Friends of Morocco News in review 01302010

Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review
January 30, 2010

The Decentralization of a Monarchy
By Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir (Morocco) RPCV Monday, January 25, 2010

In a speech on Nov. 6, 2009, King Mohammed VI of Morocco stated his intention to press ahead with decentralizing the kingdom, and that the “Saharan provinces” will be among the first regions to experience its benefits. The date marked the 34th anniversary of the Green March, when 350,000 unarmed Moroccans crossed into Spain's former Sahara colony, now internationally referred to as the Western Sahara, to reassert the kingdom's historic ties to the region. Since then, an ongoing territorial dispute has pitted the region's Polisario independence movement, backed with arms and financing by neighboring Algeria, against the central government in Rabat.

In Marrakech, a few days before the king’s announcement, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated the U.S. government's support of Morocco's position, and stated that its plan for the resolution of the conflict is "credible." Decentralization offers a potential means of conflict resolution by providing sub-regions with autonomy, responsibility, and capacities to advance the empowerment of development, all of which can have a stabilizing effect. The guiding principle is that decentralization creates national unity, or at least greater levels of peace, by way of enabling increased levels of regional diversity and determination.

The history of the United States offers examples of how federalist-decentralized systems can function both to mitigate and exacerbate regional tensions. Federalism initially enabled conflicts to be overcome among northern and southern states during the founding of the United States, conflicts that might otherwise have prevented the country's formation. However, decentralization may also be a cause for conflict if it is used to enable secessionist movements, which also tragically occurred in the United States.

King Mohammed VI is mindful of this potential danger of decentralization, and he stated that the process of decentralization and the strengthening of national solidarity must go "hand in hand." This is one essential reason why the king called for a "gradual" decentralization process.

The way decentralization is implemented will decide if it generates the needed trust and ushers in a new period of lasting peace and greater prosperity. If it successfully resolves the Western Saharan conflict, decentralization would also remove the greatest obstacle preventing strong collaboration among the Maghreb Union -- a regional bloc that includes Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya.

In the context of the Western Sahara, it would be prudent to devolve government responsibilities as locally as possible because that will likely be perceived by the people of the region as a more-heightened level of autonomy, which will, in turn, build further trust. It is also important that the people and institutions of the region become engaged with and receive benefits from decentralization as soon as possible so that they develop a stake in the system and therefore seek to maintain it.

The king often emphasizes utilizing the participatory method toward decentralization. The participatory approach involves direct engagement of the people in managing their own development and social affairs, instilling in them a sense of control and ownership of issues they deem important. In the Western Sahara, local people would see that the region's future depends on and reflects the decisions that they make.

Western Saharan public and private institutions should be identified that can be effective vehicles for transferring skills related to facilitating participatory development to its members. For example, members of indigenous civil associations dedicated to local development ought to be targeted to receive training. The more widely these essential skills are dispersed, the more likely development that meets the self-described needs of the people will occur and decentralization will have the chance to succeed.

Decentralization along the lines that Morocco's king enumerated will require reforming the Ministry of Interior, whose purpose is the internal security of the nation. First, as the registering agency, it can play a major role in the building of institutional partnerships by making available to the public, via the Internet, the contact information of the tens of thousands of nonprofit Moroccan associations, broken down by region and mission category. Second, protocols requiring notification of the Ministry of Interior of local community planning meetings and project implementation activities should be phased out. Finally, a review of ways the Ministry of Interior can use its network to assist local and regional development should be a high priority.

A decentralization agency as part of the palace administration would help build productive institutional partnerships, within government and among all sectors and levels. Observers have suggested that the king's greatest challenge is to guide the transition toward decentralization. An agency within the Royal Cabinet would create the strategic position for that purpose.

