Draft Program Description for ISED-MS - Attachment 1.pdf

Attachment 2

Inclusive Socio-Economic Development Program

Region of Marrakech-Safi

Program Description

I. ACTIVITY GOAL AND OBJECTIVES

A. Activity Goal

USAID/Morocco (“the Mission”) seeks to develop and implement a program that supports the Government of Morocco’s (GOM) efforts to enhance Inclusive Socio-

Economic Development in key marginalized areas, including in Beni Mellal-

Khenifra (BMK) and Marrakech-Safi (MS). While BMK is the subject of a separate

Program Description (PD), this PD focuses specifically on the MS region.

The goal of the “Inclusive Socio-Economic Development” Program (“the

Program”) is to support capacity development assistance to government and non-government entities in marginalized communities of the MS region to ensure socio-economic inclusion through integrated economic growth (EG) and democracy and governance (DG) programming. The Program aims to enhance social and economic inclusion through the improvement and institutionalization of participatory governance and the enhancement of business and livelihood opportunities in the target region.

USAID/Morocco expects that this Program will include integrated EG and DG activities that are designed to provide a comprehensive response to trends of economic, social, and political exclusion in the MS region.

B. Objectives

Activities under this program will achieve two overarching objectives:

1. Improved and institutionalized sub-national participatory governance in

MS region

2. Enhanced business and livelihood activities in the MS region.

II. BACKGROUND

Although Morocco has made significant strides in enhancing its human development indicators, it continues to confront significant challenges, particularly in rural areas.

Morocco’s twelve regions (including MS) are plagued with inter and intra-regional economic inequalities, high rates of youth unemployment, low levels of literacy, gender inequality, and a deep-seated crisis in education. More recently, the COVID-

19 pandemic has created further economic disparities throughout Morocco and in marginalized areas especially. These disparities have the potential to increase frustration among Morocco’s citizens most in need of socio-economic support.

Furthermore, MS is suffering from growing water shortages in a region already over-dependent on agriculture and tourism for livelihoods.

In his 2019 Throne Day speech, King Mohammed VI stated that Morocco’s

“achievements have not been [equally] felt by all segments of the Moroccan society.”

Indeed, citizens have lower tolerance to inequalities, are becoming more conscious of their rights, and are increasingly expressing their needs and expectations, including through protests and social media. In Morocco, the Government has put in place many programs and strategies to fight poverty and social exclusion and to reduce inequalities in accessing basic services, as well as to address regional disparities.

Some of these initiatives are sector-specific and are geared toward a particular subset of the population (e.g. the Assistance Medical Plan [RAMED] which was designed to serve poor and vulnerable families; Moukawalati intended to support young entrepreneurs etc.), while others, such as the National Initiative for Human

Development (INDH) and the advanced regionalization plan are of a cross-cutting nature.

Although Morocco has made significant progress, various forms of inequalities continue to negatively impact the country’s social cohesion. In recent years, citizens’ dissatisfaction has often been linked to the ineffectiveness of the education system, unmet expectations of government reforms, unequal access to secure livelihoods, youth exclusion from meaningful participation in political, economic, and social spheres, and largely unrealized progress in gender equality. On several occasions in

2019, the King highlighted the need for a new development model that tackles socio-economic inequalities. Recently, he appointed a committee of intellectuals, businessmen, civil society and others that will serve as an advisory body to make suggestions to improve reforms in fields such as education, health, agriculture, investment, and taxation, among others. Over the coming months, the committee members will lead a national debate and will develop recommendations for a new integrated development model for Morocco.

The purpose of the “Inclusive Socio-Economic Development” Program is to promote socio-economic inclusion through the improvement and institutionalization of participatory governance and enhancement of business and livelihood opportunities within marginalized areas of the MS region.

USAID/Morocco expects that interventions of this program will primarily focus on the most disadvantaged urban, peri-urban and rural areas in this region. In close collaboration with the regional stakeholders, USAID conducted an engagement workshop in MS using systems thinking methodology to better understand the systems for local governance and economic opportunities, using the Regional

Development Plan (PDR) as a platform. The effort of engaging local actors will continue during and after the procurement phase to inform activity design and implementation approaches, and to foster ownership and sustainability.

