Friends of Morocco News in review 061706

Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review
June 17 , 2006

Arab leaders pressed on women's rights.
GSM users in Morocco still use payphones for international calls
Morocco: Polygamy is in Decline
Child Labour Work or the street ... children between the devil and the deep blue sea.
Survey: Moroccan women disapprove of western lifestyle
Morocco Foundation launches project to help rural schools.
NGOs launch regional campaign for removal of reservations on OP-CEDAW.
Government launched probe into baccalaureate tests leak.
Moroccans Still Prefer Payphones for International Calls
Morocco earmarks over US $570M to provide drinking water for rural populations.

Arab leaders pressed on women's rights.
June 11, 2006 RABAT, Morocco (Agence France-Presse)

Human rights groups yesterday called on Arab governments to lift their restrictions on a U.N. convention on outlawing discrimination against women. About 200 delegates, mostly women, from 13 Arab states and Turkey, gathered in Rabat for a conference on the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The delegates at the meeting adopted a resolution calling on Arab states to adopt the law in full. They criticized the practice of adopting the convention "with reserves that go against the principle of equality and nondiscrimination against women." The signatories complained that the Arab world had the worst record for "maintaining discrimination and the most glaring violations of women's human rights." Libya is the only Arab state to have signed the convention in full, but 18 of 21 Arab states have signed the convention without the optional protocol. Moroccan Prime Minister Driss Jettou said Thursday his country would sign the convention protocol.

All Middle Eastern and North African countries implemented the convention with restrictions, particularly on the sections that contradict Islamic Shariah law. These issues include inheritance, with women in many Islamic states at a disadvantage compared to men.
The conference in Rabat coincides with a Global Summit of Women held yesterday in Cairo, with the aim of breaking ingrained stereotypes of Muslim women. The summit, informally known as "Davos for Women" -- a reference to an annual global leaders' meeting held in Switzerland -- met for the second time in an Arab country. Morocco hosted the 2003 summit. Summit President Irene Natividad said one of her main goals was to introduce a "more complex picture of the Arab woman."
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20060610-104926-4014r.htm
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GSM users in Morocco still use payphones for international calls.

A new Arab Advisors Group major survey of GSM users across Morocco avails deep insights into the usage habits of this predominately prepaid market. The survey revealed that while a substantial portion of GSM users in Morocco (47.1%) use the GSM service for International calls, a larger number use the payphone service for International calls (53.1%). As Morocco prepares to award new 3G cellular licenses in 2006, the upcoming cellular operators, and the GSM incumbents, must address the low usage levels of prepaid GSM users in the country to enhance the prospects of success. The average monthly minutes of usage for prepaid GSM users in Morocco is less than 20 minutes compared to more than 350 minutes for GSM postpaid users.

A new major report, "Morocco GSM Users Survey 2006" was released by the Arab Advisors Group on June 13, 2006. This survey report can be purchased from the Arab Advisors Group for only US$ 3500 for subscribers to Arab Advisors Strategic Research Services. Non-Subscribers to Arab Advisors Groups Strategic Research Services can order the report for US$ 4500. The 115-pages report, which has 187 detailed exhibits, provides the results of a major comprehensive survey of the GSM services usage patterns and habits of GSM subscribers across Morocco. The survey's fieldwork was conducted in April and May 2006. The report provides statistical analysis of the results and insightful detailed cross tabulations.

"Inducing more traffic on the cellular networks is a must for new and existing operators in Morocco" Mr. Andrawes Snobar, Arab Advisors Sr. Research Analyst commented. "At less than 20 minutes per month, Prepaid GSM usage is very low in the country. The survey revealed that a majority of GSM users still use the payphone services. As such, the onus is on the existing operators and the new operators to increase the traffic on the GSM networks through traffic migration from the fixed networks as well as inducing more traffic".

Still, the survey revealed that 37% of GSM users would consider switching their current mobile operator if a new operator is available in the market with another 28.6% may consider changing operators. Their decision to change would depend on better rates and packages (74.7%), and better quality of service (73.6%).
http://www.strategiy.com/telecomnew.asp?id=20060613061313
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Morocco: Polygamy is in Decline
Written by The Media Line Staff Published Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Polygamous marriages have declined in the past two years, according to Morocco's Justice Minister Muhammad Bouzouba', the London-based daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat reports. Bouzouba' spoke Monday at the opening session of a conference titled: "Two Years to the Implementation of Family Law." During the conference, which was organized by the Moroccan Justice Ministry in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), it was announced that the number of polygamous marriages has declined from 904 in 2004 to 841 in 2005. The Family Law comes with an added value, said chairman of the Moroccan Conciliatory Council for Human Rights, Al-Mahjoub Al-Heiba. "For the first time a true equality between the two sexes is obtained." According to the Sharia' - Islamic Law - a man is allowed to marry up to four women.
http://themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?newsid=14045
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Child Labour Work or the street ... children between the devil and the deep blue sea.
By kaoutar Tbatou

