Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
March 13, 2010

Morocco-US cooperation in science and technology to create knowledge economy.
Agencies Sunday, 07 March 2010 Morocco (Rabat)

The Moroccan-US cooperation has been "deep for many years and in many areas," US Presidential Science Envoy, Elias Zerhouni, said in Rabat. "The Moroccan-US cooperation has been deep for many years and in many areas, especially in agriculture," Zerhouni said in an exclusive interview with the Moroccan News Agency MAP.

"I came as the US presidential envoy to assess what has been achieved in the field of science and technology and get a sense of Morocco's priorities and to bring that back to the White House, State Department, President Obama, and Hillary Clinton, and to try to find out how best to deepen the relation that we already have with Morocco," he said. "HM king Mohammed VI and government officials have decided that science and technology is the key to the future," he said.

He underlined that the education ministry stressed the importance to raise the level of education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics not only at the university level, but also at the secondary and primary schools and to collaborate and cooperate more in education, especially in improving the English language skills of children, adding that “we will focus on that as a priority, particularly through Internet and the modern telecommunication.”

The US official also underlined the importance of the cooperation of scientists to scientists, technology to technology, companies to companies, saying that he “was really impressed” when he visited the Technoplis in Salé, where there is “already a plant to build electronic chips, as a result between a US company and a company in Morocco. This kind of relationships should be multiplied,” he affirmed.

He also called for using education, science and technology cooperation to create better economy and jobs based on knowledge. “Morocco is very unique, as it has signed Free Trade Agreements with the USA and Europe,” he said, adding that “it is very important to use that as a strategic asset.” This asset should be consolidated through creating connections between companies in the US and Morocco and trying to bring companies to Morocco and export Moroccan products. “This is happening, and we want to accelerate this process,” he said.

The US envoy said Morocco has other advantages: it has access to the European market, so Morocco can play a role in joining the two markets. “The FTA needs to be enhanced in finding ways to improve the English skills of Moroccan people and companies. People should know how to connect not only in language, but how to do business in America.

Moroccans have been good in creating business in Europe, especially French speaking countries,” he said. Zerhouni also noted that skilled labour force, engineers and students who are very good in English, French and Arabic will be good assets for Morocco. “That’s what we would like to develop together,” he said. “Morocco is a great partner” in the health field, especially in pandemic flu, said Mr. Zerhouni, adding that the USA “can help in public health for the entire population.” “We have developed quite few programs together,” he added.

The US envoy said “HM the king takes interest in fighting cancer and Her Highness Princess Lalla Salma is very active to bring the best treatments to Morocco.” “We are cooperating and we want to cooperate in the area of prevention and detection of cancer, but also the other diseases, such as diabetes and heart diseases, that are affecting Morocco more than the past because Morocco has now been economically advanced.”

He noted that the USA “will create centres of excellence in health and public health, particularly in schools and institutes of public health,” underlining that the idea “is not to build anything, but to use what is already here that is working well with people who are very passionate and competent, and then link them with our best centres in America to create a network, not just create one centre isolated from the others, but a whole international network, so we can all respond to the problems today,” he said.
http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/201003075087/Technology/morocco-us-cooperation-in-science-and-technology-to-create-knowledge-economy.html
---------------------------------------------------

Washington highlights Morocco's achievements in women rights.
Washington

The US Department of State has highlighted the achievements made by Morocco in the area of women rights, mainly with regard to political representation and amendments made to the Family Law. In its 2009 annual report of Human Rights Practices in the world, released on Thursday in Washington, the State Department noted that women's representation in local government and political parties' decision making structures increased in 2009. In this respect, it noted that before the June elections, women held less than 1% of elected positions at the local level, and only two women served as mayors.