A. Local Governance

With the 2015 Decentralization Organic Laws, the Moroccan territorial governance structures have reshaped significantly. These laws detail the three layers of the new decentralized structures: regions, provinces, and communes. These reforms have positioned the regions as key players in territorial development through an enhanced role in the advanced regionalization plan (régionalisation avancée), which establishes a new framework that integrates the economic and social dimensions of regional development. The foundations of the plan are:

● The consolidation of local democracy and inter- and intra-regional solidarity,

● Coordination between the various actors in the region to achieve integrated and diversified regional development, and

● A new deconcentration (or administrative devolution) framework.

Despite the Moroccan government’s efforts to promote decentralized governance, much remains to be done in order to respond to current challenges and improve socio-economic development outcomes. Morocco’s decentralized institutions need to be reinforced, and new mechanisms and communication channels must be developed between these institutions and citizens in order to build trust in the government, deliver quality public services, respond to citizen needs, support the ongoing decentralization and devolution process and build institutional capacity at the local level.

As in many other Morocco regions, local government institutions in the MS region, including regional, provincial and communal councils, face significant challenges meeting their new responsibilities and fulfilling the larger role they play in the region’s social and economic development. Weaknesses include a multiplicity of stakeholders, confusion of responsibilities, absence of coordination mechanisms, limited participation by constituents and insufficient financial and human resources.

In a recent speech sent to the participants in the first National Conference on

Advanced Regionalization held in Agadir in December 2019, King Mohamed VI called on local governments to “increase the effectiveness of policies, programs and projects at the regional level to make sure they actually benefit target populations

[and] from which all citizens should profit on an equal footing.” Without strong, efficient and capable local government institutions, MS citizens will not see their livelihoods enhanced despite all the planning for development projects, and the poverty and marginalization rates in that region will not improve.

However, strengthening the capacity of local government alone is not sufficient. A key deficiency in the Moroccan framework for local governance is that deconcentration has lagged behind decentralization. The recently adopted

Deconcentration Charter (Charte de Déconcentration) has vested substantial powers with the Wali (a Ministry of Interior Official appointed by the King), while the

Constitution and the regionalization law have substantially increased the role of the

Regional Council (elected directly by citizens) in local development. This may create a situation where the region could appear to be managed by two parallel systems; one headed by the Wali as the primary State representative possessing all the resources and heading a large bureaucracy composed of all government agencies at the local level, and a second one led by the Regional Council with limited resources but with great political stakes as the primary representative of citizens and their needs at the regional level, and the one who’s directly accountable to them for development. In addition, the Deconcentration Charter has not yet been implemented and sectoral ministries continue to plan and allocate resources from

Rabat with little or no coordination with concerned local governments. This represents a major impediment for the Regional Council and communes that need central support to finance and coordinate the implementation of the regional and local development plans. A key recommendation from the recent Regionalization conference in Agadir was the need to strengthen territorial planning mechanisms in accordance with the State's general policies, and the importance of ensuring the convergence and the adequacy of regional development programs with

Ministerial/sectoral plans. Whether this recommendation will be implemented anytime soon remains to be seen.

To provide the regions with the necessary financial means to properly carry out their new mandates, Article 66 of the 47-96 law stipulates that the region benefits from taxes including business, income and special taxes. In theory, the region now has a fiscal base composed of its own resources. However, while the law did help restructure and simplify local taxation, it missed the opportunity to develop a regional fiscal base commensurate with the new important mandates assigned to all regions, including MS. To overcome this issue, participants in the recent

Regionalization conference called on the State to strengthen the capacities of the regions in terms of governance and financial management and to diversify the region’s sources of financing through innovative solutions.

In MS, the Regional Council developed an ambitious regional development plan

(PDR) that has been validated by the Ministry of Interior. The MS Regional Council will rely heavily on the central government to fund this plan and will therefore be dependent on the goodwill of the Ministries to provide the requested funding and will receive the disbursements at their pace.

B. Livelihoods and Employability

Morocco’s government continues to roll out reforms focusing mainly on social protection programs, job creation and reducing economic disparities across the country. Economic reforms to date increased targeted sector exports, developed infrastructure, and established some global industry leaders, thus increasing foreign direct investment. Over the medium term, Morocco’s economic prospects should improve provided the government remains committed to implementing deep and comprehensive reforms. However, these reforms are not sufficient to increase the job growth rate enough to keep up with demand. Sustainable progress requires structural reforms in key areas, like education, in order to reduce unemployment (especially among young people) and enhance human capital for inclusive growth.