There are in Morocco one million and a half to two million children either deprived of education, obliged to work or live in the streets. Alarming figures? Reality is even more alarming when these children's social situations, work conditions, and the effect of exploitation on them are considered. Despite the efforts exerted to fight child labour in Morocco, precarious socio-economic conditions still push thousands of parents to integrate their children in work-place from a very early age, instead of sending them to school. Faced with poverty, displacement due to rural exodus, and family instability, children find themselves unprotected and, in many cases, have either to work or go on the street.

Is work really the lesser harm? Having never benefited from training, and being deprived of protection, working children are obliged to accept any kind of job, with very miserable wages. Employers in some sectors prefer children because they constitute a mass of cheep and controllable labour. Up to 10,000 children aged 8-14 work in carpet weaving. As a pretext, their employers claim that they help them learn a skill that would enable them to earn their living in the future.

Worse, some children are exploited in rubbish dumps by local and international garbage-sorting companies, breaching all international human rights laws. For each kilogram they sort, kids are paid a miserable 20 centimes (MAD 1 equals 100 centimes). The selected items are then sold at MAD 2 a kilo to recycling companies. Children do not even benefit from their own salaries, as the money always goes to parents. But financial exploitation is only one facet of their suffering.

The tasks children are given often exceed their physical capacity. Little girls, who most of the time work as housemaids, have very long working days. A study said that over 72 % of under-age housemaids wake up before 7 p.m, and that 65% do not get to sleep before 11 p.m. These girls are also exposed to violence and sexual exploitations, and their consequences, including social exclusion, psychological traumas, and undesired maternity.

Overexploited boys on the other hand, are often faced with physically harsh duties. Boys are very often given hazardous and too heavy tasks which exceed by far their physical ability. Working children are also deprived of social security. In the event of an accident, the child finds himself in the street, jobless, and without medical care.

Taking action

Many measures have been taken in Morocco to deal with this appalling phenomenon. A series of awareness campaigns was organised, in addition to many national programmes, including "Inqad", which aims to combat under-age housemaids' employment, and "Adros", a literacy programme for working children. The government, which has declared June 12 as a national day for action against child labour, is currently cooperating with a number of NGOs to prepare a bill which will lift the minimum age of child labour from 15 to 18.

But more efforts are still needed to guarantee the implementation of such laws, avoid undeclared child labour cases, and deal with socio-economic problems, which are the root of this phenomenon. Maybe then, Morocco, along with other countries, will reach the optimistic target expressed last month by the International Labour Organisation, which had noted with satisfaction the decline of child labour around the world, and stated that child labour could be eliminated in 10 years if the current decline continued.
http://www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=11&id=15366
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Survey: Moroccan women disapprove of western lifestyle

The majority of Muslim women, including Moroccans, regard western culture as morally corrupt and obsessed with sex and drugs, said a Gallup World Poll study. The study, titled "What Women Want: Listening to the Voices of Muslim Women," released Tuesday, surveyed 8,000 Muslim women from Morocco, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. According to the poll, conducted in 2005, most Muslim women disapprove of the way women are treated in the west and dislike the sexual "promiscuity, pornography and public indecency."

"Sexual freedom portrayed in the western media is actually degrading to women, not a form of liberation," said Dalia Mogahed, executive director of Gallup Muslim Studies, which conducted the survey. Mogahed quoted a 22-year-old Moroccan woman as saying that she had resented "the disrespect of women by men" in the West. Most respondents thought adhering to Western values is not a solution to the political and economic problems in the Muslim world. They nevertheless admired their society's adherence to Islamic values, pointing out that 'Sharia' (Islamic law) should be the source of political legislation. Asked about what they resented in their societies, the majority pointed out lack of unity, extremism, and political and economic corruption. Inequality between sexes did not seem to be among their worries. Only 2% of women in Egypt and Morocco said it was a problem. Their main concerns were, according to the poll, the right to vote, work outside the home and hold high ranking government positions.
http://www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=11&id=15331
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Morocco Foundation launches project to help rural schools.
By Oumnia Guedda

The US-based Morocco Foundation (MF) has launched an education project, based on fund-raising in the US and Morocco, to help a rural school, 50 km north of Essaouira. The foundation's project came after a persistent call from the pupils' teacher, Khadija EL Hadi, who informed MF about the dramatically severe situation of the children due to the absence of basic infrastructure in the region, said a release of the foundation.