It added that following an agreement in November 2008 between the government and political parties, a minimum of 12 percent of the local council seats were reserved for women, that more than 20,000 female candidates ran for office, with 3,421 winning seats (13 percent of the total), and that twelve women were selected in subsequent indirect elections to head local councils as mayors.
In addition, "women are able to travel, receive loans, and start businesses without their husband's or father's permission," it said.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/washington_highlight/view
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Morocco Water & Sanitation: Challenges
3/8/2010

Scarce and unevenly distributed rainfall has made water a key economic and social development issue in Morocco. The country has invested heavily in dams, water supply capacity and large-scale irrigation systems, to secure water for urban and agricultural demands. While largely successful, this strong supply focus was not accompanied by balancing policies aimed at sustainability, such as water demand management, water resource conservation and protection, and equitable service development in rural and poor communities. Morocco’s water management strategies needed to adapt to meet a number of challenges: growing water deficits, persisting gaps in service access, slow changes in legislation, limited infrastructure programs, pressing demographic growth, and climate change.

Approach
In 2007, a $100 million Morocco Water Sector development policy loan supported comprehensive water reform in Morocco to address legislative, institutional, financing, and planning gaps, and inefficiencies in Morocco’s water sector. Prior to the loan, IBRD supported extensive analytical work and capacity building with $2.2 million and another $8.5 million in trust fund grants. This analytical work, along with unprecedented levels of inter-ministerial dialogue, led to a reform program in which water-demand management, conservation and resource protection became new thrusts in Morocco’s water strategy. Investments were designed to build infrastructure while supporting implementation of new policies by central and decentralized agencies on the ground, such as for irrigation modernization and resource conservation, rural water supply, peri-urban service development and urban sanitation.

Results:
Morocco is now on track to exceed the targets for water and sanitation services contained in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), thanks to greater public spending on water supply and sanitation infrastructure. Between 2005 and 2009, public expenditure in support of urban, peri-urban, and rural water supply and sanitation infrastructure programs rose to 25 percent from 5 percent of the total public expenditure for water (which also covers water resource management and irrigation). As a result of acceleration of rural water supply programs, including a $60 million IBRD-financed project, potable water access has risen to over 87 percent in 2009 from 50 percent in 2004.

The government has also placed new emphasis on water management policies, including development of new alternatives, such as desalination and water reuse. The MAD 34 billion National Irrigation Water Efficiency Program, launched in 2008, is aimed at generating water efficiency gains of 30-to-50 percent by converting conventional irrigation systems to water-saving technology. The World Bank Group also is assisting with the development of an innovative desalination private-public partnership in the Souss-Massa region, to complement irrigation resources and conserve groundwater.

Toward the Future:
Besides the implementation of on-going projects, next steps in the water partnership with the Government of Morocco may include policy dialogue and lending to accompany further reforms and investment for climate change adaptation of water resources management, irrigation sector modernization, water supply and sanitation sector reorganization and regulation, and nationwide replication of peri-urban connection pilots.
http://news.penki.lt/news.aspx?Lang=EN&Element=News&TopicID=168&IMAction=ViewArticle&ArticleID=227840
---------------------------------------------------

Morocco, among world leaders in microfinance, French economist says.
Marrakech

Micro-credit is witnessing a sustained development in Morocco, which is one of world leaders in the field of microfinance, Jacques Attali, founding president of the ONG PlaNet Finance, an international solidarity organization, has said.
The holding of the second international conference "Microfinance and new technologies" in Marrakech is "a great success for Morocco insofar as it attests to the importance of microcredit in the Kingdom, one of world leaders in this field, and also of the new technologies where Morocco has a very efficient computer science industry," Attali told MAP on the sidelines of the event.
Micro-credit in Morocco "is in fine fettle and is well developed," the French economist and writer said, noting that microfinance is "an excellent tool of development" and that new technologies constitute "a factor of the financial system’s growth".
He added that microfinance cannot on its own resolve the plight of poverty, and that this mission requires also democracy, education, health infrastructures and new technologies. The two-day meeting gathered some 300 experts and decision-makers from around the world.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/morocco_among_world/view
---------------------------------------------------

Morocco encourages women's empowerment to fight violence, Minister
United Nations

Morocco has a pioneer experience in terms of fighting violence against women through empowerment, Morocco's Social Development, Family and Solidarity Minister Nouzha Skalli said Monday. Morocco boasts "a significant experience in institutionalizing gender equality and eliminating gender discrimination and violence," Skalli underlined in the United Nations in New York during an international conference on violence against women.

