Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
June 13, 2009

Morocco-USA launch sea route.
Casablanca

Morocco and the United States of America launched on Monday a sea route linking the two countries, an initiative that was commended by Minister of Foreign trade, Abdellatif Maazouz. Maazouz, who opened, here Tuesday, a seminar on "Optimizing trade with the United States under the Free Trade Agreement," recalled that the United States was Morocco's sixth client and 7th provider in 2008.

Since the inception of the FTA in 2006, bilateral exchange stood at 21.4 billion dollars in 2008, posting an 83% increase, he explained. Morocco's exports to the United States doubled in 2008, totaling 5.58 billion dirhams against 2.25 billion DH in 2006. In turn, Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., Robert P. Jackson at the US Embassy underlined that bilateral trade increased "dramatically" since the entry into force of the FTA, and doubled in 2008 as compared to 2005. Besides cereals, bilateral exchange encompasses planes and phosphates, he said, stressing that the US market offers multiple opportunities for investment.

Morocco meets the standards required to be a "privileged partner of the United States," Jackson underlined, noting that the FTA is a "recognition of the significant progress made by Morocco" in the last decade in terms of economic reform and “highlights the role of the Kingdom as a gateway to the Maghreb region." The meeting, held by the US Embassy in Rabat and the American Chamber of trade in Morocco (AmCham) in collaboration with the ministry of exterior trade, aims to help Moroccan companies capitalizing on the FTA and is part of a programme to develop trade capacities.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/morocco-usa_launch_s/view
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Morocco Classic Rally grants over $ 86 mln to fund socio-educational projects.
Casablanca, June 13

Morocco Classic Rally granted, here Friday, over 694 million dirhams (some 86 million dollars) to the Moroccan association "L'Heure Joyeuse" (The happy hour) to fund socio-educational projects. The grant was collected following an auction sale organized by Morocco Classic Rally, one of the world famous classic and old cars rallies.

The collected sum is intended to build and refurbish schools in rural areas, and to fight against infant mortality, underlined the organizers. The auction offered for sale various arts and antiques objects. Founded in 1954, "L'Heure Joyeuse" struggles to fight exclusion and endeavors to strengthen social and professional integration of the disadvantaged population in the region of Casablanca. http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/morocco_classic_rall/view
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Morocco sets up protection units against child sexual abuse.
Rabat

Morocco has set up units to protect children against sexual abuse and mistreatment, Social Development, Family and Solidarity Minister said on Wednesday. Speaking at a House of Representatives' question time, Nouzha Skalli said the units' main goal is to provide the care necessary for children who endured violence and ensure coordination between the government departments and associations working in the field.

Skalli stressed that her department collaborates with the public institutions to upgrade the institutions of social welfare and devise a strategy to fight violence against children, through training and awareness-raising campaigns and reinforcing the centres taking care of those children. She also recalled the measures taken to assist the girls victims of sexual assault at the Salé orphanage.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/morocco_sets_up_prot/view
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Morocco's INDH 'suitable response' in fighting poverty, diplomat.
Geneva

The National Initiative for Human Development (INDH), which was launched by king Mohammed VI in 2005 is a "suitable response" in the area of fighting poverty, said on Friday Morocco's permanent representative to the UN office at Geneva. Omar Hilale, who was speaking during the interactive dialogue on human rights and extreme poverty, as part of the 11th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), said the INDH is geared to alleviating poverty, precariousness and social exclusion through promoting income-generating activities, developing capacities, improving services and basic infrastructures and supporting vulnerable people.

The diplomat stressed that the kingdom of Morocco attaches utmost importance to cash transfers as a means to reduce extreme poverty. In this regard, he noted that Morocco has recently launched a similar pilot programme based on granting a financial contribution to poor families provided their children use certain social services namely the school, with the aim of combating drop out. He said cash transfers should be considered as a component, among others, of social assistance policies.