Morocco's successful decentralization could create historic opportunities for the nation and the region. By fulfilling the political, social, cultural, economic, and environmental aspirations of its population, it could also result in the most viable conditions for ending the conflict of the Western Sahara to date.(

Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir is a professor of sociology at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco. He is also president of the High Atlas Foundation, a non-government organization founded by former Peace Corps Volunteers and dedicated to advancing community development in Morocco. The views expressed in the article are his own and do not reflect those of Al Akhawayn University or the High Atlas Foundation. The article is extracted from a longer essay I recently published in World Politics Review.)
http://www.mindanaoexaminer.com/news.php?news_id=20100125084018
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Members of Friendship Force discover amazing Morocco.
By LAURIE ANN SCOTT For the Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Saturday, January 23, 2010

While our Lincoln friends were slogging through one of the wettest and coldest Octobers on record, members of Friendship Force Lincoln joined others, including five from Canada, for a visit to a very warm Morocco. Bob and Marilyn Wagner, Jane Kinsey, Julie Splichal, Dorothy Anderson and Mississippi member Jo Hollman joined me and my husband, Larry, for this adventure, which traversed much of the country of Morocco. It was an amazing and intense experience. The ancient culture and sights and beautiful buildings with their mosaics and intricately carved ceilings and graceful arches transported us to another era.

We meandered through the ancient medinas, or old parts of town within the walls. We visited a huge square in Marrakech, where there were snake charmers, monkey-handlers, dancers, musicians and a huge gathering of people. In Marrakech this was "where the action is."

The Berber people lived in Morocco before the Arabs, who came after the advent of Islam. The two groups assimilated, and the country is now 97 percent Muslim. Theirs is the last absolute monarchy in the world, where the young king is considered the political leader as well as the spiritual father of the country……

Read more here:
http://journalstar.com/lifestyles/article_4e6fec30-07ba-11df-ab4a-001cc4c03286.html
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Extreme desert: Venturing out from an oasis of charm in southern Morocco leads to a breathtaking landscape of endless horizons
By Aoife O'Riordain Sunday, 24 January 2010

"If you drink the tea you will die, but if you don't drink the tea you will also die", jokes Abdul, my guide, as he pours a frothy glass of freshly brewed mint tea. Better drink the tea then.

We are sitting atop a mountain outside the oasis town of Skoura, whose lights have begun to twinkle in the approaching dusk. Abdul has selected this scenic spot, scattered with the remains of a ruined 12th-century fortress, to teach me the serious business of tea, Bedouin-style, and to explain the simple way of life in this remote corner of southern Morocco....

Japan donates 7.4 million dollars to Morocco to finance solar energy project.
Rabat

Japan donated 7.4 million dollars to Morocco to carry out a clean energy project using the photovoltaic solar system. The agreement was signed on Monday in Rabat by Morocco's Energy minister, Amina Benkhadra, and Japan's Ambassador to Morocco, Haruko Hirose. The donation will help financing the setting up of an electricity production plant based on a 1MW-photovoltaic cells in the southern city of Assa-Zag. Through this project, Morocco will have its first photovoltaic solar energy plant and the largest in Africa.

Speaking on this occasion, Benkhadra said that Morocco and Japan have a very rich and an intense cooperation in various sectors, notably water and rural electrification, and hailed the Japanese constant support for socio-economic projects launched in Morocco. For her part, Haruko Hirose said that her country has for over 40 years a solid cooperation with Morocco, adding that, when it comes to triangular cooperation, Morocco is one of Japan's most important partners.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/world/japan_donates_7.4_mi/view
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Intel Brief: A Step for Morocco's Amazigh.
25 Jan 2010 By Nicolas D Gutowski for ISN Security Watch

Tamazight, an Amazigh-language TV station, looks set to be a significant step forward for the preservation of the language and culture of Morocco’s indigenous Amazigh people, Nicolas D Gutowski writes for ISN Security Watch. By allotting valuable mass media space to an endangered language, the Moroccan government is contributing to continuing efforts to save the Amazigh culture from extinction.

The road leading to the creation of Tamazight was not an easy one. In 2006, the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM), created by King Mohammed VI, announced that it would fund a television station in the Amazigh language (also called Tamazight), but financial difficulties forced the organization, led by Ahmed Boukous, to abandon its plans. Despite this, extensive advocacy by Boukous and IRCAM led to the announcement in 2008 that the Moroccan government would fund the channel. Those in charge of administering the station’s launch repeatedly postponed its unveiling , even as recently as 4 January 2010. The frequent postponements led many to express opinions regarding the government’s lack of political will with regard to the creation of an Amazigh television station.

