Ben Brahem: “Periodic meetings between civil society actors and local officials on the most important issues of concern to citizens” – Al-Hiwar Al-Jazaeryia

The head of the National Observatory for Civil Society, Noureddine Ben Brahem, confirmed today, Sunday in Algiers, that at the beginning of next June, the “Civil Society Forum for Dialogue, Citizenship and Local Development” will be launched with the aim of embodying the principle of participatory democracy and contributing to finding solutions to citizen concerns.

Ben Brahem explained during the opening of the fourth regular session of the National Council of the Observatory, that “among the observatory’s work plan for the current year is the launch, beginning next June, of a civil society forum for dialogue, citizenship and local development across 58 states, with the aim of activating dialogue mechanisms and raising citizen concerns to the authorities.” The local, participatory approach, which allows activating the role of civil society, which is considered an effective partner, to achieve local development and management.

This initiative will be embodied through “meetings between civil society actors and local officials on the most important issues of concern to citizens, provided that they come up with recommendations that will provide solutions and highlight priority issues in each region.”

He pointed out that “in parallel, this year, national workshops will be organized on the role of civil society, devoted to evaluating public policies and local development,” stressing that “the current bet is how to make civil society a key partner in governance, whether at the local or national level.” .

For reference, the activities opened with a presentation of the results of the observatory’s activities for the first quarter of 2023, and the topic of the observatory’s contribution to the national campaign for the prevention of drugs and pests was presented, where the members of the observatory stressed the seriousness of attempts to flood Algeria with drugs, and they also presented initiatives to save Algerian youth from this dangerous scourge. The session continued in closed sessions, and the opening session was attended by the advisor to the President of the Republic in charge of national and international organizations and non-governmental organizations, Hamid Lonausi, as well as representatives of various national advisory bodies.