Hilale pointed out that extreme poverty continues to prevail across the world and sometimes constitutes a threat to the right to life. In this respect, he called for collective responsibility and awareness at all levels and the participation of the population concerned in elaborating and implementing human development programmes to eradicate extreme poverty.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/morocco_s_indh__suit/view
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Over 64% of rural population benefited from roads in 2008, official.
Rabat

About 64.6% of the rural population has benefited from roads in 2008 against 54% in 2005, Transport Minister, Karim Ghellab said on Wednesday. In a note read on his behalf by State Secretary in Charge of Handicraft, Anis Birrou, Ghellab said efforts will be pursued to improve access to the rural zones, noting that over 2,300 km will be built in 2009 for an amount of 2.5 billion dirhams. Ghellab described as "very positive" the report of the second national program of rural roads (French acronym PNRR2) after three years and a half of its implementation.

Studies were concluded in May regarding 12,500 km and several deals were stricken concerning over 7,400 km, of which 3,900 km are finished and 2,700 km are still under construction, he said. Improving access for rural population and curbing disparities between provinces are the main criteria for the selection of the PNRR2 projects, the Minister said. The planning of the programme's implementation is based on a participative approach at the local level, the observance of well adapted technical, economic and social criteria and the use of diversified sources of financing.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/over_64_of_rural_po/view
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Public school in Morocco, has it lost its old image?
By Abdelhakim Khirane

Schools, as institutions for imparting information, and where children acquire social skills and self-confidence, and get the tools to broaden their horizons, have increasingly been called into question in Morocco. A broad range of objective reasons buttress this argument as many people have come to regard the Moroccan school as an ineffective, unsafe place.

"There is a big difference between the current image of the public school and what it used to be in the past, whether with respect to the student, the teacher or the curriculum," deplores Hassan Nadif, a secondary school teacher.

Though the public school has accumulated undeniable achievements, much has to be done to reinvigorate it and restore its old image.

Far-reaching objectives to promote education…
At the turn of the new century, the government defined a ten-year program to improve the country’s educational system. The 2001-2010 National Education and Training Charter erects education as the second national priority. It seeks to promote the learner’s skills and train competent executives, eradicate illiteracy by 2015, reformulate curricula to meet the 21st century needs, and enhance the learning of foreign languages and new technologies.

Nine years after the launch of the charter, indicators suggest that illiteracy rates are still high, and maybe even on the rise. The charter rates the under 20s who quit school as illiterates in need of a second chance as part of informal education.

Poor, yet undeniable achievements
The charter has made indisputable achievements, though considering the approaching deadline for delivering results, it looks hard for the strategy to stand the test of time to achieve the outlined targets.

Figures suggest that net primary school enrolment reached 94%, and the enrolment of rural girls stood at 88% in 2007, up from 62% in 2000. Disparities between male and female learners, and between regions shrunk significantly. This earned the north African country the applaud of UNESCO’s EFA Global Monitoring Report 2009, which cited Morocco among the Arab countries that “have registered strong progress” in terms of net enrolment ratio.

But to state the obvious, officials should worry less about quantitative indicators than about qualitative ones. Too many children leave school without basic literacy and numeracy skills, and some 26% of degree holders see themselves jobless.

“I find it hard today to believe that a pupil who completed six years of primary school is unable to read a simple sentence in his own language nor to even write down his name correctly,” says Bouchaib Dehraoui, who spent 21 years as a primary school teacher.

The 2008 report of the state High Council for Education, catalogued an array of defects in the education system, not least its inefficiency, as evidenced by the high dropout rate: fully 400,000 students leave the school without any abilities to integrate in the society.

It was then natural that Morocco slipped into the 109th place in 2008 in the UNESCO’s Education for All Report, down from the 97th place in 2005, among 129 countries. Overcrowdedness and the poor command of languages add up to the problems facing the sector, especially in the primary level. The Council’s report pointed to a decline in trust in the school, which is increasingly viewed as unable to allow for social advancement.

To remedy the situation, the government has devised an emergency plan that mainly makes education compulsory for children up to the age of 15. It aims in particular at achieving 95% of primary school enrolment by 2012-2013 for the 6 to 11-year-olds. It also targets a 90% of enrolment among 12 to 14-year-old students, along with building a large number of schools especially in rural areas.