In this regard, the Moroccan official said the Kingdom has undertaken many reforms regarding family, equality and fighting violence against women through applying a national strategy of gender equity and equality in public policies. Morocco has made great progress in the legislative field, she said, noting in particular the establishment of the family code, the nationality code and the draft on domestic violence.

Skalli said that Morocco set up a system to fight gender-based violence, with the collaboration of her department, Justice and Health Ministries, different security apparatus, in addition to NGOs and civil society. Morocco has already opened 350 centres on violence against women, she said, stressing that this network provides data on gender-based violence in Morocco.

Speaking at a round table on the Millennium Development Goals and Beijing Plan of Action, Skalli said Morocco adopts a global gender vision inspired by different international treaties including the Beijing Plan of Action and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), adding that the Kingdom aims at establishing a modern democratic society based on respecting Human rights and equality. These meetings, held within the framework of the 54th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), brings together Ministers in addition to some 2,000 rights activists to ponder on women's in the world since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/morocco_encourages_w/view
---------------------------------------------------

Activists call for qualified Amazigh language instruction.
By Siham Ali 12/03/10

Amazigh language classes must also be offered in all Moroccan schools, language-rights groups insist. Moroccan schools are falling short in teaching Amazigh to students despite an agreement with language groups to incorporate Amazigh classes in all Moroccan schools, several Amazigh language-rights groups claim.

Schools are having trouble teaching Amazigh to students for the required three instruction hours per week, as stipulated by an agreement reached between the Ministry of Education and the Moroccan Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM), said IRCAM member Ahmed Assid. "It's been noticed that some school principals are replacing the three hours of teaching Amazigh by tutoring," Assid said. "The struggle is about changing attitudes since the state has long advocated Arabisation."

There are 110 other organisations calling for the immediate adoption of Amazigh-language classes throughout all of Morocco's schools, he said. They fear that the language is falling out of favour with teachers and school administrators. AFRAK, another language-rights group, called for a more "standardised and unified teaching" of the Amazigh language. IRCAM rector Ahmed Boukous is confident, however, that Amazigh will regain its position in the Moroccan curriculum once several obstacles are cleared.

The biggest problem facing the implementation of Amazigh classes in schools is the lack of qualified teachers in the subject, he said.
To address this problem, IRCAM has begun developing an educational programme for the preparation of Amazigh textbooks, and regional educational centres will begin to offer training sessions for teachers, trainers and inspectors to master the language, Boukous said.
There has already been much progress in teacher training, said IRCAM General-Secretary Houcine Mujahid. So far, some 12,000 teachers, 300 inspectors and 558 school principals have received Amazigh training through the institute.

The government is making substantial efforts to bring Amazigh instruction to all Moroccan schools, a Ministry of Education spokesman said. About 500,000 students in 3400 schools will study the language this year, according to ministry statistics. Amazigh language instruction was only offered at 317 schools nationwide in 2003, when Morocco first included Amazigh in the national curriculum.
Training teachers to lead Amazigh classes does not address the root problem, one Amazigh teacher said.
The current fractured state of the language itself may be to blame for its scattershot inclusion in Moroccan schools, Baâlla Jamal said. The language now includes three distinct dialects in Morocco alone.
"The Amazigh language must be standardised using a scientific rigour to make its learning easier. It is one thing that hasn't been established yet," Jamal said.

