President of Republic Calls For Creating Favorable Conditions for Successful, Sustainable Local Development

On 29 April in Nouakchott, the National Council for Decentralization and Local Development (CNDDL) held its first session under the chairmanship of His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, the President of the Republic. The members of the CNDDL are nine ministerial departments whose attributions overlap with the regional authorities, 15 representatives of the various levels of the regional authorities: 12 mayors and five eminent personalities, appointed by the President of the Republic because of their competence in the field. The missions assigned to the CNDDL are: – Implementing development programs and strategies locally and harmonizing them with the specificities, potentialities, and investment opportunities available in each region; – Involving citizens in local public governance – Bringing services closer to citizens quickly and efficiently; – Creating a nucleus of a social and solidarity economy; – Valorizing local businesses for the revalorization of local production and the creation of jobs to make local development a starting point for the inclusive development of the country; During the opening of the session, His Excellency stressed the importance of local development as the best way to achieve: – Implement, locally, development programs and strategies and align them, in each region, with the specificities, capacities, and investment opportunities available in this region; – Involve citizens in local public governance; – Bring services closer to citizens and deliver them more quickly and efficiently; – Create the core of a social and solidarity economy; – Promote local businesses for the revaluation of local production and the creation of jobs to make local development a starting point for the inclusive development of the country; – Get rid of the mentality of exclusive dependence on the state for the realization of regional development. He also explained that with regard to the competences possessed by the decentralized authorities, by virtue of the law, and the possible transfers in the areas defined by the law, a large part of the development burden now falls within their field of action. His Excellency drew the attention of the CNDDL to the need to ensure that these bodies can fully play their role in creating the conditions necessary for effective and sustainable local development.