Tag Archive for: ALGA

Libyan mayors on a study tour to Morocco

UCLG Africa and the National Association of Libyan Municipalities are organizing a study tour to Morocco for a delegation of Libyan Mayors from 13-21 September, 2019.  The delegation, led by the President of the Association, Mr Hussein Khalefah Edawadi Daiab, will be comprised of mayors from the municipalities of Zlitne, Zintan, Azawya South, Al Bawaniss and Daraj.

The study tour aims to give Libyan mayors a better understanding of the vision, mission, activities and initiatives of UCLG Africa, as well as to present Morocco’s advancement in decentralization, local governance and territorial development in Africa.

Libyan municipalities face a challenging, difficult and complex context due to the political crisis and insecurity that has plagued the country since 2011. Under these circumstances, more than ever, they need multidimensional, multi-level and accompanying support at all levels to anchor stability and peace enabling them to meet their responsibilities in providing basic services to their population and to ensure safe and resilient cities. It is essential for Libyan local authorities to become more integrated into the ecosystem of African local governments through UCLG Africa, the umbrella organization for local and regional governments in the African continent.

Over the course of the week, the delegation will participate in working and exchange meetings in Rabat and Ifrane with UCLG Africa’s partners associated with this study trip. These include: The Ombudsman Institution of the Kingdom of Morocco, the Ministry of the Interior of the Kingdom of Morocco/DGCL, the Secretariat of State for Housing, the City of Rabat, the Association of Moroccan Regions (ARM), the Moroccan Association of Presidents of Prefectural and Provincial Councils (AMPCPP), the Moroccan Association of Presidents of Community Councils (AMPCC) and the University Al Akhawayn in Ifrane.

The delegation will hold working meetings at UCLG Africa’s headquarters with the various departments of the organization. They will have an audience with the President of the Rabat Communal Council, The Ombudsman Institution of the Kingdom of Morocco, the Presidents of the Associations of Local Government of Morocco, the President of the University Al Akhawayn of Ifrane and the President of the Ifrane Communal Council. The mayors will also be received by Mrs. Fatna Elk’hiel, Secretary of State for Housing, President of the Aarbawa Communal Council, Vice-President of the Network of Local Elected Women of Africa (REFELA) for the North African Region and President of REFELA-Morocco.

On the Libyan side, this visit is in line with the ambitions and objectives of the “Nicosia Initiative.”  Initiated in 2015 by the European Committee of the Regions and with the support and accompaniment of several partners in Europe, the initiative aims to establish a close political link and maintain a strong relationship with the cities of Libya. This relationship has the dual objective of contributing to the improvement of public services in Libya and helping Libyan cities reintegrate into the international community.

For UCLG Africa, this is an opportunity to strengthen cooperation, partnership and solidarity with the National Association of Libyan Municipalities and with local authorities and territorial managers in the country. It is also an opportunity to identify the priorities, expectations and needs of Libyan municipalities, particularly in terms of learning, training and capacity building and to enable the African Local Government Academy (ALGA) of UCLG Africa to support them.

 

For further information please contact:

Gaëlle Yomi: Tel: + 212 610 56 71 45

Email: gyomi@uclga.org

 

PDF Version.

The applications for Online Course of SDGs Localization are open (3-17 september)!

The world organization United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and the Barcelona Provincial Council, ​​through the Observatory for Decentralized Cooperation and UCLG Learning, are launching an online training under the name “Localizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Tools for Local Transformation”.

This online course, with the collaboration of UN-Habitat and UNDP, responds to local and regional governments’ need around the world to address the challenge of adopting the 2030 Agenda and implementing the SDGs in their territories.

In this sense, the course aims to train and provide tools for local and regional governments (LRGs) and their associations to implement and adapt the SDGs at the local level, a process known as “localizing the SDGs”.

In order to enable the participation of as many countries as possible, the course will be available in three languages: Spanish, English and French. This entails a greater diversity of visions and experiences that can only enrich the training.

This training is based on the road map developed by the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments, UNDP-Art and UN-Habitat, to assist local and regional governments in formulating national policies to create an enabling environment for action at the national, local and regional levels.