Drugs, fraud, violence ….
Official figures say only 13% of students pass their baccalaureate, and as little as 5% pursue university studies. Fifteen percent of 13 to 15 year-old students, boys and girls alike, smoke both cigarettes and drugs, and violence between students as well as against teachers has become widely prevalent.

On the underlying reasons, Nadif reckons that “it seems that the failure of the public school in being a place of hope for students has given room for the appearance of many bad phenomena inside the school as well as in its surroundings.”

Officials insist these are only isolated cases and that they do not give serious grounds for concern. Yet, this argument rings hollow with a number of people, for there is an upward trend. “Instead of merely playing it down, officials are required to act immediately to head off the risks associated with this worrisome situation which brings our school as a whole into disrepute, before it reaches the point of no return,” avers Khadija Mouaki, a middle school student.

Good teachers are the number one factor for school attainment. However, teachers today are “interested more in financial profit (such as private tutoring) than in improving their teaching abilities, not to mention the lack of training, which adds to their limitedness,” Nadif says.

Trust in the public school dented?
As a result, trust in the public school seems to have been dented. Increasing numbers of parents and students stop short of opting for state schools, a view supported by the falling teaching quality and the rising jobless rate among degree holders. “It is becoming manifest that most students appear to have lost hope in the public school. For them it leads nowhere,” Nadif regrets.

“The present-day school falls short of our aspirations,” says Said K., a student’s father. “It is heartbreaking that the school attainment is on a downward path; unlike in the past, our children and youth now leave the school with poor cognitive skills and functional literacy,” he says.

The UNESCO EFA Global Monitoring Report of 2009 points out that fewer than 60% of Moroccan children in school reached basic competency thresholds. The UNESCO’S EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008, quoted a 2006 assessment of Morocco’s Ministry of National Education on grade 6 students’ achievement in Arabic, French, mathematics and science. The assessment found overall performance to be ‘weak.’

“The numerous curricula and the ‘fogginess’ of the objectives and their irrelevance to the labour market adds to society’s distrust in the public school,” Nadif says.

A glimpse of hope
Yet, not everyone shares such a bleak diagnosis. Abdellah Noussair, a middle school teacher, acknowledged that “the public school is encountering various problems that demand effectual and pressing measures,” but “we cannot ignore its accumulated achievements. We still find high-performing, disciplined students and competent teachers.”

Moreover, he continues, many public school-educated people hold high positions both nationally and internationally.
The mushrooming private schools also offer an alternative for parents and students.
Ahmed C. who has two children in the public school says he will send his third child to a private school. “I will strive for him to learn in the private school. Private schools can be the alternative because the conditions of work are very good there.” “They have the necessary equipment for a high quality education,” Said agrees.

In the private school, “teachers are much more eager to channel their energy into their work than those in the public schools thanks to the financial benefits they get and the training programmes they take abroad,” Nadif argues.

The major question remains that the private school is out of reach for the bulk of parents.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/box5/public_school_in_mor/view
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The elderly in Morocco, from caring families to isolation.
by Siham Ali 2009-06-12

Many of Morocco's elderly find themselves alone without help, as just 16% receive pensions. The remainder must rely on the state or families to avoid being homeless. The number of elderly people is growing all the time in Morocco. By 2030, senior citizens will make up 15% of the Moroccan population, rising from 2.5 million to 8 million. Government officials and social activists say work to protect this marginalised sector of society must intensify before more ageing citizens end up on the streets.

Ba Mohamed once lived with a loving family. The 70-something man now wanders the streets of Rabat every day, suffering the pain of solitude and marginalisation. He no longer receives any news from his two children, who emigrated to France 25 years ago. After the death of his wife, Ba continued performing seasonal work, until health problems prevented him from being able to support himself. Without financial resources, he found himself with no fixed abode, moving from pillar to post, and living off the goodwill of passers-by. His brothers and nephews thought it best to sever their links with him.

