Presentation of National Field Study on Values and Their Institutional Implementation: Changes and Expectations of Moroccans
The House of Representatives organized a Colloquium on Wednesday, February 8, 2023, to present the National Field Study on "Values and Their Institutional Implementation: Changes and Expectations of Moroccans." The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami, chaired the Colloquium that featured the participation of the Minister of Solidarity, Social Inclusion, and Family, Ms. Aawatif Hayar, and academic figures.
The Speaker of the House inaugurated the Colloquium with an address where he recalled that the Study is part of a strategic orientation that illustrates the constant openness of the House of Representatives to the academic sphere and consolidates the gains achieved by our country in the field of national studies and reports, in a way that puts society’s concerns and interests at the heart of public policies and programs.
The Speaker added that the conduct of this national sociological Study, the first of its kind within the legislative institution since 1963, emanates from the awareness of the importance of identifying the values that regulate our Moroccan society and the expectations and aspirations of citizens from public institutions and establishments. The Study is also an opportunity for interaction between Moroccans and decision-making entities, mainly the House of Representatives. Besides, Hon. Talbi El Alami noted that the Study stems its philosophy from the pertinent directives included in royal speeches and letters, the values and provisions of the 2011 Constitution, and the conclusions of national reports, including the Report On 50 Years Of Human Development and the one of the New Development Model Committee.
For her part, the Minister of Solidarity, Social Inclusion, and Family, Ms. Aawatif Hayar, noted that the institutional implementation of values and identification of the expectations and orientations of Moroccans in their regard is a highly prominent and timely theme in light of the rapid transformations in our modern world cause by globalization and its impacts on people's livings and practices. The Minister added that the reality we live in compels ministries, institutions, and civil society associations to engage in such initiatives and implement them, in view of the quantitative and qualitative data they provide on the reality of values, which should be referred to in elaborating strategic visions and public policies that aim to preserve the deep-rooted values of Moroccans as they reflect the authenticity and historical roots of the country, as well as its openness to the experiences of other populations.
Moreover, the Minister underscored that Morocco has always entrenched a culture of values through generations by supporting and implementing it at the institutional level. This approach was noted by His Majesty King Mohammed VI in his speech on the occasion of opening the First Legislative Session of the Fifth Legislative Year of the Tenth Legislative Term in October 2020, where he stated that "Morocco was and will always be the land of social solidarity and cohesion."
In his presentation of the National Field Study on: "Values and Their Institutional Implementation: Changes and Expectations of Moroccans," the Professor Mokhtar El Harras highlighted that the importance of the theme lies within the pivotal role of values in forging the identity of institutions, consolidating their cohesion by orienting the decisions and behaviors of institutional actors, and defining visions and strategies.
In the academic and technical aspects of the Study, Mr. El Harras covered the methodology for sample choice and data collection. The Professor also tackled the qualitative part of the study that analyzes the family aspect. The part showcases the persistence of the traditional element in upbringing, reflected in invoking the values of solidarity, responsibility, understanding, and tolerance, against the rise of individualism. Moreover, this part also tackles the dynamics of relations between women and men and their views of values, role distribution, domestic violence, equality and freedom, in addition to confidence in institutions.
Regarding the qualitative aspect of the Study, Mr. El Harras shed light on the common expectations from institutions, mainly education to values, institutionalizing consultation and dialogue between all partners, and achieving a strong construction of values based on elaborating and implementing an ethical charter that regulates relations between actors. In the same regard, he noted that such a value cohesion could not be achieved without providing the necessary conditions for implementing values and managing their clash with the practices of the outside world through establishing the substantive conditions founded on the management of value clash, achievement of social and spatial justice, consolidation of gender equality within institutions, and adaptation with the local and regional cultural, social, and economic peculiarities.
Concerning family, the Study shows a decrease in the values of social cohesion against a rise in the values of individual gain and interest. Hence, the Study's findings focus on the demands of the studied sample for the school to reassume its traditional educational missions and share with the family the function of implanting the values of tolerance, coexistence, solidarity, critical thinking, and freedom of expression.
The Study also focuses on the role of media in implementing the values of pluralism, credibility, and closeness to citizens. Besides, it also covers the role of universities as independent institutions in shaping a citizen capable of analyzing, comprehending, criticizing, and processing both traditional and modern universal values and cultures. However, the Study notes that universities must implement the values of hearing, citizenship, acceptance of difference, coexistence, tolerance, rejection of violence, participation, and collective work.
Moreover, Mr. El Harras noted the focus of the Study on the importance of instilling a culture of moralizing the administration and implementing the values of citizenship, responsibility, and good governance in managing enterprises and public entities, such as hospitals.
The Professor concluded his presentation by noting that the situation dictates the necessity of pursuing the quest towards implementing values, given that they are shared by all Moroccans regardless of their belongings and traits. Mr. El Harras also predicted that values would continue to change to adapt to universal values while not compromising authentic values, ruling out, at the same time, the ability to control the change in values emanating from the impact of globalization and its resulting global circumstances that change regularly.