A total of 35 places are offered for each of the three language modalities (English, Spanish and French). The course carries no cost for participants since it is fully funded by the Barcelona Provincial Council and UCLG.

Any person, regardless of nationality and whose professional activity consists of managing public development policies in any country may enroll in the course. Once all applications have been received, the Evaluation Panel will review the different profiles and decide who are the 35 individuals selected for each of the three modalities. The selection process will take into account the adjustment to the target audience profile described above and it will attempt to ensure a balanced composition of the group with as many different countries as possible. All course registrants will receive an email at the end of the process informing them if they have been selected or not.

The training will take place over 3 months and will have a total duration equivalent to 63 teaching hours.

September 17, 2019: End of registration period
September 30, 2019: Beginning of the course
December 22, 2019: Course completion

Contact: ocd.bcn@diba.cat / learning@uclg.org

More information here.

Online Course in Decentralised Cooperation ( registration open until 15 September)

The Observatory of Decentralised Cooperation EU-LA is launching the fourteenth edition of the online training course in Decentralised Cooperation.

The online training offered by the Observatory will be taught in English, Spanish and French. This will lead to a broader diversity of visions and experiences that will unquestionably result in a richer training.

This course aims to provide local governments with the tools to tackle the challenge of finding opportunities to improve the well-being of their citizens through decentralised cooperation relations. This is a specialisation within international relations and cooperation, closely linked to development and local governance.

Target audience:

The programme primarily targets technical and political decision-makers in international relations and development cooperation at local and regional governments. Similarly, it encourages the participation of applicants from other spheres of government, who guide and manage decentralised cooperation programmes.

The course will run in Spanish, English and French, at the same time, so that candidates from all countries in the world speaking either of those two languages may apply.

Training goals:

·         Pinpoint the benefits of international projection.

·         Highlight the difference between the logic of international cooperation and development in decentralised cooperation actions.

·         Identify the challenges of decentralised cooperation.

·         Embrace the culture of partnerships and agreements.

·         Acquire notions of the management of decentralised cooperation initiatives and instruments: planning, establishment of partnerships, project management and communication management.

·         Learn the rules of cooperation: appropriation, harmonisation, alignment, sustainability, etc.

·         Share various real experiences of decentralised cooperation.

 

Syllabus:

TOPICS
Lesson 1: The international action of local and regional governments

Lesson 2: General framework of development cooperation

Lesson 3: Decentralised cooperation

Lesson 4: Modalities of decentralised cooperation

Lesson 5: Management and evaluation of cooperation projects

 

Method:

The training is designed specifically for experts with a professional activity. It is NOT compulsory to be connected to the Campus at any specific time, so each participant may adapt the learning hours to their own agenda.

Furthermore, this online course is clearly designed to be practical.  Accordingly, there is a strong bias towards activities, most notably those that generate an underlying debate or that are conducted in groups and in relation to practical cases.

Before starting the training as such, the course includes a Module 0 that introduces students to the dynamics and strategies of online training; enabling them to become familiar with the virtual environment and its main tools for communication and interaction with the group.

There will be a teacher and a reference tutor to walk the group through the course materials and the activities linked of each topic.

Applications and admissions:

A total of 35 places are offered for each of the three language modalities (English, Spanish and French). The course carries no cost for participants since the training is offered entirely through scholarships sponsored by the Barcelona Provincial Government.

Once all the applications have been received, the evaluation committee will review the various profiles and select the 35 successful applicants for each of the two language modalities. The selection process will take into account the applicant’s suitability in connection with the target audience profile described above, and will seek to ensure a balanced intake, with participants from as many countries as possible.

The course takes place over 3 months and has a total of 60 equivalent class hours. Participants. 

Key dates:

15 September 2019: Registration period closes.

23 September 2019: Course starts.

15 December 2019: Course ends.

Pre-inscriptions: Application form

Observatory contact email: chararara@diba.cato.cooperaciod@diba.cat corsoc@diba.cat/

 

“There is a need for local authorities to understand that architects are there to provide urban policy solutions,” Vinesh Chintaram, Secretary General of the African Union of Architects (AUA)

At the 3rd edition of the Forum of Territorial Managers and Training Institutes targeting the Local Level in Africa (FAMI), the Secretary General of the African Union of Architects (AUA), Vinesh Chintaram, highlighted the need for greater collaboration between local authorities and architects from the continent.