The MS region is distinguished by its historical, cultural and natural attributes which make it a top tourist destination. It holds untapped potential for both governance and economic growth through new initiatives such as the Plan Régional de

Développement (PDR), and promising sectors such as tourism, agri-business, mining and renewable energies, among others. The region contributes significantly to the national agricultural GDP (12.6 percent) and constitutes an important agricultural production and export basin for olive oil, fruits and vegetables. The region also hosts one of the oldest ports in the country, while a second port is currently under construction in the city of Safi and is intended to boost the region’s fisheries sector.

The region is the leading tourist destination at the national scale and represents 20 percent of the national hotel capacity. As to mining, MS boasts significant phosphate reserves estimated at 15 billion tons. In addition, this region is characterized by a rich and diversified handicraft production and harbors a very diverse mining potential which could favor the emergence of an industrial sector with high potential. More recently, there is a high level of entrepreneurial start-ups in the region that promise the advancement of a strong digital sector. All these assets positively impact the activity of several sectors including trade, transport, tourism and catering.

The MS region, however, faces substantial economic disparity, high youth unemployment, and social inclusion inequalities. Current levels of growth do not generate sufficient jobs to reduce unemployment or accommodate the number of job seekers. In 2018, the unemployment rate has reached 7.1 percent, and is especially prevalent among educated youth and women. Agriculture remains the main employment vector in the region, employing more than 42 percent of the active population. This region comes second after Beni Mellal- Khenifra in terms of poverty, with a rate of 14.8 percent. This rate does not capture the substantial intra-regional disparities that exist between the eight provinces and the 215 communes across this region in terms of access to basic services, infrastructure, and education.

Efforts to address poverty and access to services tend to be concentrated in the major urban agglomerations, such as Marrakech and Safi, where most economic activity is concentrated, keeping marginalized areas such as Al Haouz, Yousoufia, Essaouira and Chichaoua in the cycle of poverty. An exodus of rural populations to major cities further amplifies urban and peri-urban socio-economic issues. Demographic growth represents an opportunity for the region to accelerate its development but faces the challenge of creating enough quality jobs. For this to happen, it is necessary for the national government and regional stakeholders to implement reforms that boost the region’s competitiveness, raise the level of youth training, ensure a better matching of training with job market needs and strengthen the synergy of national, regional and local public policies. Like in all other regions, employability and unemployment challenges in MS are inextricably linked to the nation-wide education crisis, while quality jobs remain at the heart of the interaction between stability, growth and equity.

Another primary impediment to socio-economic development in MS is the weak road infrastructure, especially interprovincial and interregional connections. The level of accessibility remains limited in rural and mountainous areas. About 60 percent of the population lives in mountainous areas, which poses the problem of access to basic services such as electricity, drinking water, roads, education and health. Commerce is not sufficiently developed and is not diversified, while the region has weak agri-business capacities. The region’s enterprises are mostly family-run small and medium size enterprises, with very few enterprises engaged in research and development and in production innovation.

Furthermore, this said, MS has a very diversified and complementary economic potential, placing the region third in terms of wealth creation at the national level.

The MS Regional Council developed a sound regional development plan (PDR) for the period of 2017-2022 (see attached). The plan’s budget is estimated at around $1.6 billion, out of which the Regional Council is committed to contribute about $600 million. The plan comprises sixty (60) projects, thirty (30) out of which are scheduled to be funded by the central government.

Faced with the major challenges of employment, inclusion and sustainability, the

PDR sets a target of a 50 percent contribution to the national GDP by 2022. The plan intends to boost innovative sectors such as energy transition, sustainable agriculture, cultural creativity, enhancement of the environmental heritage and the chemical and port industries. It also aims to create more than 280,000 long-term jobs through the promotion of entrepreneurship and inclusion projects. In sum, the plan aims to boost growth and job creation by attracting high growth investment projects in the agri-business, tourism, energy, mining and craft sectors. For this to happen, the region needs to work on improving its business environment and to prepare the needed skilled labor.