Demographic changes have had a perceptible impact on social solidarity in Morocco, sociologist Naïma Bichri explains, leaving many people in their twilight years, like Ba Mohamed, to navigate the challenges of everyday life on their own. "We're seeing problems which never existed in the past. Indeed, it was rare for an elderly person to be cast aside. Families took care of their own and respected those older than themselves," she tells Magharebia. "This trend is dying out more and more." Nevertheless, she says it is important not to paint too bleak a picture, because there are still many families who want to look after their elderly relatives.

Hnia, in her eighties, has been living with her children since her husband died 32 years ago. She organises her own schedule of visits to stay with her eight children, who live in different towns and cities. "When I'm bored staying with one of them, I ring one of the others to come and collect me there and then. If I'm taken ill, my sons pay for my treatment. I feel spoiled, even if my daughters-in-law irritate me," she says with a broad grin.

It may be difficult for young people to continue to support their elders, even if they want to, Bichri points out, given the unemployment rate affecting Morocco and the erosion of citizens' spending power. She thinks the government and civil society should work together to find solutions, both in terms of families and resources.

According to figures from the High Commission for Planning, only 16% of elderly Moroccans receive a pension. The remainder must rely on family or the state for care.

One solution may be for families to work together as part of a mutual support network; Samira Tamiri of the Together for a Better Future Association feels that a family network could go far in addressing problems facing senior citizens. "Thanks to advice, mutual services and exchanges across all regions of Morocco, our senior citizens can live a better life. Those who don't have a loving family around them can find plenty of other people prepared to listen," she tells Magharebia.

Indeed, government officials have begun focusing on strengthening the family unit as the basis for a new national strategy for the elderly. "Changes in our society mean that there needs to be provision for the elderly, particularly those in a vulnerable situation," Social Development, Family and Solidarity Minister Nouzha Skalli said at a conference in Rabat last month.

Recommendations made by a think-tank studying the issue centred on the need to set up a consultative committee and regional networks to alleviate the suffering of those who live in misery on the margins of society.

Among the suggestions made at the forum: creation of a committee on ageing representing all the regions of the country. There was also a proposal to set up a UNESCO chair, comprising academics, researchers, mediators and people running centres for the elderly, whose job it would be to evaluate public policy and provide information on the relevant sectors, such as health, pensions and the environment. ‏

Any comprehensive plan must also deal with the inadequate number of centres for the elderly. There is no official figure on the total number of available spaces, but there is a recognised shortfall.

One successful centre for the elderly was set up by the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity. Opened in 2008, the facility provides food and health care to ageing Moroccans who have no resources or family support. Alongside caring for pensioners, the centre helps homeless elderly citizens through its own paramedic service.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/reportage/2009/06/12/reportage-01
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Morocco among top ten competitive countries in Africa, report.
Pretoria

Morocco is among Africa's ten most competitive countries, according to 2009 Report of Competitiveness in Africa.

Morocco is in the 5th place with a score of 4.1 points after Tunisia (4.6 points), South Africa (4.4 points), Botswana (4.2 points) and Mauritius (4.2), said the report released in Cape town on the sidelines of the 19th World Economic Forum (WEF), held from on June 10-12.

The annual report, commissioned by the WEF, the World Bank (WB) and African Development Bank (AfDB), is based on statistics and survey covering areas pertaining to institutions, infrastructures, stability, macro-economic, education, health and market size.

The 19th WEF, held under the theme "Implications of the Global Economic Crisis for Africa," is attended by 800 political figures from about fifty countries. This event aims to push world leaders to discuss national and international implications of the economic crisis and to develop a new road map for the future of Africa, according to organizers.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/morocco_among_top_te/view
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Morocco’s women set for historic power play.
John Thorne, Foreign Correspondent  June 10. 2009 EL ARJAT, MOROCCO

Every day, Fatima Azim walks half an hour through the fields to bring water from the nearest well; enough time to think about making history. “It used to be considered shameful for women to be above men,” said Mrs Azim, 31, a petite woman with horn-rimmed glasses and a quick smile. “But now voters feel that a rural woman understands their problems.”