Other Moroccans are critical of the new focus being placed on acquiring Amazigh language skills, especially in an age of globalisation when the mastery of other languages may be essential. More importance should be attached in Moroccan schools to learning English and Chinese, MP Fatima Moustaghfir said. She dismissed Amazigh claims that the language must be taught to ensure its survival.
"The Amazighs have managed to preserve their language without schools," she noted. "In several regions, they only speak the Amazigh language. We shouldn't focus on [Amazigh-language] education because there are other priorities related to globalisation."
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/03/12/feature-03
---------------------------------------------------

Energy diversification, strong sign of Morocco's will to secure sustainable development, official
Paris

Energy diversification is a strong sign of Morocco's will to secure its sustainable development, Energy Minister Amina Benkhadra said Wednesday in Paris. Morocco will have an easy passage into this new century of growth and renewable energies by reducing its dependence on foreign energy sources and protecting its environment through setting up a large-scale solar energy project, Benkhadra said in a panel on the solar sector in Morocco.

This project, worth $9 billion, aims at creating an energy capacity of 2000 MW by 2020 and reducing Morocco's dependence on the import of electricity, oil and gas, the Moroccan official said. She added that Morocco's solar energy project also seeks to desalinate water to meet the growing needs of the population in terms of drinking water. For his part, French Energy Minister Jean-Louis Borloo underlined that Morocco's solar energy project is an "example to follow for many countries".

This panel was attended by several Moroccan and French officials, including head of the Moroccan Agency for solar energy, Mustapha Bakkoury, and representatives of the French Agency for development.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/energy_diversificati/view
---------------------------------------------------

Morocco on track to exceed MDG targets for water and sanitation services, WB says
Rabat

Morocco is now on track to exceed the targets for water and sanitation services contained in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the World Bank said. "Morocco is now on track to exceed the targets for water and sanitation services contained in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), thanks to greater public spending on water supply and sanitation infrastructure," the World Bank said in a note on Morocco.

Between 2005 and 2009, public expenditure in support of urban, peri-urban, and rural water supply and sanitation infrastructure programs rose to 25% of the total public expenditure for water (which also covers water resource management and irrigation), the Washington-based organization noted.

Extending water supply & developing new alternatives
The Bank added that as a result of acceleration of rural water supply programs, including a $60 million project financed by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), potable water access has risen to over 87% in 2009 from 50% in 2004. It underlined that the government has also placed new emphasis on water management policies, including development of new alternatives, such as desalination and water reuse.

In this regard, the WB said that the MAD 34 billion National Irrigation Water Efficiency Program, launched in 2008, is aimed at generating water efficiency gains of 30-to-50% by converting conventional irrigation systems to water-saving technology. It added the World Bank Group is assisting with the development of an innovative desalination private-public partnership in the Souss-Massa region, to complement irrigation resources and conserve groundwater.

Future prospects
Tackling the future prospects, the Bank says that besides the implementation of on-going projects, next steps in the water partnership with the Morocco may include policy dialogue and lending to accompany further reforms and investment for climate change adaptation of water resources management, irrigation sector modernization, water supply and sanitation sector reorganization and regulation, and nationwide replication of peri-urban connection pilots. The World Bank said the reforms undertaken in Morocco in the field of water and sanitation “contributed to a jump in the number of rural people with access to potable water, and in the number of poor peri-urban households connected to piped water and sewage services.”

Morocco’s water policy “largely successful”
Due to scarce and unevenly distributed rainfall, the country has made water a key economic and social development issue, said the document, noting that Morocco has invested heavily in dams, water supply capacity and large-scale irrigation systems, to secure water for urban and agricultural demands. Underlining that this policy was “largely successful”, the Bank highlighted the efforts that are to be made in terms of water demand management, water resource conservation and protection, and equitable service development in rural and poor communities. The Bank also noted that Morocco’s water management strategies needed to adapt to meet a number of challenges: growing water deficits, persisting gaps in service access, slow changes in legislation, limited infrastructure programs, pressing demographic growth, and climate change.