See the video below (in french; also available as a transcript) recorded at the end of the FAMI, which was organized by the African Local Government Academy (ALGA) of UCLG Africa, 10 -14 June 2019, in Ifrane (Morocco).

Given that over 1.3 billion Africans will live in cities by 2050, what contribution can African architects bring to local and regional authorities that face the challenge of urbanization? 

The training of architects is not solely limited to technical support.  We can also provide many solutions for the transformation of cities ranging from city planning to urban planning codes, in order to create cohesion between the development and dynamism of cities.  It is through the integration of these parameters that we can create development that is controlled and manageable. There is a lot of talk about the management of cities. What we need to understand is that cities must also be autonomous. It is this self-management that allows cities to generate financing for their development and for the maintenance of the city, such as the physical maintenance of building infrastructures, as well as providing activities and services to the urban population.

 

How can African local and regional authorities work in concrete ways, with the continent’s architects, whether in cities or rural areas, to ensure that they have buildings that are adapted to our realities?

There are issues relating to buildings that do not necessarily reflect the context in which they are built. As an architect, we must consider that we are there to promote sustainable development that adapts to a context, a climate and a culture. We cannot do this without consultation or without the participation of the inhabitant directly concerned, which we are doing more and more now, because there is an awareness of the need for interaction with the public. This is called the participatory approach.  This really means understanding what they need, in terms of ease of use of buildings and facilities. I think there is a need for public decision-makers and local elected officials to understand that architects are there to provide solutions that can be urban policy solutions, to understand people, their expectations and transform the perception of these expectations into reality. Local and regional authorities have everything to win by integrating urban planners, architects and all those involved in spatial planning and the implementation of infrastructure projects.

 

 

 

 

 

Register to ALGA Colleges for the second part of the year 2019

The African Local Government  Academy  (ALGA) of UCLG Africa announces the launch of 14 Colleges for the second part of the year 2019 (September – December 2019).

These colleges  cover the SDGs, local governance, participatory budget, gender equality, human resources management at local level, territorial coaching, migration, etc.

Consult the table of presentation of the different colleges here.

 

Call for contribution to the 2nd Issue of the African Local Manager’s Voice

As part of the activities of the Local Africa Network HRnet and the Observatory of Local Human Resources in Africa of UCLG Africa, a call for contribution for the second issue of the “African Local Manager’s Voice”,  is open.

The first issue of the bulletin focused on “The main functions of Human Resources Management at the African Local level: sharing of experience”. 

The theme of this second issue is : “Creating a conducive and attractive environment for the development of the human resources at Local Level in Africa: sharing best practices”.  

 

WHO CAN CONTRIBUTE?                                    *

The newsletter is mainly open to contributions from African Territorial Managers regardless of their field of activity or professional field. However, in a spirit of openness to the environment of African Territorial Communities and Benchmarking, any other contribution having an added value.

Contributions are expected before 10 October 2019.

More details here

Call for applications for the training on : Promoting Human Rights, Democracy and Diversity at local level

The African  Local Governments Academy (ALGA) of United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa) is launching  two (02) international training sessions 01 in English and the other in French on: ” Promoting Human Rights, Democracy and Diversity at local level ” which are organized in partnership with the European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy and UNESCO Centre for the Promotion of Human Rights at Local and Regional Levels.

  • The session , which was plan for  25 to 29 November, 2019  is Postpon to next year (2020).   

Find below  the concept note and the registration form to be completed and returned to the following e-mail addresses: lramilijaona@uclga.orgpdabire@uclga.org with cc to najat_zarrouk@yahoo.fr.

Concept Note.

Registration Form. 

