Conclusion of Parliamentary Day Organized by the House of Representatives on "Open Government" by Proclaiming the Conclusions and Recommendations of the "2022 Marrakesh Meeting"

Africa and the Middle East 2022 Regional Meeting of the Open Government Partnership

Parliamentary Day

- Conclusions and recommendations –

The Speakers and members of African Parliaments, convening in Marrakech in the Kingdom of Morocco as part of the African Parliamentary Meeting organized under the African and the Middle East 2022 Regional Meeting of the Open Government Partnership on November 1-3, 2022:

-         Recognizing the strategic importance and imperative of having parliaments that are open and interactive with their social environment in entrenching institutional democracy that is built on pluralism, citizen participation, and inclusion;

-         Recalling the social and geopolitical contexts and threats that face institutional democracy;

Emphasize the following:

-         Consider that the values that form the basis of the Open Government Partnership are at the core of modern democratic practice, and that the openness of Parliaments and the inclusion of their social environment are an opportunity to renew democracy and give it fresh impetus and that they are the means to curb anti-parliamentarian tendencies, extremism, and intolerance;

-         Confirm that on that basis, and to entrench democracy, the historical, civilizational, and cultural contexts, as well as the various factors that affect the institutional and democratic construction in Africa, must be taken into consideration;

-         Stress the importance of partnering with African civil society organizations in order to fortify democratic practice, particularly in the elaboration and implementation of the pledges of Parliaments in relation to the Open Government Partnership according to an institutional building that is based upon the principles of participatory and citizen democracy, taking into consideration the boundaries set between partisan and associative work and political and civil action;

-         Commend, in this respect, the dynamism and vigilance of African civil society organizations in defending the causes of African societies, especially climate justice for Africa, human rights, and women's rights, in addition to local and sustainable development;

-         As the African Parliamentarians taking part in the Marrakech Meeting have contributed and listened keenly to the rich debate around public debt management in Africa, considering it one of the factors that affect the development process, they demand the alleviation of debts on the most indebted and vulnerable African States, and its total cancellation in some cases, particularly amidst the current global geopolitical context and its repercussions on the prices of energy and food security, which add up to the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic that have hindered several development dynamics in Africa;

-         Given that digitalization is one of the means of openness of parliaments, facilitation of access to information, consolidation of democracy, and democratization of business, and that none can ignore the public financial cost for acquiring digital technologies and its weight on the African private sector, and citizens in general, they demand the adoption of policies by the producers of such technologies in order to ease the sealing of the technological gap between rich and poor States, facilitate the transformation of technologies, and promote African local industries and innovations, which have surely realized significant achievements in this area.

-         Urge the Open Government Partnership to simplify the mechanism of adherence of Parliaments to the Initiative. They also demand the inclusion of the status of "Open Parliaments" in the appellation of the Initiative;

-         Consider that the implementation of such measures can strengthen the Rule of Law, the State of Institutions, and the engagement in the processes of reform, development, and political participation, which can solidify democracy, achieve the sustainability of social peace, and provide the adequate climate for economic and social progress;

-         Renew their commitment, under the Open Government Partnership and as part of translating its values amidst each country's national and institutional contexts, and their keenness to implement public consultation in a way that enhances the closeness of Parliaments to the concerns of citizens.