USAID pioneered online debates on democracy issues

	USAID pioneered online debates on democracy issues

Nearly 3,000 individuals participated in two online discussion forums concerning anticorruption and local democracy. Organized by USAID’s Parliamentary Support Project, the debates were hosted at Morocco’s premier Civil Society Organizations online network TANMIA www.tanmia.ma. It is the first time in Morocco’s history that on-line debate took place on these issues simultaneously inside and outside the Parliament.
In response to Morocco’s ongoing corruption problems, participants in the anti-corruption forum proposed the following measures: enforcement of current accountability laws for public and private sectors; ratification of the International Convention Against Corruption; and an increase in public access to government information.
Online discussants for decentralization suggested that more executive powers be devolved to locally-elected councils and that local governance best practices be shared and adopted more widely.
Media was also drawn into the debates.  Influenced by issues discussed in the anticorruption forum, the media emphasized that public servants and elected officers should be required to declare their property and financial assets prior to standing for the September 2007 elections.
The project also supported TANMIA in posting important legal resources including the Moroccan Constitution and internal rules for both parliamentary houses on-line.  Within the first three months, more than 6000 visitors tapped into these resources.