Third Edition  of the   African  Forum of Territorial Managers and Training Institutes  Targeting Local Governments (FAMI):  IFRANE’S CALL TO ACTION

IFRANE’S CALL TO ACTION FOR THE MOBILIZATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF INNOVATIVE AND SUSTAINABLE FINANCING FOR TRAINING AND CAPACITY BUILDING OF LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS
AND HUMAN RESOURCES OF AFRICAN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

We, Representatives of Local Governments and Training Institutes involved in the process of Decentralization, Local Governance and Local Development, meeting from 10 to 14 in Ifrane, Morocco, on the occasion of the 3rd Edition of the African Forum of Territorial Managers and Training Institutes Targeting Local Governments
(FAMI), organized by the African Local Governments Academy(ALGA) of the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa), on the theme: “Financing learning, training and capacity building for local elected officials and local human resources in Africa: for innovative and sustainable mechanisms”;

– Launch a Solemn Appeal to the decision-makers at local, national, panAfrican and international levels to make the issue of the Human Capital of Local Governments, Authorities and Administrations one of the main priorities in
the implementation of Decentralization policies, the domestication and localization of the African Union Agenda 2063, as well as the Global Agendas, adopted by the United Nations, in particular Agenda 2030 of the Sustainable
Development Goals, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the New Urban Agenda.

– It should be recalled that weak capacities are a serious obstacle to the achievement and success of Decentralization, to the achievement of sustainable development and to the anchoring of Good Governance at the territorial level.
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– Call on decision-makers to comply with the guidelines and directives adopted at the pan-African and international levels to rethink their action regarding the priority given to the development of Human Capital within local and regional governments and authorities.

– The African Union’s Vision 2063 “The Africa we want”, in paragraph 14, emphasizes the following: “Africa’s Human Capital will be fully developed as the most precious resource, including through sustained investments based on universality in early childhood and basic education, and also through sustained investments in higher education, science, technology, research and innovation, and the elimination of inequalities between men and women at all levels of education.

Access to higher education will be expanded and strengthened by providing modern world-class learning and research infrastructures to support the scientific reforms that underpin the continent’s transformation”.

The Resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 December 2017, No. 72/235 on Human Resources Development, commits the international community to place human resources development at the heart of sustainable development in its three dimensions, economic, social and environmental; and on the other hand, to develop short-, medium- and long-term strategies to effectively improve capacity in this area, as sustained, shared and equitable economic growth and development are not possible without an educated, skilled, healthy, competent, productive and adaptable workforce”.
On this basis, we recommend the following in the context of strengthening the Human Capital of local and regional authorities in Africa:

1. Define an appropriate legal framework that establishes the right to lifelong learning for local elected officials and human resources of local and regional governments and authorities in Africa.

2. Promote employment within Africa’s Territorial Administrations as one of the first options in the career choice of young people entering the labour market by putting in place adequate incentive frameworks and community human resource planning methods adapted to the contexts of the different communities.
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3. Implement innovative and sustainable mechanisms for financing training, capacity building, and empowering for local and regional governments and authorities in Africa, in particular by establishing a levy of 1 to 5 per cent of the wage bill paid to local and regional authority staff, to be devoted to training, capacity building and empowering local elected officials, managers and other staff of these territorial and local institutions, taking into account national contexts and the diversity of the financing mechanisms and models involved.

4. Establish at national level, an autonomous institution responsible for the organization and management of training and capacity building for local and regional governments and authorities in Africa, the management of which should be as joint as possible, integrating into its management the national administrations responsible for the civil service and employment, local and regional authorities and decentralization, as well as the National Association of Local and Regional Authorities and the representatives of local and regional authorities’ executives and staff. This autonomous institution would collect and manage the amount of the levy on the payroll of local authorities to ensure training and capacity building for local governments and authorities.

5. Establish a National Observatory of Human Resources of Local Governments and Authorities with the participation of training institutes and academia to encourage Public Authorities to adopt human resources management standards, and a culture of comparative performance in the management of territorial administrations in Africa. Information from the various national observatories should be able to feed into the African Observatory on Human Resources of Local Authorities developed at the level of the African Local Governments Academy(ALGA) of the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa).

Let us commit ourselves to promoting this call to Action for Human Capital of Africa’s Local and Regional Governments and Authorities, and the implementation of its recommendations.

Done at Ifrane, on Thursday 13 June 2019
The Participants in the 3rd African Forum of Territorial Managers and Training
Institutes targeting the Local Government

PDF version avialable here.

