Address by Ms. LATIFA LABLIH Member of the Moroccan Parliamentary Representation at the PAF and Chairperson of the Public Finance Control Committee
Congress of the Association of Francophone Mediators and Ombudsmen (AOMF)
“Digital Transformation and Access to Rights: A Common Challenge in the Francophone Space: What Role for Mediators and Ombudsmen?"
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Address by Ms. LATIFA LABLIH
Member of the Moroccan Parliamentary Representation at the PAF and Chairperson of the Public Finance Control Committee
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Workshop on:
“Digital Transformation and Access to Rights: a Common Challenge (PAF, IOF, Council of Europe) to Protect Citizens’ Rights”
Marrakech, 16-19 May 2022
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
I am extremely pleased to participate with you in the 11th Congress of the Association of Francophone Mediators and Ombudsmen, on behalf of the Moroccan parliamentary representation at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie.
My intervention shall focus on "The Digital Transformation of the Moroccan Public Administration and its Impact on Citizens’ Rights," which, in effect, falls within the scope of the workshop on “Digital Transformation and Access to Rights: a Common Challenge (PAF, IOF, Council of Europe) to Protect Citizens’ Rights.” However, this sub-issue represents only a single part of the general theme under discussion in this meeting, titled: “Digital Transformation and Access to Rights, a Common Challenge in the Francophone Space: What role for Mediators and Ombudsmen?”
It is of no small importance that the active engagement of parliamentarians, citizens and civil society constitutes one of the essential mechanisms of participatory democracy, which enables all components of society to contribute to the achievement of the country’s economic and social development.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Over the past few years, digitalization in Morocco has witnessed a great evolution, and has become a major challenge for the future of our country and a real lever for its development.
The digital transformation does not only promote the improvement of the quality of interactions between citizens and administrations, but also contributes to the reduction of social and spatial disparities by facilitating access to information for all citizens. Finally, italso contributes to the increase in the productivity and competitiveness of economy.
Additionally, in his speech on the reform of administration in 2016, His Majesty King Mohammed VI underlined the need for an almost radical change in the functioning of public services, while stressing the importance of adapting the administration to new technologies to facilitate quick citizen access to services.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Efficiency, speed, dematerialization and transparency are all issues at stake in the digital transformation of the Moroccan public administration. Aware of these challenges, Morocco has implemented several strategies and programs to accelerate its digital transformation, namely ‘Maroc Numeric 2013’ and ‘Maroc Digital 2020’.
On the institutional front, Morocco has created competent authorities such as the Digital Development Agency (ADD) and the National Commission for the Control of Personal Data Protection (CNDP).
Per contra, these strategies can only be carried out with the availability of an adequate legal and legislative framework.
The Moroccan legislator has taken several measures with the aim of facilitating the relationship between the administration and its users, such as Law 55-19 on the simplification of administrative procedures (which entered into force on September 28, 2020), and through which the National Portal of Administration (PNA) was launched, which gathers information on the administrative procedures in force.
In the same vein, Law 36.21 on the reform of the civil status comes in response to the recommendations covering ‘the ways to uplift digital to the status of a fundamental right with the aim of high-quality digital connectivity for all people, everywhere’. This law represents a major step forward towards the general digital transformation of public administration and services through the adoption of a series of legal developments, including the attribution of a civil and social digital identifier to each birth declaration of a Moroccan or foreign resident in Morocco.
By the same token, Law 31-13 on the right of access to information, entered into force in March 2020, remains of crucial importance given the accessibility, it offers, to public data, which enable improvement of the quality of services provided to citizens. In the same regard, the ‘chafafiya.ma’ portal was launched in order to process the requests of citizens and foreign nationals living in Morocco for access to information.
Once the institutional framework was established and the relevant laws were adopted, Morocco has been able to implement several projects for the digital transformation of the administration and public services through several government departments and institutions, in order to facilitate and render citizens’ access to these services more transparent. For instance:
- Ministry of the Interior set up a number of digital platforms, namely the civil status management system, the ‘Watiqa’ platform for remote obtention of administrative documents, and ‘Rokhas’ platform for issuing permits;
- Ministry of National Education set up the GENIE Program (generalization of information and communication technologies in education across Morocco) to equip %87 of the 11,000 general education schools with multimedia rooms or multimedia packs. During the health crisis, the Ministry made the TELMIDTICE portal available to students to provide distance education;
- Ministry of Health launched an online appointment portal called "mawiidi.ma";
- Ministry of Justice developed a videoconferencing solution to hold remote public hearings and trials;
- Ministry of Administrative Reform launched the Chikaya platform in collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Economy in order to facilitate complaints submission procedure;
- National Health Insurance Agency (ANAM) launched an online monitoring system for the Medical Assistance Scheme (RAMED), and a complaint portal (Chikaya) for the benefit of insured persons (compulsory health insurance: AMO) and the follow-up of students’ subscription to the AMO.
Hence, digital transformation has largely contributed to the improvement of citizens’ access to their rights of health, justice services, obtaining of administrative documents and the reduction of social and spatial inequalities in terms of education.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In line with the continuing exploration of means offered by new technologies, especially those related to strengthening the protection of human rights, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies can indeed bring substantial benefits, particularly in the area of gender equality and the fight against gender-based violence. For instance, in the context of the partnership between the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the National Union of Moroccan Women (UNFM), the two organizations have mobilized their joint efforts to defend the rights of women and promote their status, as they have launched mutually the first conversational software robot to help guide women and girls victims of violence.
Ladies and gentlemen,
From the foregoing, it can be seen that the influence of the digital transformation of the public administration on the quality of services will not only make it possible to better represent the general interest of the relevant parties, but also to increase the sense of citizenship. Digitalizing the public administration constitutes a major lever for facilitating the life of citizens in a framework of equity and social cohesion, promoting the reconstruction of confidence, and supporting economic and social development, particularly for the benefit of the most deprived populations.
Finally, I would like to emphasize our gratitude to the Ombudsman of the Kingdom of Morocco and the President of the Association of Francophone Mediators and Ombudsmen (AOMF) for their invaluable assistance in organizing this important meeting in Marrakech.
Thank you for your kind attention.