Suchergebnisse

This paper examines the recent, current and potential future role of the European Union in Morocco, especially with regard to public sector governance reforms under the 'Hakama' programme, and 'advanced regionalization'. Based on several interviews with key EU off

This edited volume contains more than 20 chapters of varying lengths on the topic of community development in various European countries (and one chapter from an American perspective). All contributions emerged from the EU-funded project 'Community Care Approach: A Strategy for Social Inclusion', running from around 2005 to 2008. The various chapters aim to deal with issues such as the relevance of community development approaches for the working practices of social work, how socio-economic projects are developed and implemented, assessing the experiences in the different countries and considering their applicability for other countries, and last but not least, the (negative) influence of politics on community work. The introductory chapter by the editors identifies the 'tension between the official support [funding] on the one hand and the autonomous community development actions that are sometimes directed against the authorities on the other' (Brake and Deller, 11) as

This edited volume brings together six urban case studies (three in the UK and three in Latin America) that together try to ''draw out the potentialities, record the transforming moments as well as recognise the limitations of new participation spaces'' (p. 252). While it is not a comparative study, the volume claims to ''offer insight into the conditions which make participation feasible, self-generating, meaningful and progressive and which do not'' (p. 253). This book is the product of a two-year research project entitled ''Municipal Innovations in Non-Governmental Public Participation UK/Latin America'', funded by the UK's Economic and Social Science Research Council.

This paper discusses the extent to which civil society contributes to strengthening public sector accountability in Morocco. The main argument in this paper is that despite a few recent encouraging examples, civil society's role in strengthening public sector accountability remains limited at both the national and local levels. This is due to three main reasons. The first relates to certain characteristics of the Moroccan governance system, including the dominance of upward accountability mechanisms, given the unique position of the King. The second set of reasons refers to certain internal features of the Moroccan civil society. The third reason can be found in civil society's position with regard to its external environment, i.e., the nature of its relationships with the public sector in the form of both local governments and ministerial public administrations.

This essay aims to emphasize the relevance and analytical usefulness of the concept of hybrid political orders with regard to a state and a society that is neither in a post-war nor peace-building situation. Rather, the case of rural Morocco illustrates how hybrid political orders emerge over time, in the context of post-colonial state-building in general, and in the context of decentralization reforms, the proliferation of participatory programs, and the growth of ''civil society'' in particular.

Abstract This paper draws on Peter Evans' approach to the developmental state and applies it to examine the scope for state-society synergy at the local level in Morocco. In doing so, it highlights the usefulness of Evans' concept of 'embedded autonomy' for theorizing about the developmental state. The paper studies the internal and interactive capacities of local government and local civil society organizations in Morocco. It argues that there are certain pre-conditions with regard to state capacity which enable complementarity and embeddedness to emerge. The main finding of the paper though (drawing on my extensive fieldwork in two rural municipalities in Morocco) is the high degree of political instrumentalisation that characterizes the relationships between local government and local civil society. The paper therefore aims to enrich the debate on the developmental state by emphasizing the importance of finding the right balance between autonomy and embeddedness if networks that cross the public-private divide are to lead to developmentally valuable outcomes.

Drawing on elements of a political economy framework, this paper addresses two inter-related questions with regard to economic growth and public expenditure patterns in Morocco. The main factors that help explain Morocco's relatively slow economic growth for the last few decades have to do with problems of: • representation (policy makers mainly represented their own and family/clan interests rather than the public at large); • coordination (coordination among ministries is constrained by the centralized nature of information and power); and • commitment (to the trade and economic liberalization as well as privatization policies, linked to rent seeking activities by certain interests groups). An overarching trend is the disproportionate influence of political considerations on economic decisions. The paper illustrates this point with numerous examples, including the tax exemption of the agricultural sector. The second part of the paper identifies the main causes of Morocco's disappointing social development indicators compared to other middle-income countries. These causes are mainly linked to unsatisfactory outcomes in the education sector, and weak pro-poor targeting of government programs, which can in turn be explained by political economy imperatives discussed in the first part of the paper.

Traditional Knowledge (TK) is well recognized for its contribution to climate change adaptation strategies and community-based natural resource conservation. In Morocco, traditional knowledge is now increasingly incorporated into natural product development derived from natural resources as policies advocate the creation of income generating activities via cooperatives; these initiatives ultimately seek to empower rural women economically and to lift them out of poverty. Focus groups, semi-structured interviews and in depth observation were conducted in six cooperatives in Rhamna province to examine the extent to which women's traditional knowledge is applied and whether it is recognized. Our study reveals that the women's traditional knowledge is readily integrated in the development of natural products, vital in product development, yet is not officially acknowledged by the employers and national legislation. With international organisations increasingly putting pressure on countries such as Morocco to integrate the Access to Benefit Sharing (ABS) and particularly article 8j of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the challenge lies now in securing recognition of women's traditional knowledge involved in these activities.

Working paper 76. Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium, London, Overseas Development Institute. ; The United Nations' Agenda 2030 aims to achieve gender equality as part of the 5th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). Yet, the way to reach this goal remains under-researched – particularly in rural, conflict-affected communities in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This paper uses the donorfunded, community-driven reconstruction programme 'Tuungane' as the foundation on which to analyse changes in gender norms in the context of a 'hybrid social order', defined as the interplay between 'modern' norms (state and non-governmental institutions); religious (church institutions) and traditional (institutions based on customary law).