Read the final report of the forum here. 

Motion of thanks addressed to His  Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco.  

Join the UCLG Africa and ALGA Lab Debate during the EDD 2019 in Brussels, June 18.

The European Development Days (EDD) 2019 will be held from June 18 – 19, in Brussels. This year’s EDD is entitled, “Addressing inequalities: building a world which leaves no one behind.”

Organized by the European Commission, the EDD is a participatory program that brings the development community together annually to share ideas and experiences that inspire new partnerships and innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.

UCLG Africa will be actively participating in the event and can be located at Stand 47 in the Global Village City Hall.  Stand 47 will be a special place dedicated to local authorities, represented by five major associations of local and regional governments active in development cooperation: AIMF, CLGF, PLATFORMA (CEMR), UCLG and UCLG Africa.

These associations signed a Framework Partnership Agreement with the European Commission in 2015. Through this partnership, the EU recognized the role of towns and regions as policy and decision-makers in addressing global challenges and in implementing shared global agendas at local level. Together, the five networks of local and regional governments address inequalities as a transversal dimension of sustainable development, local governance and economic growth.

To represent the voices of the African continent, UCLG Africa will organize a Lab Debate around the theme: “Addressing inequalities and building a local Africa, leaving no one behind.” The Lab Debate will be an opportunity to discuss and exchange ideas that pave a way in the creation of an “enabling environment” for local and regional governments in Africa to redress inequalities and to move towards a positive, inclusive, sustainable and resilient transformation that leaves no one behind.

The keys objectives of the Lab Debate are to:

  • Create a consensus around the causes of inequalities in Africa, particularly at local levels, which cannot be redressed or reduced without the responsible, strong and effective involvement of regional and local authorities;
  • Shape the role and responsibilities of the regional and local authorities, besides other actors and stakeholders, in facing and reducing territorial inequalities;
  • Agree on the main pillars of an enabling environment that leaves no one behind;
  • Build bridges for “win-win” partnerships to empower regional and local authorities.

Don’t miss this great moment of exchange. Join us on Tuesday, June 18, in Room D4  (10:00am to 11:15am).

 

Discover the key speakers here.

Celebration of International Public Service Day in Ifrane : 3rd edition of the FAMI

From June 10 to June 14, 2019 in Ifrane (Morocco), the African Local Government Academy (ALGA) of United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa), the Regional Fez-Meknes Council and the Al Alkhawayn University of Ifrane, will organize the 3rd edition of the African Forum of Territorial Managers and Training Institutes, targeting local and subnational governments, (FAMI).

The third edition of the Forum is in celebration of the International Public Service Day (decided by the UN General Assembly to take place on June 23rd annually) and is also a part of the implementation of the U.N. Resolution No. 72/235, dated December 20th, 2017 on Human Resources Development, which states, “The development of Human Resources is the keystone of economic, social and environmental development … Health and education are at the heart of the development of human resources.”

The Forum has the support of the Interior Ministry of Morocco (Directorate General of Local Governments), the Ministry Delegate to the Head of Government in charge of the Reform of the Administration and of Public Service, the Association of Regions of Morocco (ARM), the Moroccan Association of Presidents of Communal Councils (AMPCC), the Council of the Fez-Meknes Region and the Al Akhawayn University of Ifrane. The theme for 2019 is, “The financing of learning, training and capacity building of local authorities and the staff of Local and Subnational Governments in Africa.

The question of means and resources remains a big challenge, if not a real obstacle, for the upgrading of the local public administration, for the modernization of the Management of Human Resources of the local and subnational governments, and the learning, training and capacity building of the Human Capital of these entities, whether local elected officials / elected officials or the staff of the local and subnational governments in Africa. This finding is apparent from a multitude of reports and studies, including the 1st Report on the state of the Human Resources of African Local & Subnational Governments (2018 edition) of UCLG Africa’s Human Resources Observatory of African Local and Subnational Governments. Indeed, local governments in Africa are still finding it very difficult to attract and retain human resources and talent in sufficient quantity and quality. Studies have shown that local and subnational governments operate with less than half of the workforce they need to be successful. The budget allocated, in general, to human resources management (motivation mechanisms including salaries, training budget, acquisition of modern tools for career management, including the computerization of services and procedures, etc.) is below the needs of local and subnational governments and below the ambitions of a successful territorial public administration. The central governments, as well as local administrations themselves, are therefore required to acquire the means to actually invest in human capital at the local level.”

