OECD highlights Morocco’s new approach to critical risk governance

Morocco is building a more coordinated framework for managing critical risks, with the country’s approach highlighted by the OECD in its latest assessment of global progress in risk governance.

The OECD’s September 2026 report, Tracking Progress in the Governance of Critical Risks, points to several measures developed by Morocco, including the creation of a Chief Risk Officer position within the Ministry of Interior, specialist teams focused on critical-risk analysis and work on a National Risk Observatory.

The developments reflect a broader shift in risk management: governments are increasingly expected to identify vulnerabilities before crises occur, connect scientific information with public decision-making and ensure that resilience investments respond to the risks with the greatest potential consequences.

A central role for the Ministry of Interior

According to the OECD, Morocco established the Chief Risk Officer function within the Ministry of Interior to coordinate disaster risk management efforts across government and between different levels of administration. The position is supported by expert teams specialising in the analysis of critical risks, with their work intended to help determine priorities for investment in risk-management capabilities.

This institutional arrangement addresses one of the central challenges in national risk governance: responsibilities for prevention, preparedness and response are often distributed among several ministries, agencies and territorial authorities.

The OECD's wider assessment shows that countries are adopting different institutional models to address this challenge. Twenty of the 27 respondents to its monitoring exercise have a central institution or body with functions related to the governance of critical risks, although the distribution of responsibilities varies considerably between countries.

For Morocco, the presence of a dedicated coordination function creates a mechanism for bringing together expertise and public authorities around a common risk-management framework.

Building a National Risk Observatory

Another element highlighted by the OECD is Morocco’s work on a National Risk Observatory.

The initiative involves a team of experts tasked with developing a mechanism capable of collecting hazard-related information from organisations with scientific expertise covering different risks and threats.

Such an observatory could provide a common information base for assessing risks that do not remain confined to a single sector. A major disaster, for example, can simultaneously affect infrastructure, essential services, supply chains, public finances and local communities.

The approach is consistent with the OECD’s emphasis on an “all-hazards” and transboundary model of risk governance. Rather than treating each threat separately, the framework seeks to account for interactions between risks and the possibility of cascading effects across systems.

From risk assessment to investment decisions

One of the recurring issues identified by the OECD is the gap between understanding risks and using that knowledge to guide public action.

National risk assessments have become more common, but their influence on investment priorities, preparedness measures and response planning remains uneven. The organisation argues that risk analysis has greater value when it is connected directly to decisions on how resources are allocated and how resilience is strengthened.

Morocco’s institutional model brings these two dimensions closer together. The Chief Risk Officer is supported by specialists whose analysis is intended not only to identify threats but also to contribute to the prioritisation of investments in risk-management capacities.

This creates a potential link between scientific assessment, government coordination and the financing of resilience measures.

Morocco continues its cooperation with the OECD

The current framework also builds on a longer relationship between Morocco and the OECD on risk governance.

The OECD published a dedicated review of Morocco’s risk-management policies in 2017, examining governance, coordination and the involvement of public authorities, research institutions, the private sector and civil society across the full risk-management cycle.

The latest report notes that Morocco has used the OECD Recommendation on the Governance of Critical Risks in reviewing policies and reorganising institutions. The organisation also identifies Morocco among countries that have made use of its recommendations in this area.

The relationship therefore extends beyond a single assessment and forms part of an ongoing effort to strengthen the country’s capacity to anticipate and manage major disruptions.

A broader approach to resilience

The OECD’s 2026 assessment places risk governance within a much wider framework than emergency response alone. Its recommendation calls for an all-hazards and transboundary approach, stronger preparedness through foresight and risk assessments, greater investment in prevention and mitigation, coordinated crisis-management capacity and continuous learning from past events.

The organisation also stresses that modern risks can be complex, interconnected and capable of crossing administrative and national borders. Technological interdependence, supply-chain links and changing environmental conditions can amplify the consequences of an initial disruption.

For Morocco, the combination of a central coordination function, specialised analytical expertise and the planned National Risk Observatory provides several of the institutional components required for this broader model.

Turning information into preparedness

The next challenge is to ensure that the different elements of the system operate as a coherent decision-making framework.

The OECD’s findings underline the importance of connecting risk intelligence with policy choices, investment planning and preparedness. The organisation also identifies continuing gaps among countries in strategic foresight, adaptive capacity and the ability to prepare for unexpected or poorly understood crises.

Morocco’s evolving architecture places greater emphasis on anticipating threats rather than relying exclusively on responses after disasters occur. The effectiveness of that approach will depend on how successfully scientific data, institutional coordination and investment priorities are translated into concrete measures to reduce vulnerability.

The OECD’s assessment thus places Morocco’s emerging framework within a wider international shift toward more anticipatory, coordinated and resilient governance of critical risks.