The lack of public transport forces students to walk 6 km to reach the school, built in the middle of nowhere. Because of the lack of infrastructure, the classrooms are shared between two different groups of students and levels. Some use them in the morning and the others during the afternoon. Despite the tough conditions they endure because of weather, infrastructure and lack of essential equipment for their education, the 315 pupils, 128 of them girls, are not yet discouraged to attend their courses, underlined the release.

The children, some of whom are orphans and extremely poor, love attending school and learning from their much devoted teacher. Some pupils are seduced only by the free meals given in the school and provided by the UNICEF, which alleviate a bit their daily sufferings. For many, the meal, limited to lentils, beans or sardines which do not provide much nutrition to growing children, is the only reason they come to school. Otherwise, they would be kept at home by their parents for work in the fields, said the release.

Their parents cannot afford the cost of the pens, notebooks, pencils, etc. The children also need a basic medical examination, mainly ophthalmologic. The rural school is devoid of bathrooms, electricity and running water.

The Morocco Foundation is working to help providing rural schools with school supplies, infrastructure and medical care. It aims at supporting children living in rural areas so as to encourage them to attend school, stay in their native region and help reduce the problem of rural exodus.

The Morocco Foundation is a non-profit organisation established and introduced in the US by a few ambitious Moroccans in September 2004. The vision of the organisation's founders is to work for a better future for Moroccans. They aim at realizing projects to help reduce poverty and illiteracy by improving the availability and quality of services for the most vulnerable individuals, including orphans and handicapped children.
http://www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=11&id=15322
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NGOs launch regional campaign for removal of reservations on OP-CEDAW.
By Kaoutar Tbatou Rabat

The Moroccan capital hosted on June 8-10 the MENA regional conference on the removal of reservations and ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (OP-CEDAW). Themed "Equality without Reservation", the conference brought together representatives of NGOs and associations active in the field of human rights in general and women's rights in particular. Jointly organised by the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) and the Moroccan Women's Democratic Association (ADFM), the event was held according to the recommendations of the International Conference on the Ratification and Implementation of the CEDAW's Optional Protocol, which took place in August 2005 in Malaysia.

Souhayr Belhassen, vice-president of the FIDH, said that the choice of Morocco to hold this event was not fortuitous, but came following the considerable advance Morocco has achieved in the field of women's rights. The conference's opening session was marked by the presence of the Moroccan Prime Minister Driss Jettou, who reiterated Morocco's engagement to promote women's rights, and stressed the significant achievements made in the domain. In this regard, the Premier recalled a series of measures taken by the Moroccan government, including the launching of national strategies for the development of women, a series of programmes aiming at the improvement of women's social and economic conditions, in addition to a set of reforms meant to promote gender equality in Morocco, which were crowned by the adoption of the new Family Code.

Concerning the reservations Morocco had expressed on the CEDAW, Jettou recalled that the government announced on March 8 its decision to consider lifting its reservations on the convention, noting that the government is also examining the possibility to adhere to the convention's optional protocol.

CEDAW and Morocco

The CEDAW was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979. It is often described as an international bill of rights for women. The convention includes a broad definition of discrimination, and specifies the measures the States Parties will adhere to in order to implement the convention's provisions and end gender-based discrimination. When Morocco ratified the CEDAW in 1993, 14 years after its adoption by the UN General Assembly, a set of reservations accompanied the ratification. These mainly concerned women and men's responsibilities in marriage and in case of divorce and the issue of nationality.

Some of the Moroccan reservations were lifted ipso facto with the new Family Code, but the issue of the mother's right to give nationality to her children is still being examined in Morocco. Since then, national NGOs have been calling the kingdom to lift the reservations and adhere to the optional protocol (OP-CEDAW). The OP-CEDAW is a separate treaty which can be signed and ratified by the States Parties. It does not state new rights but sets a list of procedures that can be followed by individual women or groups of women to claim the rights stated in the CEDAW.

Efforts still needed in all Arab countries

All Arab countries which ratified the CEDAW have expressed reservations on some of the convention's articles. Like in Morocco, Arab countries' civil society is exerting efforts to lift the reservations and guarantee the implementation of the CEDAW. "The CEDAW has been ratified by Syria but there are still problems of implementation," Amal Younes, a lawyer and member of the League of Syrian Women, told Morocco Times. "We are currently organising workshops and seminars with religious scholars, journalists, and MPs, in addition to women who suffered from their rights'
transgression. All this aims at preparing a petition which will be addressed to decision-makers," she added.

