By Loubna Flah
By Loubna Flah
Morocco World News
Casablanca, March 27, 2012
According to the Moroccan daily Attajdid, the Minister in charge of relations with the parliament and civil society uncovered shocking findings about the funding of civil society associations in Morocco. The data collected revealed the existence of 70000 active associations. Only 10 % of these associations benefit from 80% of public funding that mounts up to 9 Milliard centimes. He added that 97% of these associations do not submit any document that evidences the financial transactions, such as receipt and vouchers.
The minister made this declaration during a meeting organized last Friday in Rabat by the ministry of solidarity, woman, family, and social development under the theme “Women between Legislation and Reality”.
Mr. Choubani pointed out that new laws will be promulgated and others will be uphold in order to empower civil society to play a pivotal role in society. He predicted that Moroccan NGOs should no longer implore for public funding and develop towards autonomy and merit instead.
In regard to civil society governance, the Minster declared that a number of associations do not serve the common interest and he pledged to uncover all the deficiencies in granting public funds. He went on to say that the Ministry in Charge of Relations with the Parliament and Civil Society will be able to provide updated data about all civil associations across the country via a sophisticated tracking system that would enable the government to follow very closely their .
“This new system of accountability and partnership will empower civil society to be a model in good governance, a force of suggestion and initiatives and a cornerstone in the exercise of power,” the Minister said.
During his presentation on ” Legislative Initiative and Responsible Partnership”, the minister urged civil society activists to adhere to the culture of collaborative initiative”.
The minister outlined a new model of governance in which the government makes legislative proposals, taking into consideration the pulse and concerns of civil society. “The parliament is expected to be a platform for argumentation and persuasion in order to consolidate the legislative practice,” the Minister emphasized, adding that a “new law likely to grant civil society the status of a legislative partner will be promulgated very soon.”
A number of public officials, MPs, female members of political parties, civil society associations attended this meeting.
In an interview given to MWN last month, Mr. Choubani stressed that the ministry in charge of relations with parliament and civil society envisions forging sustainable partnerships with civil society organizations. In the initial stage, the ministry will initiate wide-scale consultations with different types of associations in order to take into account their views regarding the drafting of key bills. Once passed into law, these bills will empower civil society and enable it to have a positive impact in society, namely with regards to the promotion of participative democracy in accordance with the new constitutional provisions.
The second component pertains to the enforcement of good governance in collaboration with civil society. Civil society associations will become actively engaged in the eradication of corruption bearing in mind that they are leading ground-work, especially at the grassroots level and can provide the government with reliable and accurate information. The third component of this partnership relates to capacity-development and skill-development of civically engaged associations and NGOs through training workshops that will empower these associations.
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