Officially going on the air on 13 January, Tamazight will broadcast programs ranging from political commentaries to shows aimed at younger audiences for six hours on weekdays and 10 hours on weekends. The station will maintain a budget of 60 million dirhams ($7 million). The station administrators plan to air Amazigh-language programming with Arabic subtitles to encourage non-Amazigh people of Morocco to watch as well.

Still relatively new and becoming increasingly popular in Morocco, many regard television as a primary form of cultural expression. Members of the Amazigh community viewed their lack of a television station as a serious oversight on the part of the government in providing cultural representation to its people. Boukous, as quoted by Agence France Presse , stated that “we [the Amazigh community and IRCAM] are relying a lot on television” to revitalize Amazigh culture and language.

Members of the Amazigh community herald the station as a great victory. Moroccan Communications Minister Khalid Naciri said that “Tamazight will bring a huge added value” and “will play an important part in promoting Amazigh culture.” Many see Tamazight as the definitive manifestation of the promise made by King Mohammed VI in a speech in Ajdir in 2001 that acknowledged the Amazigh people as an integral part of Moroccan society.

Despite the warm reception from many in the Amazigh community, others feel that Tamazight is an insufficient effort to establish a legitimizing presence for the Amazigh people. A Moroccan economics student quoted by Maghrebia lamented the weakness of Tamazight’s pilot schedule, and stated that it failed to appeal to the diverse community of Amazighs in and around Morocco.

Amazigh culture in history
Estimated by some to comprise roughly 30 percent of Morocco’s population, Amazigh culture has long been a difficult subject to address in the country. Caught between the pressures of an Arab identity and French colonial influence, the Amazigh people feel themselves victims of political circumstance, shoved aside in an effort to create a single, cohesive Arab society.

The Amazigh culture encountered particular difficulties up to the early 1990s, as policies of 'Arabization' by the Moroccan government attempted to create a singular Arab identity for the Moroccan people. An example of this came on 23 February 2009, when Moroccan authorities distributed lists of banned names to Moroccan embassies in the Netherlands, citing them as 'un-Islamic.' Many of the names were Amazigh in origin. Moroccans abroad cannot legally renounce their Moroccan citizenship without a royal decree and thus remain under the purview of the king.

The Moroccan government also until recently banned the teaching of the Amazigh language in schools, encouraging instead Arabic and French. It was not until 1994 that former king of Morocco Hassan II promised to create a fairer system that would preserve the culture of the Amazigh people. Though the government initiated some reforms, such as the introduction of Tamazight lessons in schools, many felt the struggle to keep up with the day-to-day pull of modernization made it difficult to preserve their Amazigh heritage.

Upon succeeding his father, King Mohammed VI sought to distance himself from the dubious human rights record of Hassan II by pushing aggressively for reforms. One of the areas given early attention was the issue of the Amazigh people, with the creation of IRCAM in 2001. Members of the Amazigh community treasure the reforms, though they stress the damage already done by past policies.

In its Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, UNESCO ranks the Tamazight language as “definitely endangered,” which it defines as a situation in which “children no longer learn the language as mother tongue in the home.”

The effects of past policies have penetrated deeply into the culture of the Amazigh people, yet the creation of a television station emphasizing its language is an important step forward. As technological advances in the arena of entertainment continue, such reforms are likely to have more and more of an impact on the people of Morocco.
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/?lng=en&id=111656
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Morocco looks to lure informal sector out of the shadows.
By Siham Ali 2010-01-25

The thriving informal economy drains Morocco of millions of dirhams a year in taxes and economic development. Morocco is stepping up efforts to make law-abiding taxpayers out of the retailers and service providers in its informal economy, according to Trade and Industry Minister Ahmed Reda Chami. To rein in the informal economy of unregulated entrepreneurs, the government will create management centres within local chambers of commerce, Chami announced in Parliament on January 20th. He said the centres would provide the informal sector with simplified accounting procedures, test existing products, and create industry standards.

