President Sekkal participates in a workshop on decentralisation in Mauritania

The President of ORU Fogar, Abdessamad Sekkal, and the Vice President Leyre Madariaga, participated in a Workshop on Regional Development Planning and Localization of SDGs, which was held last 18-19 in Nouakchott, Mauritania. The event, organized by UNDP Art and the National Government of Mauritania, was held at a time when the country is strengthening its decentralization.

Traditionally a highly centralised country, Mauritania began a limited decentralisation in 1992. With regional governors and prefects modelled in the French way, the country was divided into 15 wilayas or regions. This incomplete decentralization did not allow the regional authorities to have a leadership recognized by the population. 

Recently, however, the process has taken a leap forward, driven by President Abdel Aziz and validated by the constitution endorsed by the population on 5 August 2018. This new constitution abolished the senate, giving its powers to regional councils. These reforms were consolidated with the regional elections of September 2018. 

In this context, there was great interest in learning about more classic decentralisation processes, such as the Spanish one, explained by the Basque representative Leyre Madariaga, but, above all, in learning about Morocco's advanced decentralisation process. 

President Sekkal, in his capacity as president of the Regional Council of Rabat Salé Kenitra, took the opportunity to explain the Moroccan territorial experience. He said that the decentralisation process had been enshrined in the 2011 Constitution and the 2015 Law on Regions. He explained it as a process based on the principle of subsidiarity, highlighting the fact that the regions had the mandate to ensure the integral and sustainable development of the regional territory.

President Sekkal held several meetings, such as with the president of the Nouakchott Regional Council, Fatimetou Abdel Malick.