Morocco, ESCWA Partner to Accelerate Digital and Administrative Reform

Agadir – Morocco’s Ministry of Digital Transition and Administrative Reform and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Wednesday to strengthen cooperation in digital transformation, public administration modernization, governance, artificial intelligence, and innovation.

Minister Amal Al-Falah Saghrouchni and Rania Al-Mashat, Executive Secretary of ESCWA and UN Under-Secretary-General, signed the agreement in Rabat, establishing an institutional and practical framework for cooperation between Morocco and the UN regional commission.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Saghrouchni said the ministry’s approach is based on integrating digital transformation with administrative reform, describing the two areas as complementary tools for reshaping Morocco’s administrative model.

She said the objective is to improve the quality of public services, strengthen administrative performance, and bring government services closer to citizens and businesses.

‘A platform for concrete joint initiatives’

The minister also said that Morocco began preparing a roadmap for administrative transformation in May 2025, covering the 2026-2030 period.

“The signing of this memorandum of understanding reflects our shared commitment to building an effective, productive and impactful institutional partnership, one that advances the modernization of public administration and improves the quality of services provided to citizens,” Saghrouchni stated. 

“We hope that the memorandum will serve as a platform for concrete joint initiatives that draw on the extensive expertise of both Morocco and ESCWA, while paving the way for broader cooperation with Arab countries through the exchange of successful experiences and their adaptation to national contexts,” she added. 

The roadmap aims to establish a modern, flexible, and efficient administrative model capable of anticipating and adapting to rapid social, economic, and technological changes, according to the ministry.

For her part, Al-Mashat stressed the importance of benefiting from Morocco’s experience in administrative reform and digital transformation while facilitating the exchange of practices and expertise.

She also called for stronger South-South cooperation and greater exchange of knowledge and experience among countries.

The MoU builds on growing cooperation between Morocco’s Ministry of Digital Transition and Administrative Reform and ESCWA.

A key milestone in this cooperation came on June 30 and July 1, 2026, when Rabat hosted the Third Arab Forum for Public Administration, organized jointly by the ministry and ESCWA under the theme, “Innovation in Governance for a Future-Ready Public Administration.”

The forum concluded with the Rabat Declaration, which emphasized that digital transformation and administrative reform should be pursued as complementary processes.

The declaration stressed that modernizing public administration goes beyond simply digitizing existing services. It requires redesigning administrative processes, simplifying procedures, improving governance mechanisms, and making effective use of technology and data.

It also called for greater interoperability between administrative systems to help build a more efficient and transparent public administration that remains closer to citizens and businesses.

The new MoU therefore places Morocco’s digital transformation efforts within a broader framework of institutional cooperation, knowledge exchange, and administrative modernization, with artificial intelligence and innovation forming part of the partnership’s areas of focus.