Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web  
Morocco Week in Review  
July 30 2005

Craft industry exhibition in Morocco.
25-07-2005

The house of Craftsman and the Art'COM School Rabat/Casablanca organized on Thursday July 21a unique exhibition of craft industry artifacts, created by design students at the Art'COM School together with professional designers of Moroccan craft industry. EMarrakech reports that the exhibition was the fruit of a Design and Craft Industry Workshop organized by the Art'COM School Rabat/Casablanca, in partnership with the House of Craftsman, the principal objective of which is to develop and promote the Moroccan craft industry. The event was aimed at presenting the students with the rich and colorful craft industry and to encourage them to collaborate with the Moroccan craftsmen, who crate it.
http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Morocco/186782 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Microcredit Programmes Benefiting 55,000 Moroccans.
27/07/2005

The 26 July edition of Al-Alam newspaper reported Rida Lamrini, president of the Federation of Microfinance Institutions in Morocco, said 55,000 Moroccans are currently benefiting from microcredit. He estimated the current microcredit volume at 1 billion dirhams.
Since the early 1990s, 12 microcredit provider institutions have been established in Morocco. Microfinance is designed to move people from the bottom of the economic ladder towards self-sufficiency and to have the ability to access traditional financial markets http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/homepage/ 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nearly 5,000 Jews arrive in Morocco to take part in Ben Zmirou Hillula.

Nearly 5,000 Jews, from all over the world, arrived in Morocco, last weakened in order to take part in the "Abraham Ben Zmirou Hillula" in Safi.
Abraham Ben Zmirou was a Jewish philosopher and a poet from the 15th century, who originated from the Italian peninsula and settled in Morocco. Thanks to his knowledge and deep understanding of both Jewish and islamic philosophy he gained the respect and admiration of both communities in Morocco. Yabiladi reports that the "Hillula" (celebrations) lasted two days and one night. Many women who wish to conceive or get married and many sick people came to take part in this Jewish religious ceremony in hope of that their prayers will be heard.
http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Morocco/186835 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morocco's family code hailed by US organization for human rights.

Mrs. Stephanie Willman Bordat, the director of the office of Global Rights in Morocco (an American organization for human rights), stated on Wednesday in Washington that the reforms introduced by Morocco's new family code makes Morocco one of the most progressive countries in the region. Bladi.Net reports that Mrs. Stephanie Willman Bordat, gave this statement during a special conference, which was convened to discuss the new Moroccan family code and the new innovations it introduced to the kingdom in the field of women rights. The conference was attended by numerous university researchers, students, diplomats and journalists.
http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Morocco/186833 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morocco aspires to attract 6 million tourists.
26-07-2005

The Moroccan National Office of Tourism (ONMT) announced that it envisages to reach "a symbolic figure of 6 million tourists by the end of 2005". Bladi.Net reports that the main reasons behind the success of this current tourism year include the reinforcement of Morocco's position in principal markets, the launch of new Moroccan destinations, the opening of new markets (Russia and Eastern European countries) and the opening of new beachfront resorts, as well as stronger presence in international tourism shows and fairs.
http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Morocco/186834 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tanger Free Zone to Create 22,000 Jobs.
26/07/2005

The 25 July edition of Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported that since its establishment in 1999, the Tanger Free Zone has created 16,000 jobs. Approximately 115 Moroccan and foreign companies are located in the area and another 77 companies are expected to come soon. As a result, the total number of jobs provided by the free zone will reach 22,000. The location just 15km from Europe is a major reason companies are interested in the Tanger Free Zone.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/homepage/ 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

US Agency to Assist in Security and Safety at Tangier Port.
26/07/2005

The US Trade and Development Agency recently gave a $374,000 grant to the Tangier Mediterranean Special Agency to fund technical assistance for security for international shipping at the Port of Tangier, the agency announced in a press release. The technical assistance will include designing safety and security programmes for the Tangier-Mediterranean Project, the development of tender documents and a strategy for the acquisition and payment of security equipment and services.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/homepage/ 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Essaouira Receives International Blue Flag Eco-Award.
28/07/2005

Essaouira, Morocco, was awarded the international Blue Flag eco-label for the 2005 summer season on Tuesday (July 26), meaning its beaches meet all 27 strict criteria for water quality, environmental management, safety, and services.
The Blue Flag Campaign, run by the Danish Foundation for Environmental Education, includes more than 3,000 beaches and marinas in 33 countries across Europe, South Africa, Canada, and the Caribbean. Blue Flag status for a beach includes good tourism promotion, top quality beaches, standardisation of facilities to international and national standards, less pollution, safety, and cleanliness. (L'Economiste, Le Matin, Blueflag.org) http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/homepage/ 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Moroccan Banknotes on the way.
27/07/2005

To mark the sixth anniversary of Mohammed VI's ascension to the throne on 28 July, Bank Al-Maghrib will issue a new 50-dirham banknote. EMarrakech reports an official statement by the bank on Monday (25 July) indicated the new bill's dominant colour is green and its main theme is "the land." King Mohammed's VI portrait will feature prominently on the notes.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/homepage/ 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Health: Childbirth deaths in Morocco among highest in Arab World.
7/28/2005