Morocco's informal economy generates 280 billion dirhams a year and its ranks are swelling by 40,000 "production units" annually, according to estimates in a December 2009 report by the High Commission of Planning. Fifty-seven percent of those in the sector are retailers, while 20% provide services. Morocco loses millions of dollars each year in tax revenues because these extra-legal enterprises are not formally registered. The report also estimates that the number of unlicensed businesses rose from 1.23 million in 1999 to 1.55 million in 2007, an increase of nearly 18%.

The trade minister said efforts were already under way to encourage informal market vendors to get in step with the law, with help from the 900-million dirham business development fund created in 2009. He also said that great strides had been made in restructuring trade and encouraging smaller traders to group together within modern management networks. High Commissioner for Planning Ahmed Lahlimi acknowledged that the informal sector plays a critical social and economic role as a source of work and revenue. At a meeting in Casablanca last month, he said that the sector has a level of dynamism which allows it to be integrated into the formal economy.

MP Lahcen Daoudi, however, said that there are no incentives at the moment to entice those profiting in the informal sector to move into the formal economy. "In the current situation, the informal sector remains a major provider of employment," he recently told Magharebia. To encourage entrepreneurs to become licensed, "the state must set some concrete objectives with clear percentages to get a number of informal units to join the formal economy every year".

Salwa Karkri, an MP and business leader, said there were positive and negative aspects of regulating the informal sector. Regulating unlicensed entrepreneurs would end the thorny issue of unfair competition and lost tax revenue. But from the employment perspective, Morocco would need to develop a stable labour market capable of absorbing the influx of informal workers. "There is a need to clamp down on the informal sector," she told Magharebia, adding that this should be accomplished: "not by eliminating it, but rather by taking measures to bring it into the formal economy by simplifying tax procedures".
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/01/25/feature-02
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Taliouine Village, top producer of Saffron, Most Expensive.
Washington -01/25/10- Morocco Board News

Taliouine village, near the city of Taroudant, in the southern Souss Region of Morocco, is known for its large production of Crocus sativus, commonly known as saffron. Other villages in the area also produce the coveted spice but the village of Taliouine has the largest market share of saffron production. According to the Moroccan Regional Agricultural Development Office, the volume of production of saffron in this town, of 12,000 people, is estimated to be around 7000 pounds per year. The total area dedicated to this traditional culture in Morocco is about seven and a half million square yards with 1285 farmers. The country is currently classified as the forth saffron producer in the world, after Iran, India and Greece.

Saffron is used in cuisine, medicine and cosmetics. It remains a traditional culture that uses few modern tools. Most of the work is done by hand. Farmers, Bent to the ground, must distinguish between small flowers in order to pick a specific one. It takes about 150,000 flowers to produce one single kilogram of saffron. This hard work does mostly benefit the middlemen who are making large profits at expense farmers who remain dirt poor.

Exports by the Exchange Office, have reached $6 million in 2009. Spain and Switzerland are the main importers of Moroccan saffron.
In Morocco, Saffron, or the red gold, as it is called, is primarily marketed in a traditional manner and out of official circuits. The agricultural cooperatives and the tourism circuit account for the remaining share of volumes sold.
Currently, the price of saffron is around $2,268 per pound but the price of this product has fluctuated over the years. A pound of saffron that used to cost $286 in 1991 has swelled to almost $2,000 in 2009.

In December of 2009, an application for a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) has been filed for the Taliouine saffron. The goal of the PDO is to help keep some of the profits that are currently being made by middlemen both in Morocco and abroad, locally. The Marketing campaign should favor direct links between local farmers, large distributors and retail stores. The aims to improve life conditions and increase the incomes of women and rural families that live in these highlands. The PDO approach looks to create new jobs for young people in the entire chain: production, drying and marketing and bolster saffron production as a special regional product.
The PDO encourages the organization of small farm producers into groups that are represented by a cooperative, a solution that reflects local realities as it preserves traditional ties, social, economic and cultural links and defends the rights for the farmers of a special and unique spice. http://www.moroccoboard.com/news/34-news-release/860-morocco-saffron-most-expensive-spice-in-the-world-produced-taliouine-village
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Activists, politicians offer input on Morocco's environmental charter.
By Naoufel Cherkaoui 2010-01-26

Morocco is carrying out a nation-wide consultation aimed at getting feedback on its environmental charter, which is still a work in progress. Morocco is consulting with political and environmental groups about the first draft of the country's environmental charter, which targets preserving the environment and fostering sustainable development.