With this in mind, the 3 rd edition of the African Forum of Territorial Managers and Training Institutes targeting local and subnational governments, is intended to be a forum for the discussion of issues of funding for apprenticeships, training and capacity building and targeting local and subnational governments in Africa, in order to present successful models that exist around the world and to propose innovative and sustainable mechanisms for the anchoring of decentralization in Africa. The forum will also provide a space for awareness-raising, training and capacity building on the state of implementation of the Agenda 2063 of the African Union and the Global Development Agendas (Agenda 2030 relating to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the New Urban Agenda, the Climate Agenda, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the African and international conventions on the prevention and fight against corruption).

Representatives of central governments, local and subnational governments, international organizations, territorial managers, representatives of training institutions, as well as representatives of the private sector and civil society, will meet over 5 days to discuss concrete alternatives to providing a financing model adapted to the African environment and to get updates concerning the implementation of African and global commitments.

The official opening of the forum will see the participation of:

Mr. Mohand Laenser, President of the Association of Regions of Morocco (ARM), President of the Regional Council of Fez-Meknes;

– Representatives of the governments of the Kingdom of Morocco;

– Representatives of local and subnational governments of Morocco.

Mr. Driss Ouaouicha, President of Al Akhawayn University of Ifrane;

Mr. Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, Secretary General of UCLG Africa.

The forum will also serve as a framework for the holding of the 4th Meeting of the Academic Board of UCLG Africa’s African Local Government Academy (ALGA), which will be marked by a peer review between the African institutes of ALGA, a presentation of the balance of the Academy’s activities, as well as strategic orientations for the future.

The national and international media, based in Morocco, are invited to cover the opening ceremony on June 10, 2019 at the Al Akhawayn University Campus in Ifrane (Building 4, Auditorium).

 

For more information:

Consult the forum website: http://www.aui.ma/algafami3/index.html

Please contact:

Gaëlle Yomi: Phone: + 212 610 56 71 45

 

email: gyomi@uclga.org

About:

UCLG Africa and ALGA: United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa), is the umbrella organization and the united voice that ensures the representation of local authorities in Africa. UCLG Africa brings together more than 350 million African citizens, more than 40 national associations and more than 2,000 cities.

Promoting decentralization in Africa and within the local and subnational governments of Africa as autonomous and distinct spheres of government, and also contributing to the unity of the African continent, thanks to the dynamism of local authorities, are amongst the main missions of UCLG Africa.www.uclga.org 

Created in 2009 and operational from 2016, the African Local Government Academy (ALGA) is a subsidiary body of UCLG Africa, whose main mission is to promote quality standards in terms of training and capacity building, targeting local and subnational governments to invest in the human capital of these entities and to anchor efficiency and professionalism at the territorial level in Africa.

THE FEZ-MEKNES REGIONAL COUNCIL: The Fez-Meknes Regional Council is the deliberating assembly of the region elected through direct universal suffrage by the voters of the region. Like other local and subnational governments in Morocco, its members are elected for a six-year term. Regional activities are carried out under the control of the “Wali” (“head governor”) of the region, representing the central power. As regards the areas of competence, and according to Article 140 of the Moroccan Constitution, the local and subnational governments have their own competences, as well as competences shared with the central government and those, which are transferable to them by the latter, on the basis of the subsidiarity principle. http://www.region-fes-meknes.ma

AL AKHAWAYN UNIVERSITY: The Al Akhawayn University of Ifrane, created in 1993, is an independent, public, mixed and non-profit, Moroccan institution engaged in the training of future leaders-citizens of Morocco and the world through an educational program in the field of liberal arts with an international calling, taught in English and based on the American system. The university showcases Morocco and associates the world with cutting-edge teaching and research programs, including continuous education for executives. The University adheres to the highest academic and ethical standards and promotes equity and social responsibility. www.aui.ma

Daowload the Press Release.