with the ultimate target groups and beneficiaries in order to better define both
their needs and aspirations.
A synthesis of this communication shall be attached to the evaluation report.
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To guarantee a better profitability of the evaluation project, a large
dissemination of the evaluation reports is a must. The follow up by the
political authorities of the House of Representatives is fundamental for the
improvement and the productivity of the public policies.
In terms of accountability, the conclusions of the evaluation reports can serve
as a basis for the evaluation of public interventions and their impact on the
population.
How shall the
commitment contribute
to solving the public
problem?
The House of Representatives has put into place a referential framework for
the evaluation of public policies, which acts as a guiding tool when it comes
to the management of the evaluation activities. While indicating the
procedure to follow throughout the whole process, from the very selection of
the topic to the elaboration of the final report. This guide, as well as, the bylaws of the House of Representatives, do give a prominent position to the
research techniques that spur the contribution of the stakeholders of the policy
or of the programme, which is subject to evaluation, namely the public
authorities all along with the entities in charge of the implementation of the
concerned public policies, and most particularly, the ultimate target groups
and beneficiaries.
Why is this commitment
relevant to OGP values?
The evaluation of the public policies is one of the new prerogatives of the
parliament of Morocco, which has been upgraded and fostered to the position
of parliamentary function, as stipulated by the new 2011 Constitution. The
House of Representatives has, from the very beginning, set its sight on the
serious and certain launch of this new function. First of all, through avoiding
the conceptual confusions with the related streams of work of the Parliament,
and secondly through ensuring its institutionalization which clearly
distinguishes the political from the scientific, in its practical exercise and in
terms of the credibility of these end products.

23. Consultation and engagement of citizens in the processes of evaluation of public policies (Commitments of the Lower House of the Parliament of Morocco)

Limited:

This commitment is the fifth of the commitments added to the action plan by the Lower House one of the two chambers of Morocco’s parliament. [250] According to the action plan, the evaluation of public policies is one of the new prerogatives of the Parliament of Morocco, which has been upgraded and fostered to the position of parliamentary function, as stipulated by the new 2011 Constitution. [251] The House aimed to promote access to information on public policies and public participation in its evaluation by publishing research and polls conducted with the target population and the beneficiaries of the policy or program subject to the evaluation, by creating an online channel on the House’s website that would respond to citizens’ requests and demands in terms of the evaluation of public policies, and by receiving citizens’ comments on issues related to the public policies and presenting them to the thematic committee in charge of the evaluation of public policies. [252]

Mohammed Doukha, General Councilor in the House, [253] explained that the House has established, each year since 2015, a thematic group on the evaluation of public policies, which consists of one representative from each parliamentary group. The evaluation process, according to the councilor, is an in-depth research both with academia and through in-person meetings with the civil society, citizens and other stakeholders concerned, which results in a report containing recommendations on future policy reforms. Doukha added that the evaluation process is based on a referential framework—a guide—drafted and published by the House in 2016. [254] Currently, the House has drafted and published on its website four reports in Arabic, all outside of the action plan period. The level of implementation is limited because no reports were issued in 2018, 2019, or 2020. Also, no specific channels for communication or public comments on the reports were created, other than the channels for all other House documents, through publication on its website. And, lastly, the reports are not yet available in Morocco’s other official language, Tamazight.