Morocco-WB cooperation in water field
The document recalled that in 2007, a $100 million Morocco Water Sector development policy loan supported comprehensive water reforms in Morocco. It also recalled that prior to the loan, IBRD supported extensive analytical work and capacity building with $2.2 million and another $8.5 million in trust fund grants. These efforts led to a reform program in which water-demand management, conservation and resource protection became new thrusts in Morocco’s water strategy, the document noted.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/morocco_on_track_to/view
---------------------------------------------------

Morocco: Orphanage shut down and Missionaries Expelled.
Tuesday, March 09 2010 Washington / Morocco Board News Service

An orphanage called Village of Hope in The mid Atlas Region of Ain Leuh in Morocco, that was being run by 20 expatriates, has been ordered closed by government authorities. they were told that they must leave the country within three days. A statement from the Moroccan Interior ministry noted that the individuals expelled "exploited some families' poverty and targeted their minor children …. they carried out proselytizing activities aimed at childre nunder the age of 10, adding that the investigation resulted in the seizure of materials used in proselytizing".

The Voice of Hope orphanage has been operating for 10 years, taking abandoned children. Thirty three children lived there, some since its founding in 2000. The closure came without warning. "We have always been open about our faith to the authorities," said Chris Broadbent, Human Resources Manager for the orphanage. "Watching the children be told by their [foster] parents that they had to leave, that they would maybe never see them again, is the most painful thing I have ever witnessed... This is a shame and a disgrace …" Broadbent says they are in shock as the centre has been operating for 10 years without any issues. He says they are not missionaries, they are just parents who were looking after a group of children. They now holds fears for the orphans they have been forced to leave behind.

This is the latest in recent similar actions by the Moroccan government. On February 4th, authorities raided a Christian meeting in Amzmiz near Marrakech, arresting 18 and deporting a foreign missionary. Since then five other foreign Christian missionaries have been expelled.
http://www.moroccoboard.com/news/34-news-release/937-morocco-orphanage-shut-down-and-missionaries-expelled
---------------------------------------------------

US Distressed by Morocco Expulsions
Friday, March 12 2010

The U.S. ambassador to Morocco, Mr. Samuel Kaplan, has expressed "our distress" about the way [the recently expelled Americans] were sent away. He said the Moroccan government refused a hearing for those expelled — and that "violates fundamental rules of due process." 
U.S. Ambassador in a message Thursday to Americans residing in Morocco said the U.S. doesn't take issue with Moroccan law.

The recent expulsion of foreign nationals has overshadowed U.S. praise on Friday for Morocco's recent steps to improve human rights, women's rights and democracy. A charitable group called the Village of Hope, a home for orphaned and unwanted children in northern Morocco, said Thursday that 16 of its workers were ordered on Monday to leave the country.

In a statement, Village of Hope described the eviction process as “the most painful situation imaginable,” saying parents had been given just a few hours to pack their belongings. “The Moroccan authorities gathered the children together in the school and told them what was happening in the absence of the parents. After that, parents had to further explain to the devastated children what was about to happen. Some of the children have been with their parents for 10 years and the trauma caused was beyond description.”
The group said the authorities had produced no evidence to support the proselytizing allegations, and offered no way of appealing the decision.

“VOH has always sought to abide by Moroccan law and recognizes the right of the authorities to enforce this law,”
“This is not an issue of Islam vs. Christianity, this is an issue of families torn apart, bewildered and devastated children and heartbroken parents,” the statement said. “We openly and unashamedly appeal directly to the King [Mohammed VI], as a father himself, to act with mercy and help us reach a point of compromise and reunite the 33 children with the only parents they know.” Two American women — Emmagene Coates and Ellen Doran —founded the orphanage near Ain Leuh fifty years ago. Coates died in 1995 and Doran in 2007.

On Thursday the Moroccan government hosted a meeting of religious leaders – Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox and Jewish – who all then issued statements objecting to proselytizing, the act of seeking coverts from other faiths. “Representatives of monotheistic religions in Morocco on Thursday reiterated that the kingdom is a land of tolerance, peace and religious freedom and rejected all forms of proselytism,” the official MAP news agency reported. Christian groups are allowed to do charitable work in Morocco so long as they don’t try converting Muslims. However, foreign Christians have been quietly spreading their faith in Morocco for years, says Jean-Luc Blanc, head of the Casablanca-based Evangelical Church of Morocco.