Under the recent Regional Investment Centers (CRI) 47-18 law reform, CRIs play a key role in the development of the region through facilitation of investment and ease of business creation. The goal of this legal reform is to make these centers an efficient lever for promoting investment, reducing spatial disparities, and achieving equitable economic and social prosperity for all Moroccans. In addition, the Ministry of

Education recently announced a road map to create “Cities of Professions and Skills” in every region. These cities will serve as multi-functional structures that will provide training in line with each region’s potential and will focus on tomorrow’s jobs including digital offshoring. The Cities will also host programs to empower youth working in the informal sector as well as Career Centers that assist youth transition from vocational training to employment and provide them with a better understanding of employment trends and opportunities to connect with the private sector. The Office of Vocational Training and Promotion of Employment (OFPPT) will have a central role in managing these Cities, in close partnership with universities that will provide expertise and research capabilities and will support the Cities’ job placement efforts.

These initiatives represent a significant opportunity for the MS region to implement its PDR. While the CRI will constitute a strategic lever for competitiveness and investment promotion in the region, the City of Professions will play a major role in the integration of youth in the job market. The Cities of Professions’ road map has a governance structure composed of the Regional Council, the Regional Investment

Center (CRI), the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), and the

National Agency for Employment and Skills Promotion (ANAPEC), an area for potential support in the target region.

C. Cross-cutting priorities: Women, Youth, and People with Disabilities

One of the key aspects of the “Inclusive Socio-Economic Development” Program is the inclusion of especially marginalized populations, particularly women, youth and people with disabilities. USAID/ Morocco expects that special attention to these groups will cut across this program’s interventions.

Gender:

While Morocco’s Constitution dictates legal equality between women and men, significant challenges remain for women in Morocco, especially in underdeveloped regions such as MS. In fact, Morocco ranks 143 out of 153 countries in the World

Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report for 2020. Of the four components of the index, Morocco fares worst on economic participation and opportunity (146 out of 153). In fact, female participation in the labor market rates have been declining in the last 20 years, despite higher overall growth in the past decades. In MS region, unemployment rate is 9.4 percent; it is higher among women compared to men (13.9 percent vs 8 percent), and in urban compared to rural areas ( 12.7 percent vs 4.5 percent)1. In the 15-19 age range, which remains the most vulnerable to unemployment, unemployment is higher among women compared to men: 49 percent

vs. 38.3 percent respectively. In addition, unemployment is specifically widespread among highly educated women, with a rate of 39.6 percent (compared to 33 percent at the national level) and is higher in urban compared to rural areas: 20.3 percent vs.

12.4 percent. Unemployment is also higher among women with a vocational training certificate: 32.6 percent vs. 18.7 percent for men. Similarly, the activity rate is much higher among men compared to women: 75.5 percent vs. 30.1 percent.2 In turn, the

Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) rate in MS is estimated at 43.2 among women vs. 11.8 among men3. As far as illiteracy is concerned, it is estimated at 47.6 percent for women vs 28.1 percent among men and is more significant in the rural areas compared to the urban areas: 60.9 percent and 31.6 percent, respectively.

Like in many other regions, gender rights are largely dependent on social class in

MS. Women from well-connected families are more likely to be educated, employed and participate in politics than those who are less well-off. Other gender-related challenges stem from a lack of societal support for increased women’s involvement in the public sphere. A large portion of Moroccan society still sees women in a traditional role and as dependent upon men, who are viewed as the heads of their

1 https://www.hcp.ma/Emploi-chomage-activite_r123.html 2 Diagnostic sur l'État de la Région de Marrakech-Safi, Embarek Bouchehboub et Brahim Badri, Avril 3 Situation de l’Emploi au Maroc en 2017, Haut Commissariat aux Plans (HCP).

households. Although Moroccan law dictates equal pay for equal work, men are often given higher salaries than women for the same work.

Youth:

Despite their demographic proportion which gives the country a unique opportunity for economic and social development, young people suffer from several obstacles. In

MS, people in the 15-59 age range make up 60.3 percent of the total population.

Youth in the 15-24 age category are the most affected by unemployment, with a rate of 38.5 percent, while it is estimated at 21 percent for those aged 25-34, and 8 percent among those aged 35-44. Unemployment affects mostly urban areas, with a rate of

14.3 percent vs. only 2.5 percent in the rural areas. To maintain the unemployment rate at this level, it is necessary to create 184,000 new jobs in the horizon of 2030, at a rate of 12,000 every year.4

