Two back-to-back workshops in Tunis and Rabat conclude the “MAGHREB OUTREACH SERIES”
Two back-to-back workshops in Tunis and Rabat conclude the “Maghreb Outreach” component of the FNF-EU cofinanced regional project on Freedom of Association in the Arab World
Two successful back-to-back workshops held in Tunis on January 19th 2010 and in Rabat on January 21st 2010 concluded the “outreach component” of the FNF-EU cofinanced regional project on Freedom of Association in the Arab World. The project, which aims at enhancing the legal framework of associations in the Arab World through national dialogue and empowerment of civil society, is a three year project (2007-2010) implemented by the Amman office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty and its Arab partner organisations.
One of the major outputs produced by the project over the past two years is a set of three “self-regulatory codes of conduct”
to enhance the performance and public image of civil society’s most
basic components, that is a) political parties, b) non-governmental
organisations and c) trade unions respectively.
The first of its kind in the Arab World, the “Charter on Democratic Principles”
is a formal pledge of political parties to their constituencies and
governments to uphold and safeguard democracy, whether they are in
power or in opposition. A “Code of Conduct for NGOs”, based on Arab experiences, sets the principles of accountability and governance within societies and associations and a “Code of Conduct for Workers’ Unions” enhances unions’ independence and credibility.
In addition to its core project countries in the Eastern Mediterranean
(i.e. Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine), the project aims at
ensuring outreach of the project’s outputs and results to the Maghreb
states. To ensure this output, FNF implemented the said series of
outreach workshops in the Maghreb.
[More information on this particular project is available on the project’s website www.arab-laws-reform.net ]
Tunis, Jan 19th 2010
The Tunis outreach workshop was implemented in cooperation with the Tunis-based Arab Institute for Human Rights (AIHR) and gathered the remarkable number of 45 CSO representatives from Tunisian political parties, NGOs and trade unions in addition to a representative of the European Union’s Delegation to Tunis.
Panel with AIHR's Mrs. Lamia Grar and Dr. Tayeb Bakoush, FNF's Mrs. Ubab Murad and the EU Delegation's Mr. Dirk Buda
The workshop was marked by open dialogue on the challenges facing the right to freedom of association in the Tunisian context, with participants discussing the possibility of joining forces and to establish a coalition of civil society organisations with the purpose of working towards enhancing freedom of association. According to participants, the event was one of the very few occasions that succeeded in gathering the three components of civil society (NGOs, political parties and trade unions) around the same table to discuss a matter of mutual importance.
The codes of conduct were discussed, with the Tunisian participants emphasizing the need of amending them in a way that takes into account local particularities and considerations.
In photo: Workshop with 40 civil society representatives in progress
Rabat, Jan 21st 2010
The Rabat outreach workshop was implemented two days later in cooperation with the Moroccan “Citizenship Forum” (Arabic: Muntada Al Muwatana) and was hosted by the Consultative Human Rights Council of Morocco in its historic premises in downtown Rabat. In addition to a representative of the European Union’s Delegation to Morocco, a high turnout of more than 80 civil society representatives joined the workshop, representing a diverse range of political parties, NGOs and trade unions. The media’s response was significant, with two local TV stations covering the event, which made it on the main evening news.
Representatives of political parties discuss the code of conduct during a work session
Recognizing the diversity and heterogeneity of challenges and opportunities faced by civil society in the Arab World, it became apparent to the participants that there can be no “one code of conduct that fits all” – in other words that they would need to adapt the three codes of conduct in a way that ensures their local relevance and compatibility.
Group picture in the conference venue at the Moroccan "Consultative Human Rights Council"
As in Tunisia, the Moroccan participants discussed the idea to build coalitions among civil society organizations – both on the national and regional levels - to strengthen the position of CSOs and the right to freedom of association in their respective countries.