"Reservations, which persist in all Arab countries, constitute a stumbling block against the dynamic of equality, which is the convention's raison d'être," underlined Hafida Chekir, a Tunisian professor and lawyer, who was also among the attendees of Rabat's regional conference. The three-day conference will be closed by the official launching of the Regional Campaign for the Removal of Reservations and Ratification of the Optional protocol to CEDAW. "We have one main objective: rooting democracy in our societies. Our region still faces many difficulties, that is why we need more efforts to create a new dynamic in the Arab countries," said Rabea Naciri, ADFM president.
http://www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=11&id=15306
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Government launched probe into baccalaureate tests leak.
By Rachid Merzaq

The Moroccan Ministry of Education, in coordination with the competent authorities, has launched an inquiry into the case of the leak of baccalaureate tests in Meknès. The authorities will take disciplinary and judiciary measures against the instigators, declared Mohamed Sassi, head of the National Centre for Examinations. Sassi explained that the problem relates to some limited cases which concern two high schools in Meknès, stressing that "the ministry is collecting necessary data to evaluate the situation and take essential administrative measures."

According to the Moroccan official, these measures will be taken without delay concerning this case, which has caused the indignation of the candidates, their tutors and the teaching body of the city. The indignation was accompanied by protests and boycott of the examination by the students of Lalla Amina High School. "The data available and the investigations carried out up to now at the national scale have revealed that the registred cases are limited to Meknes only," underlined Sassi, excluding that "the leaks took place in other areas".

In this respect, Sassi ruled out the news published in certain newspapers about other leaks in Nador and Moulay Driss Zerhoun. In addition, Sassi has affirmed that the baccalaureate examinations were held in normal conditions, and that "a number of measures were taken to ensure a better organisation and reduce the pressure which weighs on the candidates". More than 288,000 candidates have sat the baccalaureate examination this year, a rise of 8.4% compared to the previous school year. More important is the fact that the number of private education candidates recorded an increase of 40% this year.
http://www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=2&id=15348
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Moroccans Still Prefer Payphones for International Calls

While Morocco's GSM penetration exceeded 40% in 2005, some 80% of GSM users are still using payphones for national calls. A new Arab Advisors Group major survey of GSM users across Morocco avails deep insights into the usage habits of this predominately prepaid market. The survey revealed that while a substantial portion of GSM users in Morocco (47.1%) use the GSM service for International calls, a larger number prefer to use a payphone.

As Morocco prepares to award new 3G cellular licenses in 2006, the upcoming cellular operators, and the GSM incumbents, must address the low usage levels of prepaid GSM users in the country to enhance the prospects of success. The average monthly minutes of usage for prepaid GSM users in Morocco is less than 20 minutes compared to more than 350 minutes for GSM postpaid users. "Inducing more traffic on the cellular networks is a must for new and existing operators in Morocco" Mr. Andrawes Snobar, Arab Advisors Sr. Research Analyst commented. "At less than 20 minutes per month, Prepaid GSM usage is very low in the country. The survey revealed that a majority of GSM users still use the payphone services. As such, the onus is on the existing operators and the new operators to increase the traffic on the GSM networks through traffic migration from the fixed networks as well as inducing more traffic".

Arab Advisors Group's major analytical survey of Morocco's main cities' population was scientifically done. The survey involved face to face interviews with 700 respondents from different households in Grand Casablanca, Rabat/Sale, Agadir, Marrakech, Tangir/Tetouan, and Fass, selected randomly in a manner proportionate to the population size of the different areas. Respondents were above 15 years old, and were GSM service users. This random survey is of the current GSM users in Morocco, and not the total population of the country. Morocco's GSM penetration stood at 40.8% by end of 2005. "The results of the survey revealed that only 15.1% of all respondents had changed their mobile operator before. This survey also revealed that a majority of users believe that the service of the existing GSM operators are good to very good." Mirna Sunna, Arab Advisors research analyst commented. Still, the survey revealed that 37% of GSM users would consider switching their current mobile operator if a new operator is available in the market with another 28.6% may consider changing operators. Their decision to change would depend on better rates and packages (74.7%), and better quality of service (73.6%).
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17771.php
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Morocco earmarks over US $570M to provide drinking water for rural populations.
June 14, 2006

Morocco has earmarked some MAD 5Bn, US $570.7M, to the national program to supply rural areas in drinking water, for the 2006-2007 period, revealed, on Tuesday, State Secretary in Charge of Water. Abdelkebir Zahoud, who was speaking at a House of Advisors question time, deemed that these investments will allow for supplying up to 90% of these areas with water in 2007. The minister called for pooling the efforts of the different actors to succeed this operation, which was instructed to the drinking water utility (ONEP). Zahoud recalled that ONEP has banked on the principle of partnership as provided for in the grouped supply in drinking water for rural populations program (PAGER). The utility has provided regional councils with partnership projects defining priorities and projects, he added.
http://www.andnetwork.com/index?service=direct/0/Home/recent.titleStory&sp=l38958
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