---

The report provides an overview of current citizen participation practices in the field of social solidarity, with a particular focus on the direct involvement of people with lived experience in three public policy areas: poverty reduction, disability support, and elder care.

Highlighting the current proliferation of national and local citizen engagement initiatives, the report underscores the wide range of ambitions and approaches involved. When these participatory efforts are fully integrated into decision-making processes and grounded in rigorous and creative methods, they bring tangible benefits: recognition of those directly affected, and improved relevance and effectiveness of public policies.

The mission observed uneven application of basic methodological principles and of the safeguards needed to ensure genuine expression by the most vulnerable. This includes the need to support the development of their overall empowerment.

What are the recommendations?

• Send a clear political signal in favor of a participation continuum in social solidarity policies—ranging from the most practical aspects (such as rewriting an administrative letter that is difficult to understand) to the most strategic (such as designing new policies, as in the case of the National Consultations on Abuse). A joint commitment charter between the State, local authorities, and public agencies would outline the principles and governance structure;

• Make direct citizen participation a standard practice within national and local consultative bodies: stakeholder representation and citizen participation are complementary, not mutually exclusive;

• Strengthen the support ecosystem, build awareness, and professionalize public officials;

• Mainstream administrative practices that include citizens and ensure the necessary time and resources for meaningful participation;

• Create the conditions for effective participation by the most vulnerable groups (through logistical and financial accessibility and inventive engagement methods) at all levels of decision-making, and anchor citizen participation in the empowerment of service users.
   

Most of these changes can be implemented within the current legal framework or integrated into existing sector-specific laws. However, the mission believes that it would be timely to consider adopting a major new law—more than twenty years after
the legislation of 2002—to revitalize citizen participation processes and strengthen their overall coherence.

Access to the entire report in French

• La participation citoyenne directe dans les politiques de solidarité : état des lieux et perspectives