Dakar, Senegal, Dec 04, 2012 (MAP)
Dakar, Senegal, Dec 04, 2012 (MAP)
The 6th edition of the Africities Summit opened Tuesday in Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, with nearly 5000 participants, including an important Moroccan delegation headed by Minister of Interior, Mohand Laenser.
The participants represent all the components of the African local life and their partners from other regions of the world: ministers in charge for the local governments and ministers in charge of sustainable development and of employment, local authorities and elected officials, central and local administrations representatives, civil society organisations, professional associations and trade unions, economic operators of the public and private sectors, and the social economy, traditional and moral authorities, researchers and academics, and international cooperation agencies.
The event will run until December 8 under the theme “Building Africa from its Territories: What challenges for the local governments?”
Speaking at the opening of this summit, the Senegalese President Macky Sall paid tribute to the support of HM King Mohammed VI to ensure the success of this event which addresses an issue of great interest for the development of Africa through the practice of local democracy and decentralization policy.
The main challenge is to synergize the efforts of all stakeholders, including local communities and to bring about a judicious dynamic through complementarity between central governments and communities, he said.
Mayors and local elected officials are the first responders to citizens and their expectations, he noted, stressing that in 2050 Africa will have more than a billion inhabitants and it will have to judiciously manage issues related to environment, urban planning and security.
He added that local communities must demonstrate innovation and rigour to offer today’s people a better quality of life without jeopardizing those of the future generations, stressing that the summit of Africities and “Cities and Local Governments of Africa’ organization” (UCLG Africa) are the suitable frameworks for deep reflection and exchange of experiences and good practices.
For his part, Mohand Laenser highlighted the Moroccan experience in decentralization, reiterating the Kingdom’s readiness to share and exchange with African countries on this issue of vital interest for development.
The relevance and the challenges of the territorial dimension of development have been highlighted for many years by HM King Mohammed VI through development projects undertaken at national, regional and local levels, said Laenser, adding that the objective is to place the process of decentralisation and advanced regionalisation at the heart of the problem of development.
“We are called upon to promote and facilitate the exchange of know-how and expertise of local development actors in our respective countries,” he said, stressing the willingness of Morocco to support cooperation relations of its territorial authorities with those of sister nations of the continent.
Ministers, African mayors, presidents of associations, elected officials and local governments have called for strengthening the powers and prerogatives of local authorities and providing the necessary means for them to carry out their missions and fulfill their commitments towards citizens.