While the first draft was taking shape, the government struggled with how to encourage Moroccans to practice environmental stewardship. To address this issue, King Mohammed VI launched the country-wide consultation last October, while also holding regional awareness-raising workshops this month. The results of the consultation will be considered as the charter's second draft is drawn up.

As the consultation heads for its February 23rd conclusion, however, there is still disagreement over the clarity of the draft and its accessibility to Moroccan citizens. "I think it's easy for citizens to understand the charter," Environmental Ministry spokesperson Abderrahim Diab told Magharebia on January 24th. "We see some commercial spots on TV discussing the project, in addition to a special website for the charter addressing all age groups."

He said the legal language of the charter may be difficult for Moroccans to understand, but the intent will be widely appreciated. "Concerning the messages that can be conveyed through the charter, I'm positive that they'll be thoroughly understood by the layperson," Diab said. But the head of the Sustainable Development and Environment Preservation Association, Abdessalam Rouchdi, is unhappy with the government's efforts to educate citizens about the charter.

"Activists in the field of environmental preservation couldn't quite grasp the content of the charter draft, so how can the layperson be expected to understand it?" he asked Magharebia on January 24th. "The government didn't take any initiative to raise the awareness of citizens or explain the core idea and aspects of the charter." He also expressed concerns over the lack of political will among Moroccan political parties to effect real environmental change.

Other Moroccans involved in the consultations said it was important to implement the charter's measures."We can't discuss how the charter should be respected by the citizen, in the absence of mandatory obligation," said Mohamed kourouk, professor of climatology at Hassan II Ain Chok University in Casablanca. "We have laws that are never respected because individuals are not prepared for that."

Unified Socialist Party chief Mouhamed Moujahid echoed Kourouk's concerns."No charter can be sufficient, since it will never be able to cover all aspects of environmental preservation, since it may not be thoroughly implemented," he told Magharebia on January 24th. He said that in order for the charter to work, its implementation "needs to be monitored".

The Environmental Ministry's spokesperson, Diab, called having a charter an important first step."There's a big difference between having a charter and not having one. When we have a charter, there's a chance to improve it and develop it," he said. "Either way, launching a charter for the environment remains a significant step forward."
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/01/26/feature-02
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World Bank approves $200-mln loan to Morocco.
Washington

The World Bank approved a $200-million Development Policy Loan (DPL) to improve access to financial services in Morocco. "Through financial and technical support, this DPL aims to accompany the Government’s efforts to enlarge further the access of households and small and medium enterprises to finance, while ensuring the stability of the financial system," a statement of the World Bank said.

Special attention will be given to the financial regulations and supervision, and to effective risk management, the statement said, adding that the project is in line with the new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS 2010-2013) and will particularly contribute to enhancing the growth and competitiveness of the Moroccan Economy.

“Morocco has undertaken several conclusive and sound political, economic and social reforms, that have enabled the country to achieve greater growth, poverty reduction, regional and international integration,” said World Bank Country Director for Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya and Malta, Mats Karlson.

He said the financial sector in Morocco, one of the best performing in the Middle East and North Africa Region, has proved resilient to external shocks. “Through this DPL, new reforms will be launched and will expand access to financial services by people and firms and reinforce the sector’s performance,” Karlsson added.

