The Bureau meeting of the AU-STC 8 on Public Service, Local Government, Urban Development and Decentralization opens today 28 March 2018 in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco. It held its Second Session in December 2016 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where its Bureau was established for a period of two years (2017-18).

The meeting’s overall objective is to discuss and deliberate on the level of implementation of the activities by the AU-STC 8 in accordance to its two years’ work plan (2017-2018); the level of Operationalization of the Secretariat and the preparations for the organization of the third ordinary session of the STC 8.

H.E. Mr. Mohammed Benabdelkader, Minister of Administrative Reforms and Public Service of Morocco welcome all and wished everyone a nice stay in Rabat. He expressed his happiness for choosing Morocco as the host of this meeting especially as they just returned to the AU which shows a sign of their commitment to the Agenda of the AU. He reiterated the importance of the south-south cooperation which has given a new dynamic in decentralization and regionalization as well as the concept of local democracy. He also expressed their conviction that the recommendations from this meeting will help to address the issues faced by Africa and also believes that the outcomes such as the plan of action of the STC8 for 2018 will help a lot in attaining the objectives of this Committee. He then thanked all the participants for their participation and expertise expressed during this meeting.

In his remarks, Mr. Mohammed Yassin Daoudi, President of the Moroccan Association of the President of Communal Councils thanked everyone for coming to this meeting as well as the decision of the government of Morocco for hosting this event in Morocco. He highlighted the fact that this meeting is pertinent since Africa is undergoing a period of structural transformation, urban issues as well as that of local governance and sustainable development on the continent. He hopes that the partnership with UCLGA and AU will soon be concretized by signing an M.O.U. He also informed the meeting of the upcoming Africities 2018 which will be hosted in Morocco, Marrakech and encouraged everyone to participate at this world wide event in order to ensure the success of this same in Africa.

Speaking on behalf of the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Dr. Khabele Matlosa and Director for Political Affairs thanked the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco for hosting this important meeting and for the warm welcome given to them. He also applauded the Chairperson of the AU-STC8 for his stewardship in leading this STC8 over the last two-years. He recalled the vision of the AU through the AU Agenda 2063 with specific emphasis to the Aspiration 3 which has a direct impact on the STC8 as well as in the delivery of its mandate on the continent. He then highlighted the three (3) important mandates which cut across the work of its Sub-committees on Public Service and Administration, Local Governance and Decentralization and Human Settlement and Urban Development. He informed the meeting on the theme of the year 2018 (year on Anti-corruption) and the importance for the STC8 to take this task seriously and align his work too in that line. He reiterated the importance of this bureau meeting as it will not only review the work of the STC 8 over the last two years but it will propose concrete solutions or way forward to advance the work of this STC 8 in a better way. He then thanked the experts for all their efforts in proposing concrete recommendations and solutions which will help advance the work of the STC 8 from its current state for consideration and adoption by the bureau.

H.E. Mr. Barnabe Z. DASSIGLI, Minister of Decentralization and Local Government of Benin and Chairperson of the AU-STC8, in his opening remarks, welcomed the respective delegations from the bureau at the meeting and thanked for sparing time in their busy schedules in order to be present here today. He informed the meeting on the importance of this meeting as it will help to review its plan of action for 2018 as well as review pending issues which couldn’t be carried out before due to conflict of schedule of the bureau members. He encouraged the bureau to decide on the position and concrete role of the STC8 within the AU structures which will help them to interrogate the functions and role of the STC 8 as well as its Sub-committees within the AU. Also hopes that the agreement for partnership between the AU and UCGLA will be concretize as soon as possible and signed in the near future. He then encouraged the members of the Bureau as well as the whole STC8 to participate effectively at the upcoming 6th edition of the Africities scheduled to be held in Marrakech, Morocco. He thanked the experts for the work done and encouraged his fellow peer members of the bureau to do a good work during their session of adopting the recommendations as it will be critical in deciding the way forward for a proper functioning of the AU-STC 8 in future.

The meeting took place from 26 – 29 March 2018 in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco preceded by the Experts meeting held on 26-27 March 2-18 and the Bureau meeting on 28-29 March 2018 at La Tour Hassan Hotel, Rabat in the Kingdom of Morocco.

For further information, please contact Mr. Issaka Garba Abdou GarbaAbdoui@africa-union.org and Kevin T. Tchatcho on kevint@africa-union.org