Today, access to decent work, quality education and health care remains a challenge for many of the region's youth. Youth prospects for influencing public policies are minimal, thus preventing them from becoming a major driving force for the country's development. For the most part, they have not equitably benefited from the country's sustained economic growth over the last ten years. The dropout rate is high among youth; there are inequalities between public and private education systems, compounded by the offering of curricula that are not in line with the needs of the private sector. In addition, youth do not participate in civic life and devote most of their time to personal or group activities. This undoubtedly reflects a crisis of confidence in public institutions and political parties, translated by the weak presence of young people in traditional forms of political participation. In fact, only one percent of youth in Morocco participate in a political party or union.5

All these factors expose young Moroccans to delinquency, crime and a growing desire to search for new opportunities abroad, most of the time through illegal immigration. With many young people feeling that the government does not meet their needs and ambitions, their frustration is often expressed through participation in social protests or can even lead some of them to join extremist groups. Between 2011 and 2017, nine terrorist cells have been dismantled in the MS region, the most recent among which dates to June 2019 when four young people were arrested for affiliation with ISIS. MS comes fourth after Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima (19), Fes-Meknes

(14) and Oriental (11), in terms of the number of terrorist groups dismantled during this same period.

For the Government and the MS Regional Council, investing in youth is now becoming a pressing challenge. In 2019, the World Bank approved a $55 million loan to the Moroccan Government to enable the government develop youth employability programs in MS region within the frame of a new project destined to provide economic support to youth. This project will combine training of lower skilled youth, 4 Diagnostic sur l'État de la Région de Marrakech-Safi, Embarek Bouchehboub et Brahim Badri, Avril 5 UNFPA - United Nations Population Fund, https://www.tawjihnet.net/vb/threads/5917/ https://www.tawjihnet.net/vb/threads/5917/ supporting potential entrepreneurs and investments in promising value chain investments. USAID expects that its interventions should build on this project for complementarity and synergy.

People with disabilities:

Social disparities are a feature of Moroccan society, and disabled Moroccans are the main social class affected. According to Haut Commissariat aux Plans (HCP)’s 2014 census, Morocco counts 2.26 million people with disabilities (PWD), about 6.8 percent of the total population. 66.6 percent of them are female; 66 percent are illiterate, while 47.7 percent are economically inactive. 66.1 percent of PWD are uneducated, (79.5 percent for women vs 53.4 percent for men). Education levels are also low among this category: 19.6 percent completed primary level education; 9.5 percent have reached high school and only 1.8 percent attained a higher-level education. According to the same source, more than 47.6 percent of PWD are unemployed, four times the national average.

According to the Ministry of Solidarity’s 2014 Handicap survey, MS region has a

PWD rate of 3.9 percent, which is below the national average (6.8 percent).

III. THEORY OF CHANGE

To achieve the project purpose, USAID/Morocco posits that If sub-national participatory governance is improved and institutionalized, and business and livelihood opportunities are enhanced, then inclusive development will be enhanced in the region of Marrakech-Safi.

IV. EXPECTED RESULTS AND ILLUSTRATIVE ACTIVITIES

Intermediate Result (IR) 1: Sub-national participatory governance improved and institutionalized

USAID/Morocco envisions that activities under this IR will take a supply and demand approach to improving sub-national participatory governance. On the supply side, support will be provided in order to increase the ability of targeted institutions to engage with citizens and enhance their ability to respond to their demands and to provide quality services. On the demand side, activities will build the capacity of civil society to promote citizen participation, particularly for youth, women and disabled people. This strengthened civic participation is expected to increase demand on public and representational institutions to perform more effectively.

Sub-IR 1.1: Increased performance, efficiency, and accountability of elected sub-national (regional and local) governments

Activities will support efforts to work in at least four broad areas: 1) increasing sub-national government openness to citizens; 2) enhancing sub-national government’s performance, specifically their ability to mobilize resources and provide better services to citizens; 3) encouraging increased accountability and transparency in sub-national governance; and 4) supporting increased deconcentration of authority.

Targeted illustrative Results under this sub-IR include:

● More efficient and transparent sub-national governments that are better able to plan and manage development projects in a participatory and transparent way, and to mobilize sufficient resources to fund them.

● Enhanced ability of local government institutions to provide services to citizens in response to their needs, foster greater citizen trust, and enhance the environment for civic engagement.

● Enhanced culture of transparency amongst sub-national government officials and Communal staff.

● Improved ability of sub-national governments to mobilize additional human and financial resources to implement their development plans and programs.

● Greater collaboration between sub-national governments, deconcentrated state services, and other local stakeholders (including the private sector).

