Knowledge Exchange Series: Fostering citizen engagement through public consultations in Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia Highlights 78769 Use of ICT enabled tools for conducting Public Practitioners from Jordan, Consultations Morocco and Tunisia came May 2013 together in a final VC to The third video conference of a knowledge exchange series around public discuss the use of online tools consultations was organized on May 21, 2013, by the World Bank Institute to engage with citizens. and the World Bank Middle East and North Africa Vice-Presidency. The session convened government officials and civil society practitioners from Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia to discuss how to use online tools when conducting public consultations. Participants discussed the importance of using a Offline in-country conversations combination of online tools In Jordan, participants stressed the need to learn more about online tools and traditional face-to-face for public consultation given the salience these mechanisms when tools have gained in the conducting public region. Participants also consultations. suggested that specific recommendations should be given to stakeholders and other relevant agencies providing guidance on how to move ahead with public consultations in Jordan. Participants in Morocco highlighted the importance of ICT- Participants from Tunisia (WB office in Tunis - May 21, 2013) based public consultation tools. Although most of them were already familiar with the concept, they were also interested in learning more about other kinds of tools such as SMS and radio that could potentially apply to the Moroccan context. Tunisian participants noted the importance of deepening their knowledge on online tools to improve existing ones and current practices. A representative from the ICT unit, working under the Prime Minister Office, found the presentation very helpful given what has already been done by the government. 1|Page Using online tools to conduct public consultations “Communities are as complicated online as offline… it’s Luis Esquivel, WBI Operations Officer, welcomed all important to figure out how to reach o ut to the citizens� the participants and noted that the session’s objectives Matt Leighninger were to provide a better understading of the various types of consultations tools, particularly online mechanisms. Matt Leighninger, Executive Director for Deliberative Democracy Consortium, started his presentation by highlighting the impacts of the Internet. First, he noted that the Internet has empowered individual citizens, and overall as a group, by facilitating information and connection to a larger community, but at the same time citizens have less time to spare and have become more skeptical towards the authorities. Secondly, through various platforms, particularly social media, citizen groups get empowered, which allows for new forms of engagement and to reach out to a larger and more diverse population in a sustained way. Mr. Leighninger noted that in order to take advantage of these new capacities, it is important to develop a long-term plan. On the other hand, the Internet has not changed other important aspects Matt Leighninger, Executive Director for Deliberative Democracy Consortium when conducting public consultations such as the need to develop face-to- face relationships and an overall engagement plan. Mr. Leighninger stressed the important role organizations and other groups outside government can play in facilitating the engagement with citizens. While the Internet could play a catalizing role for engagement, it also poses a challenge given the gap created by digital technology. Though Internet access is growing around the globe, it is worth noting that people use different hardware and access different places on the Web. 5 Scenarios that can help identify appropriate tools: 1. Get immediate citizen reaction to a particular, well-known issue or decision. 2. Need citizens to reach a consensus on actions. 3. Need new ideas and information from citizens to help government be more effective. 4. Encourage citizens to take shared ownership of an issue as government cannot solve all the problems. 5. Educate citizens on a particular issue, spread information. Online tools can serve different purposes such as: to provide citizens with information and help them gather data, promote deliberation among citizens on public issues, facilitate the connection and communication with other citizens, help people generate and rank ideas through crowdsourcing, and visualize options, for instance, when promoting participatory budget. 2|Page Finally, Mr. Leighninger underlined that among the “Online tools should never replace face-to-face meeting... common mistakes made when using online tools for in a public consultation, there should always be a public consultations are treating the Internet as a one- combination of both� Matt Leighninger. way medium rather a mechanism to also receive feedback, not having a pro-active engagement, and not implementing the ideas gathered. A Q&A session followed the presentation, where participants expressed their interest in better KEY Questions: understanding the needs for an enabling environment for public consultations, the tools that could be used when a  How do you ensure that the large segment of the population possesses limited process is inclusive and that the education and knowledge, and how the engagement right players are involved? should be initiated. During this session, Marcos Mendiburu from WBI, also noted the importance of building the capacity of government officials to use online  How to promote the use of tools; trainings could mitigate reluctance from online tools among government officials to employ online tools. In order not government officials? to place a burden upon the population when conducting consultations, it was suggested to use the simplest of technologies such as texting and using universities and public libraries which have already the necessary infrastructure. Collaboration between government and civil society, as well as collaboration among different ministries and public institutions is crucial for effective engagement. When having a group process it is important to have in mind 3 basic elements: to give the opportunity for people to speak about the issue of concern as it will help build understanding between stakeholders, allow people involved in setting the rules of the engagement, and explaining the different options to implement suggestions. Next Steps At the end of the session Saad Filali Meknassi, WBI consultant, emphasized the importance of reflecting on the learning achieved through the three sessions to prepare for the upcoming face-to-face event on June 10-11, 2013. Participants from Morocco (WB office in Rabat - May 21, 2013) 3|Page