Childbirth mortality in Morocco is twice that of certain other Arab countries, reported the EchoEco TV magazine yesterday on the Moroccan channel TVM. Three to four women aged between 18 and 35 die in childbirth every day in Morocco, announced EchoEco, adding the death rate among pregnant women in Morocco is one of the highest in the Arab world. Many women prefer to give birth at home with the help of traditional midwives, said the magazine which carried out its investigation at the maternity ward of the Fez university hospital. This choice is probably linked either to their ignorance or lack of financial means, despite the fact that the Moroccan Ministry of Health hospitals provide certain patients with an opportunity to pay only a symbolic fee or not to pay at all.
http://www.moroccotimes.com/news/article.asp?idr=11&id=8476 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Civil society : When girls have the ball in their court.
7/23/2005

Can sports affect our children's ability to take decisions, and even enable them to become community leaders? After traveling to Niger, a group of teenagers from Chicago came to play basketball with young Moroccans of the same age. It looks like everyone managed to learn something from this experience. Entering the main hall of the Moulay Driss I orphanage for girls, one finds a group of tanned girls in sportswear, chatting on the seddari couch. They all look alike, only, after a little while, one realises that the girls are speaking different languages.

This does not prevent the girls from communicating with each other. Giggles fill the room as organisers make sure that everything is ready for the small ceremony they are planning. The girls exchange a few words: "B-eau-ti-ful" repeats a tiny, shabby looking nine-year old to herself. Acia is trying to speak a few English words, like the older girls. This is a big day in Moulay Driss I, for a group of teenage basketball players from the Chicago-based F3B association have come to play against the orphanage girls.

"We are here to teach them how to play basketball," says one of the American girls, unaware that they were going to face an unexpected, but welcome, challenge on the ground.

"We wanted to come and see [the country] by ourselves," explains another one, adding that the image they finally got of Morocco did not correspond to what they saw in TV.

For one week, members of the F3B association and twenty-two Casablanca-based teenagers followed a series of intensive courses: 6 hours of basketball training and another three hours of conflict resolution, leadership and AIDS awareness courses every day. Many of the programme participants found the rhythm hard to follow. The last game was finally played against the orphanage team. Nevermind who played the game anyway: "it is not really about basketball, it is about teaching leadership to young women who will become leaders in their community," explained Diana Tyson, one of the organizers of the event. "Basketball is a team game, so it teaches them leadership within a team," she added.

It all started seven years ago, in Côte d'Ivoire, added Tyson, when a group of young girls from the US, among them her daughter, went to play basket-ball there. The experience was a success. They realised that learning to play within a team provided both the US and the African girls with an opportunity to learn many things that were not always related to sports.
The association decided to repeat the experience. Every year since then, a group of high-school athletes, most of them African-Americans, would spend about one week in two different African countries.

Each stay would consist in intensive courses taken along with a group of local girls. All participants should be aged between 14 and 19, an age when they are still flexible and curious, explains Tyson.

Before participating in the programme, the F3B girls had to learn to fundraise and present their projects to potential sponsors, especially as they needed to bring in money for the trip and to buy a few gifts for the partners in the countries they were going to visit: all participants had to be dressed alike to erase any discrepancies between the girls.

However, they were not the only ones to benefit from the experience. "We witnessed an extraordinary transformation," explains Boubker Mazoz, a Public Affairs specialist at the US consulate in Morocco (Dar America) and president of the Casablanca-Chicago sister cities committee.

In one week, the 22 programme participants, a group of spoiled Casaouitates stopped keeping themselves to themselves and counting on the others to do things for them.

Instead, they improved their English and started taking responsibilities, ending up deciding to give the orphanage team the brand new sports equipment originally brought for them.

The big match ended. Then came the time for a small ceremony in which the F3B team donated a few items to the orphanage.

"Are they really going to give all these things to us?" asked Assia, barely daring to look at the clothes, sweets, and school items on the tables.

A few minutes later, the F3B girls took off the gandoura dresses they had just been offered and joined their Moroccan team-mates for a last basketball match.
http://www.moroccotimes.com/paper/article.asp?idr=11&id=8391 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tangier-Med port project : United States offers morocco US$ 370,000.

The American agency for Trade and Development (USTDA) has approved a grant of US$ 370,000 for ship and port security to the Tangier-Mediterranean Special Agency (TMSA), said a release of the USTDA.
The goal of the grant is to "fund technical assistance to TMSA, related to the Tangier-Mediterranean Project in the areas of International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code, Customs-Trade Partnership against Terrorism (C-TPAT), and Container Security Initiative (CSI) compliance," confirmed the release.

TMSA executives said USTDA-TMSA cooperation is part of the efforts to equip Tangier-Med port with logistic infrastructure that would contribute to developing Moroccan-American trade, as part of the Free Trade Agreement signed between the two countries.

Founded on September 10, 2002, TMSA is in charge of the "Tangier-Mediterranean" project and has the public prerogatives necessary to coordinate and manage the project. TMSA will also select the U.S. contractor that will provide the technical assistance.

USTDA's role is to advance "economic development and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle-income countries. The agency funds various forms of technical assistance, feasibility studies, training, orientation visits and business workshops that support the development of a modern infrastructure and a fair and open trading environment."

The Tangier-Med port (35 kilometres east of the Northern town of Tangier) expands over 500 square kilometres and employs 145,000 people. It will receive and ship containers transiting through the Gibraltar strait from or to Europe and other continents.

Three duty free zones will also be built within the port, including an industrial zone covering 600ha, a trade zone of 200ha and another free duty zone of 130ha, reported MAP.
http://www.moroccotimes.com/paper/article.asp?idr=5&id=8464 
 #######################################################################

These postings are provided without permission of the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the identified copyright owner.  The poster does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the message, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.