Declaration of Laâyoune: African Parliamentarians Highlight the Importance of Parliamentary Evaluation in Strengthening Democratic Governance and Transparency

In the “Declaration of Laâyoune”, which concluded the work of the 10th General Assembly of the Network, they emphasized the importance of promoting the effectiveness and performance of public policies in line with the African Union’s Agenda 2063, the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and Africa’s aspirations for regional integration and the development of shared collective intelligence.

They also noted that evaluation provides public decision-makers with essential tools for improving the quality of legislation, guiding government action with coherence and strengthening citizens’ trust in their institutions.

The Declaration recalled that the African continent has the human and institutional resources necessary to build autonomous and rigorous evaluation systems adapted to its realities, helping to consolidate governance based on evidence and shared learning.

In this context, the “Declaration of Laâyoune” stressed the need to recognize evaluation as a democratic right, to consider it as a tool for transparency, public accountability and citizen participation, and to make it a permanent institutional practice accompanying the entire public policy cycle.

It reaffirmed the collective commitment to integrating evaluation into parliamentary work, particularly by strengthening the capacities of parliamentarians and establishing specialized teams capable of analyzing, reviewing and objectively assessing the impacts of public policies.

The Declaration highlighted that parliamentary intelligence represents a key pillar of modern governance, involving investment in knowledge, training, research, evidence-based analysis and the development of institutional capacity.

It called for promoting an open and renewed Parliament that engages citizens, universities, civil society and local authorities in a participatory and inclusive evaluation dynamic.

Participants also advocated for strengthening the African dimension of parliamentary cooperation in evaluation through the exchange of experiences and best practices, the development of a shared African framework of reference, gradual harmonization of standards, consolidation of joint institutional memory and the rise of an original African expertise.

Likewise, the “Declaration of Laâyoune” recommended the creation of the African Parliamentary Observatory for Development Evaluation, aimed at serving as a permanent framework for cooperation, coordination and knowledge-sharing between African parliaments, in order to firmly anchor evaluation excellence at the core of regional and continental public action.

Furthermore, the document recommended the adoption of the African Charter on Parliamentary Evaluation as a reference framework to harmonize concepts, approaches and methodological principles governing evaluation practice, ensuring its independence, neutrality and objectivity.

It encouraged the establishment within each APNODE member parliament of national structures specializing in evaluation, forming a national reference network and supporting the sustainable integration of an evaluation culture, as well as the implementation of a periodic monitoring mechanism for the commitments included in the Declaration, guided by cooperation, shared learning and mutual support among African parliaments.

Finally, the parliamentarians reaffirmed the strategic significance of this African gathering held in Laâyoune, in the southern provinces of the Kingdom, a symbol of remarkable development driven by a vision of integrated and sustainable progress.

They expressed their deep gratitude and high consideration to His Majesty King Mohammed VI, whose Enlightened Vision gives strong direction to African action toward unity, solidarity and the prosperity of African peoples.

Through his leadership in strengthening South-South cooperation and continental integration, His Majesty paves the way for development based on human dignity, shared responsibility and the ambition of sustainable progress for the entire continent, they affirmed.

They also praised the choice of the city of Laâyoune, in the Kingdom of Morocco, to host this continental event, underscoring its symbolic significance in view of the role of the southern provinces, the scale of ongoing development projects and major socio-economic achievements that have made the city a regional hub of growth and prosperity and a promising Atlantic platform for open regional cooperation.

Editorial team/le7tv