Ombudsman of the Agency

MAP Ombudsman is the intermediary between users, subscribers and customers who wish to give feedback on the content of the Agency and the professionals who produce this content.

He is in charge of receiving opinions and observations from MAP customers and users relating to the products and content marketed, responding to them, and following up on them.

The Agency’s Ombudsman speaks for users, subscribers and customers within the establishment. He explains to the public the conditions of exercise of MAP’s professions, their rules and their constraints.

The Agency’s Ombudsman promotes debate and reflection on ethics and best practices within MAP.

MAP’s Ombudsman carries out his missions in complete independence from the administration of the Agency and has no editorial responsibility within it. Placed outside any hierarchy during the exercise of his function, his word is all the more free as it is put at the sole service of the ethical quality of editorial products. The Agency’s Ombudsman is not responsible for the Agency’s editorial choices.

The Ombudsman of the Agency is contacted by any natural or legal person, by any user, customer or subscriber who wishes to give opinion on the content produced by the Agency. Referral to the Agency’s Ombudsman is done by e-mail, by fax or by post. The Agency’s Ombudsman may also be approached by the Agency’s General Management if the latter had to deal with matters falling within the mission of the Agency’s Ombudsman.
A link to the Agency’s Ombudsman is visible on all the home pages of the agency’s websites. This link leads to a page to fill in for a direct referral to the Ombudsman of the Agency.

The Agency’s Ombudsman is required to respond in writing to all referrals received through documented responses within one (1) month.

The Agency’s Ombudsman may, when justified, for a subject that does not directly concern its competence, ask in writing certain particular services of the agency to answer directly to applicants. These services must respond within fifteen days (15) from their referral by the Agency’s Ombudsman.
The Agency’s Ombudsman may ask any MAP service in writing to provide additional information on a file or a fact under investigation. This answer must take place within fifteen (15) days from referral by the Agency’s Ombudsman.

The Agency’s Ombudsman informs, at the end of each quarter, MAP’s Director General of the referrals to which he has been contacted. He details, in his newsletter by category, the statistics referrals, opinions, recommendations or proposals made by him to go beyond the situations observed that deserve to be rectified.

MAP’s Ombudsman prepares an annual report of his assignments which is presented to the Board of Directors. The Agency’s Ombudsman presents to MAP’s Board of Directors for the month of June each year an annual report on his activity. This report details statistically, and by category, the referrals made to the Agency’s Ombudsman during the year. The report also details reviews, the recommendations or proposals made to overcome the situations observed which deserve to be rectified. The report also details the follow-up or level of implementation of opinions, recommendations or proposals made.
The annual report of the Agency’s Ombudsman is public. The Agency publishes this report each year online on its institutional website.

All data relating to the intervention of the Agency’s Ombudsman is confidential. Data relating to the intervention of the Ombudsman of the Agency includes, in particular, the content of the discussions between the parties, the draft reports as well as the working notes of the Agency’s Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman of the Agency must observe during the duration of his mission as well as after the end of his mission, the most absolute discretion with regard to all facts, information and documents of which he was informed.

The Agency’s Ombudsman is appointed, out of MAP staff, by the Board of Directors, for a period of two (02) years, renewable only once. The Agency’s Ombudsman is appointed among the journalist personalities recognized for their probity, their competence, their impartiality and their commitment to the rules of law, to ethics and deontology. The Agency’s Ombudsman is proposed by MAP’s Director General after study of the file by a commission appointed for this purpose.

If the Ombudsman wishes to break the contract, he is required to present his resignation to the Board of Directors, by registered letter addressed to the Agency’s Director General, which informs the Board of this at the first meeting following the resignation. The contract may be suspended by the Board of Directors, at the reasoned request of MAP’s Director General. The request for suspension is addressed to the Chairman of the Board of Directors. The Board, during the 1st meeting following the suspension of the contract, decides on the mandate of the active Ombudsman. The mandate of the Ombudsman is terminated by the Chairman of the Board of Directors without notice or compensation, if after his appointment by the Board of Directors, the Ombudsman of the Agency does not take up his post within the time limits set out for him by the Board of Directors.
The mandate of the Agency’s Ombudsman is also terminated without notice or compensation:

● If the Agency’s Ombudsman is sentenced to an afflictive or infamous sentence.
● If he is in a situation of conflict of interest in relation to the objectives of his mission within MAP and his neutrality.
● If a breach in the exercise of its mission is observed.

The Board of Directors sets, by contract, the Ombudsman’s duty allowances.
The Agency’s Ombudsman does not have the status of MAP employee.