● Improved engagement of communities and civil society, including women, youth, and disabled populations.

Sub-IR 1.2: Empowered citizens and CSOs play a more active role in sub-national governance

Targeted illustrative Results under this sub-IR include:

● Enhanced organizational capacities of civil society organizations to constructively engage in governance.

● Citizens and civil society groups hold more positive perceptions of locally elected bodies and other local institutions.

● Increased citizen participation, especially amongst youth, women and people with disabilities in local governance processes, particularly those related to planning, budgeting, and monitoring.

● Citizens’ trust in government is increased and the environment for civic participation is enhanced.

● Citizens are better integrated in local government decision-making processes.

Sub-IR 1.3: Enhanced collaboration between sub-national government and citizens

Targeted illustrative results under this sub-IR include:

● Greater openness of communal/regional councils facilitates citizen and civil society participation and ensures sustainable participatory governance.

● Increased inclusion of marginalized groups in local government practices and policies.

● Mechanisms for citizens and civil society participation in local policy making are developed and institutionalized.

● Implementation of structures and/or policies for citizen engagement.

● Increased opportunities for citizens to constructively engage sub-national governments.

Intermediate Result (IR) 2: Business and livelihood opportunities enhanced

These activities will contribute to the regional efforts of bringing key stakeholders together and to actively contribute to the implementation of the major axes of the regional development plan and other relevant strategies. The region of MS presents great opportunities for growth and job creation, and a high potential to attract domestic and foreign investment. Working on the business environment, boosting the creation and expansion of businesses, working on the entrepreneurship ecosystem, reinforcing the public-private partnership (PPP) culture, addressing the skills deficit and mismatch between demand and supply of skilled labor and boosting innovation are some of the areas that can be supported given USAID’s convening power and past and ongoing experiences.

Sub-IR 2.1: Workforce skills enhanced

Targeted illustrative Results under this sub-IR include:

● Youth are better equipped to effectively communicate with employers and find jobs commensurate with their education.

● Soft skills and work readiness skills training integrated into the

Moroccan tertiary education system.

● Enhanced capacity of universities and vocational training schools’ staff to deliver quality training and services in line with the labor market needs.

● Demand-driven workforce programs as a result of PPPs among the labor market actors.

Sub-IR 2.2: Operationalized and streamlined policies and procedures for increased investment

Targeted illustrative Results under this sub-IR include:

● Friendly investment environment, which will lead to economic growth, job creation, and business development.

● Regional Business Environment Committee (RBEC) formed and meets regularly.

● An increased number of investment requests are reviewed and validated by the RBEC.

● Close coordination happening between the National Business

Environment Committee (NBEC) and the RBEC.

● Streamlining of investment procedures.

SubIR 2.3: Entrepreneurship and innovation promoted

Targeted illustrative results under this sub-IR include:

● Increased employment rates and narrowed socio-economic gaps through strengthening entrepreneurship initiatives and innovation promotion.

● Increased entrepreneurial activity among citizens of MS, including youth, women, and disabled individuals.

● New and existing businesses supported through qualitative technical assistance to grow and sustain their businesses.

● Key regional partners, both public and private, committed and engaged to improve access to technical assistance for local entrepreneurs.

V. CONCEPTUAL APPROACHES AND LINKAGES

A. CONCEPTUAL APPROACHES

USAID/Morocco expects the following core principles to be applied across the design and implementation of activities under this program:

● Innovate, pilot and develop scalable models: Morocco’s permissive environment and USAID’s strong partnerships make it an ideal place to pilot innovative approaches that promote learning and facilitate scale-up of proven models. USAID consultations highlight the desire of GOM counterparts for technical support in line with regional development priorities. Activities will be designed in ways that promote learning and innovation to inform:

○ Activity implementation through adaptive management

○ Follow-on activities under USAID/Morocco’s future CDCS

○ Models that can be adopted by local partners (particularly the

GOM)

○ Impact evaluation on identified components for mission and agency level learning

○ Approaches to potentially be used in other countries.

In addition, experience with past programming, such as USAID’s Civil Society

Strengthening Program, Career Center program, and Reading for Success program, highlights the potential for political will of the GOM to scale up proven models.