Mrs Azim wants running water, decent roads and better schools for families like hers in Sohoul district, north of the capital, Rabat. Now she has joined the thousands of women standing for election to local councils, an unprecedented number spurred by a new female quota and their conviction that they are the right people for the job. Mrs Azim has long dreamed of a career in local politics. “Now I feel that have a chance,” she said.

The vote on Friday will boost councilwomen from the current 127 to more than 3,300, giving Morocco the most female elected officials of any Arab country. For many, it is their first attempt at breaking into a political world long ruled by men.

“They’re coming from a society largely dominated by a patriarchal mentality that reserves the public space for men,” said Aicha el Hajjami, a law professor at the University of Marrakech who specialises in women’s issues. “Politics has functioned like an all-male club.”

Moroccan women began asserting themselves during the four-decade reign of King Hassan II, who steered the country towards the West following independence from France in 1956. As modern cities have expanded, women have emerged from their homes to enter universities and the workplace in growing numbers.

In 2004 Morocco amended its family law to grant women legal equality with men in key areas. The reform won international praise and helped burnish King Mohammed VI’s reputation as a moderniser.

But the country’s political parties have been slow to embrace women, prompting top-down initiatives aimed at tipping the scales. Women across the country have responded in droves to a new quota reserving 12 per cent of nearly 28,000 local council seats for them. More than 20,000 have registered as candidates in Friday’s election.

Enthusiasm has spread even into conservative pockets of the countryside, said Jamie Tronnes, Morocco director for the International Republican Institute, a US non-governmental organisation that has held workshops on campaigning across northern Morocco. “Our trainers were calling in to report that the spaces we had rented were overflowing.”

“I’m standing to make sure we reach that 12 per cent,” said Nadia Rahmani, a teacher in Rabat who is venturing into politics for the first time as a candidate for the reformist Authenticity and Modernity Party, or PAM. “We have women raising families and flying aeroplanes, so why not politics?”

Last Friday evening Mrs Rahmani marched with about 40 other PAM members through the poor quarter of Diour Jamaa, chanting slogans and talking with locals. Diour Jamaa has the crumbling look of a neighbourhood that has grown up too quickly. The pavements are cracking, the cafes advertise non-existent pastries and the streets are crowded at night with idle youngsters. “Women must take part in politics, especially at the local level,” said Khadija el Haddadi, a PAM candidate campaigning in Diour Jamaa. “The local district is like the house, and it needs to be well-ordered.”

“Women tend more towards dialogue and, in official roles, are often more honest than men,” said Prof el Hajjami, from the University of Marrakech. These arguments have resonated with political parties, who are recruiting female candidates, Mrs el Haddadi said. While voting is by party, Moroccans base their decisions “on the person, according to his or her credibility”, she said.

That has women such as Mrs Rahmani and Mrs el Haddadi working hard to get their names out.
As the PAM supporters advanced down the street, they paused to approach an old woman sitting against a wall, showering her with leaflets. Next, they briefly overran a cafe terrace, chatting with customers and depositing literature on the tables.

Studying a leaflet over a glass of mint tea, a computer technician named Mohammed remained sceptical. “Parties talk a lot before an election, but once it’s over you never hear from them,” said Mohammed, who declined to give his last name.

Similar disenchantment led Moroccans to achieve an official voter turnout of just 37 per cent at parliamentary elections in 2007, the last time the country went to the polls. “It’s not a question of men versus women,” Mohammed added. “We just want someone who knows our problems and hardships.”

That is what Fatima Azim is offering voters in Sohoul district, where she is standing as a candidate for the centre-left Popular Movement party. Like many of her neighbours, Mrs Azim lives in a one-room house with a detached kitchen and latrine. Every evening, after her shift at a textile factory, she goes house-to-house to talk to voters while her husband looks after their two-year-old son. “It will take patience to balance work, public duties and family,” said Mrs Azim. “This job is not for everyone.”
jthorne@thenational.ae
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090611/FOREIGN/706109818/1135/NEWS
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