The CPS is a flexible partnership framework that defines the support that the World Bank and the International Financial Corporation provide to Morocco. The new strategy proposes three thematic pillars aligned with the development priorities of the country, namely enhance growth, competitiveness and employment, improve service delivery to citizens, and ensure environmental sustainability in the context of a changing climate. It also proposes two cross-cutting “beams” - governance and territoriality. http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/home/world_bank_approves/view
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A secret glimpse in Morocco's High Atlas.
By Gregory Kruse 24 Jan, 2010, 18:48

In the High Atlas, chill winds whirl down off the mountain peaks with a cloud of dust, like a horde of djinns, to assault the weary traveler from all sides. The contrast of cold wind and sunshine is striking. It often happens that the sun will be shining brightly as a chilling rain falls. This can be unsettling, but still befitting the medieval landscape of these Moroccan mountain valleys where mud-walled villages perch like castles on spires of rock, tiny green fields dot the valley floors, and eagles soar over barren rocky crags all around.

We took refuge in a tea house set up by the roadside in a giant tent. Heavy black woolen cloth stretched across a maze of tent poles, pegged somehow to the rocky ground, making a pitching sea of haphazard triangles against the stormy sky. The space within was equally angular, low ceilings falling to even lower walls leaving little room to stand. The delicious fragrance of hot flat breads served with honey wafted like smoke among the tent poles. Busy young boys in short embroidered jackets served tangy snow white sheep's yogurt, sweetest medjool dates and plump purple grapes on platters to customers sitting cross-legged on thick, heavily worn carpets on the floor. The sweet sharp fragrance of chai was pervasive, layered atop the dust and the sweat of the crowd of large, warmly clad men who filled the low space below the tent cloth from wall to wall. The tent seemed almost a thing alive, ruffled and shaken by the wind, agitated enough to rattle and snap at the gusts that buffeted it from every direction, grumbling with a disgruntled muttering, occasional shouts and laughter. The warmth within was welcome. We were chilled to the bone from hours of hiking, our feet were sore, our backs were tired. We dropped our packs in an empty corner, sat, and looked around.

On every platter sat a simple, graceful tea pot with a curved spout affixed to a jolly pot-bellied bowl. The lid was small and round. A serving boy poured our chai into tiny glasses from a great height, filling each glass with a yard long stream of dark sweet tea in an instant, spilling nary a drop. Next to us, two men chatted casually as one broke off a huge lump of sugar from a cone shaped mold and tried repeatedly to find a way to pass the mass into his teapot. The lump of sugar was almost as big as the pot itself. I watched him attempting to force this massive square peg into the small round hole of the pot for several minutes before I lost interest when a wild figure hobbled into the tent and stood at the edge of the crowd, glaring at the other travelers.

Brown and dusty as the mountains, craggy faced and alert, his one eagle eye gleamed as it roamed across the crowd. His back was bent as he stood askew upon a single leg, propped on a staff of olive wood. He grasped the staff as if he were hanging on to life itself. The stump of one arm clasped it firmly under his armpit, while his remaining hand was a claw wrapped like a talon upon the round knob of the cane. His clothes were colorless rags, and the tail end of the rag wrapped around his head drooped across his face. He tossed his head to keep it away from his only eye. One eye, one arm, one leg, and a body twisted and broken and bent; was this the result of an accident, or some unspeakable act of cruelty?

Despite his wretched appearance and air of hopelessness and desperation, there was an energy apparent in the man, a fierceness, burning like the fire in his only eye, animating his twisted limbs with a wiry strength, creating the sense of an explosion imminent. He stood a few minutes, ignored by all, then spun about, surprisingly agile, and disappeared through the tent flap as though he were nothing more than a disturbing thought, come and gone and forgotten, leaving behind only a feeling of unease. His departure went unnoticed by the crowd; their cheerful banter continued unabated.

We paid a few pennies for our tea and our bread, picked up our bags, and weaved through the crowd to the doorway. Outside, the chill wind struck, and we felt the mountain cold sinking again into our bones as it sinks even into the stones. Only small villages survive here, a few despairing inhabitants scrabbling a living from small patches of thin soil scattered about the hillsides and the valley floor, hoping this foundation of their sustenance will not be blown away by the relentless winds or disappear in a flash flood. The land is barren, and life is hard. The mud walls of these little towns, hidden in the remote valleys of the High Atlas, must hide many sorrows.
http://www.travelmag.co.uk/printer_1665.shtml
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