● Engagement of local actors: The program was designed in close collaboration with local actors through a consultative process, including a systems mapping workshop in the region. Local actors will also be involved in the design of the largest implementing mechanisms under the program, which will be procured through the APS Link. This consultative process will aim to tailor activities to address the governance and economic growth priorities https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=324217 identified by the pilot region using a co-creation approach6 and the Agency’s new “Journey to Self-Reliance” metrics..

● Integration between economic growth and governance activities:

USAID/Morocco sees integration of activities under the two objectives as essential to success. Activities should make every effort to combine innovative economic development approaches with new and adapted governance models toward improved socio-economic inclusion in the region.

● Inclusion of marginalized populations: The sense of exclusion disproportionately affects marginalized populations in MS including women, youth and PWDs, among others. Activities will be carefully designed to ensure interventions benefit these populations in the target region.

● Central level engagement: Efforts should be coordinated with the central government in order to influence the reform agenda, obtain necessary support to implement national strategies at the regional level and to position the region as a model that can inspire other regions in the advanced regionalization process.

● Focus on learning: The Mission will incorporate learning agendas at both the project and activity levels to ensure that key questions and knowledge gaps are addressed, including sustainability and scale-up. The findings from implementing the learning agenda will lead to the adaptation of activities, and will serve as a knowledge base to guide future USAID activities and implementation of successful models. USAID/Morocco expects substantial cross-fertilization and sharing between activities implemented in the BMK and

MS regions during implementation and evaluation of this program.

● Tailored training and technical assistance: Sustainability is an important part of all USAID/Morocco activities; training and capacity building are typically important parts of reaching this goal. As such, training should always be tailored and specific to needs and, in itself, not sufficient to ensure needed capacity is built. As part of any training approach, the Mission expects a broader view of deep capacity development which could include, but not limited to, coaching, mentorship, networking, technical assistance, workshops on both technical and business/leadership skills, etc."

B. LINKAGES

The applicant will also align closely with the broader priorities of USAID/W, USAID/Morocco, and the Government of Morocco including the following strategies and priorities:

6 Co-creation is a design approach that brings people together to collectively produce a mutually valued outcome, using a participatory process that assumes some degree of shared power and decision-making.

USAID/Morocco Strategy (CDCS): The Inclusive Socio-Economic

Development (ISED) program in the Region of Marrakech-Safi (MS) will support

USAID/Morocco’s upcoming Country Development and Cooperation Strategy

(CDCS) 2020-2025 which is currently in development and will be finalized in

December 2020. This new strategy will be implemented through two projects:

the General Development Office (GDO) Project Appraisal Document (PAD) and the Education PAD. This activity will directly contribute to achievement of results articulated in the GDO PAD.

The following Intermediate Results (IRs) make up the intentional purpose of the ISED activity: IR 1 “sub-national participatory governance is improved and institutionalized” and IR 2 “business and livelihood opportunities are enhanced.”

The activity will directly contribute to Sub-IR 1.1 “Increased performance, efficiency, and accountability of elected sub-national (regional and local) governments”, Sub-IR 1.2 “Empowered citizens and CSOs play a more active role in sub-national governance”, Sub-IR 1.3 “Enhanced opportunities for collaboration between sub-national government and Citizens”, Sub-IR 2.1 “

Workforce skills enhanced”, Sub-IR 2.2 “ Operationalized and streamlined policies and procedures for increased investment”, and Sub-IR 2.3

“entrepreneurship and innovation promoted.”

USAID’s Journey to Self-Reliance Initiative (J2SR): Journey to Self-Reliance is a new strategic approach that aims to more systematically orient the agency’s programming toward building countries’ capacity to address their own development challenges. This new strategic approach encompasses metrics for both commitment and capacity of a country to achieve a level of self-reliance that no longer required U.S. foreign assistance.

Government of Morocco National Strategy The activity will support the

Advanced Regionalization Strategy that Morocco has put at the heart of its socio-economic development model. In one of his recent speeches, the King of Morocco noted that regions are expected to become local governments wielding the kind of powers that enable them to shape their own destiny. USAID/Morocco will work with the Regional Council and other local stakeholders to implement initiatives to improve local governance and economic growth in the region of MS.

Efforts will be coordinated with central partners such as la Direction Générale des Collectivités Locales (DGCL), key sectoral ministries, the National Business

Environment Committee, the Moroccan General Confederation of Businesses

(CGEM) and any other relevant partner to ensure sustainability and scale.

Eventual awardees would be expected to engage and work in close partnership with GOM officials.

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