But in his nine years here, Blanc says he hasn’t seen a mass expulsion like this. “This is a change in policy from the top of the government,” says Jack Wald, who has spent 10 years as pastor of Rabat International Church, a protestant congregation in the capital. “It’s like going to sleep, waking up, and all of the sudden you’re in a different country.”
http://www.moroccoboard.com/news/34-news-release/939-us-distressed-by-morocco-expulsions-
---------------------------------------------------

Renewable energy turning Morocco into green future.
Friday, 12 March 2010

With wind, sun and space to spare, Morocco is better endowed than most countries in terms of renewable energy potential. The impetus to go green has also never been stronger, as the energy-importing nation has seen its domestic demand steadily rise. In order to preempt an energy squeeze, the Moroccan government has moved to dramatically increase its national solar capacity through a €6.6bn programme, and boost the potential for future energy exports.

Five solar power stations are to be constructed by 2020, with the tender for the first slated to begin at the end of February. "We will start first with the tender for Ourzazate power station and the tenders for the others will follow successively," the energy minister, Amina Benkhadra, told international press. When all five plants are on-line, they are expected to meet 20% of Morocco's energy needs.

Spanish firm Abengoa is the forerunner for Morocco's solar contracts (it is almost finished building a 470-MW solar-gas hybrid station in the southern city of Ain Bni Matha), but several international companies, including Siemens, are also said to be interested. "Morocco is open to all forms of partnership as long as the foreign firms have the capabilities to bring expertise, technology and know-how. We are looking for public-private as well as national-and-foreign partnerships," Benkhadra said. The minister's call was clearly heard, with the Japanese government signing a €5.4m deal in January 2010 to help build what will be Africa's largest photovoltaic plant in Assa-Zag, Morocco.

Lacking the hydrocarbons reserves of its neighbours, Morocco currently imports 97% of its energy. Demand, which has grown 5-7% per year on average over the past decade, is projected to increase from 24 GWh in 2008 to 95 GWh by 2030. As a result, the government has turned to developing its renewable energy capacity – under the current national energy strategy up to 10% of Morocco's energy will come from renewable sources by 2012.

In recent years, most efforts have gone into the development of wind energy, which currently accounts for 150 MW of installed capacity and is expected to reach 1554 MW by 2012. The Tangier wind farm, which will be Morocco's largest, entered construction in 2009 and is expected to go on-line this year. The country's wind potential has been estimated at around 6000 MW a year, but its realisation would require billions of euros in investment.

With 3000 hours of sunshine per year, solar power is another option for Morocco that has hitherto been confined predominantly to villages. In the past 10 years, the Programme for Rural Electrification (Programme d'Electrification Rurale) has brought power to 150,000 homes by the use of photovoltaic kits. With capacity totaling 2000 MW, the five planned solar plants will dramatically increase the role of solar energy within the national strategy.

Morocco's suitable climate, as well as the vast expanses of space in the Sahara, have not gone unnoticed by the world at large, which is also struggling to wean itself off an oil dependency. Companies from Morocco, Tunisia, Spain, France and Italy have attached themselves to the Desertec syndicate, which aims to power Europe with solar energy generated in the Sahara using curved mirror technology.

According to the German Aerospace Center Industrial Initiative, it would take less that 0.3% of the North African desert to produce all the electricity and desalinated water needed domestically by Europe. Priced at €293.7bn, the Desertec project should account for 15% of Europe's power consumption by 2050.

"We want to be among the leading countries in this project," Said Mouline, the managing director of Morocco's Renewable Energy Development Centre, told international press in the summer of 2009. His wish looks to have been granted: in February 2010, consortium founder Desertec Industrial Initiative announced that talks with the Moroccan government had been successful and their pilot project would be on Moroccan soil.

It is a tall order, but the urgency to secure long-term sustainable energy supplies is building internationally, and Morocco is in the right place for the development of solar and wind energy. Though lacking any significant oil resources, the country may yet have a role to play in future energy politics.
http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/201003125156/Energy/renewable-energy-potential-turning-morocco-into-green-future.html
##########################################################

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.

Return to Friends of Morocco Home Page