New project in Morocco: AMBERO supports GIZ in strengthening civic dialogue

AMBERO Consulting has won the GIZ project „Strengthening civic dialogue in Moroccan cities“! The aim of the GIZ project which AMBERO supports with two experts is to improve the dialogue between the civil society, particularly youth organisations, and the Moroccan municipalities.

The recent reforms in Morocco, such as the involvement of citizens in planning processes or the creation of an Advisory Council for Youth and community work in the communities, provide the legal precondition for strengthening participatory approaches and civic engagement in local authorities. Within this changed framework dialogue between citizens and communities shall be promoted and new forms of cooperation between civil society groups, young people and the city administration shall be tested.

The project complements the regional programme of GIZ CoMun (Strengthening of local structures in the Maghreb) which has already established urban learning networks on topics like renovation of the old city, energy efficiency, mobility and waste management. The technically oriented exchange is now widened with the topics citizen participation and cooperation with civil society organisations.

Specific services of AMBERO include:

• consultancy and support of local partner municipalities in conducting dialogues with the civil society
• inventory of citizens’ participation in partner municipalities and identification of particularly innovative and successful approaches as well as screening of particularly promising initiatives, structures or organisations with the aim of spreading best practices
• identification, planning, implementation and monitoring of micro projects which aim at the participation of the population – in particular the youth, women and other disadvantaged groups – in planning and decision-making processes. Concrete measures of municipal and urban development are also supported.

The overall term is 16 months, until the end of 2014. For further information on the GIZ programme CoMun (Strengthening of local structures in the Maghreb) please visit: http://www.co-mun.net/de (homepage in German and French).