Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
October 14 , 2006

Jason Yossef Ben-Meir discusses efforts for rural community development.
By Farah Kinani  10/10/2006

Jason Yossef Ben-Meir, president of the High Atlas Foundation, talked to Magharebia about his foundation's efforts to develop rural Moroccan communities, the assistance of royal advisor Andre Azoulay and the potential for Moroccan expatriates to help. The High Atlas Foundation is a US-based organisation whose aim is to establish community-based projects in Morocco that local people design in partnership with government and non-government agencies. President Jason Yossef Ben-Meir talked about the foundation's efforts with Magharebia.

Magharebia: What is your connection to Morocco?
Jason Yossef Ben-Meir: The US Peace Corps sent me in 1993 for two years to Morocco, where I assisted rural communities that bordered Toubkal National Park in Marrakech Province in creating development projects. I could have been sent to another country. By chance, I was sent to Morocco. The experience was so wonderful that I and other Morocco Peace Corps volunteers wanted to stay involved in helping rural community development, so we created the High Atlas Foundation in 2000 as a way to continue to help rural Moroccans.

Many people, including the American government, see Morocco as a good example. The diverse and broad support of the National Initiative for Human Development, which includes all Moroccans and its Diaspora, is a great example of Moroccan solidarity.

Magharebia: Tell us more about the High Atlas Foundation.
Ben-Meir: Our basic purpose is to help create community development. Our foundation raises money through events in the United States and submission of project proposal to donor agencies -- to help establish projects that local Moroccan communities identify, implement, and manage.

We have found the biggest priorities for local communities include potable water, tree planting, irrigation, women and youth centers. Our foundation is dedicated to realising these goals. The guiding principles of our development approach, is also that of the National Initiative for Human Development (local empowerment and self-reliance) -- so we are honored to partner with the National Initiative.

Magharebia: The High Atlas Foundation invited Andre Azoulay, an advisor to King Mohamed VI, to its second annual New York City reception. What was the main subject of his speech?

Ben-Meir:Andre Azoulay works with the foundation to help rural community development in Morocco. He stressed the vital importance of the "human-to-human" approach the foundation uses to achieve its goals. Azoulay is also committed to enlisting rural Moroccan development projects of the High Atlas Foundation to be included among those supported by the Clinton Global Initiative's 2007 agenda. He said that Morocco's political and economic development is irreversible.

Magharebia: What do you know about the Moroccan community in the United States?
Ben-Meir: There is a large Moroccan community in the United States, particularly in New York. They represent an important resource that can help advance the development of their homeland. However, more networks, associations, and events need to be created to give them the opportunity to contribute. There is enormous potential because Morocco has a diverse range of constituent groups that are willing to support development projects. A strategic global fundraising campaign could bring in tens of millions of dollars from private individuals and companies and help create partnerships that benefit Morocco. The National Initiative calls upon the Moroccan Diaspora to play a greater role in Morocco's development. We are dedicated to assisting this process. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2006/10/10/feature-01
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Rural Electrification rated between 65% and 70%, minister.
Rabat, Oct. 12

The rural electrification rate in Morocco ranges between 65 and 70%, revealed here Thursday, Mohamed Mohattane, the Secretary of State in charge of rural development. Almost 65% of rural homes are supplied with drinking water, Mohattane noted in an interview published by the Arabic-speaking paper "Rissalat Al-Oumma," on the fringes of the national Farmers Day. The Moroccan official underlined the government's efforts to reduce deficits in the countryside, in line with the Moroccan Initiative for the Human Development.

Announced on May 18, 2005 by king Mohammed VI, the INDH is meant to spur social action in Morocco through a global, integrated and lasting approach. It is based on integrated programs to reduce social disparities and fight exclusion and designed to provide basic infrastructure to millions, from adequate housing and drinking water to health care and education. Illiteracy represents one of the challenges imposed to the rural area, he said adding that 75% of Moroccan farmers face this plague which prevents from upholding globalization as well as integration to a number of free-exchange agreements with the European Union.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_social/rural_electrificatio/view
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Over 600k attend literacy classes in 2005-2006 school year.
Rabat, Oct. 12

Some 655,478 people attended literacy classes during the 2005-2006 school year, revealed Moroccan Secretary of state in charge of literacy and informal education. Some 34,294 benefited from non-formal education and 133,275 from education support, according to a press release issued on the occasion of the National Literacy Day, which was institutionalized on October 13, 2004 by king Mohammed VI. Morocco aspires to provide literacy classes to one million people per year, lower the illiteracy rate to 20% by 2010 and eradicate this phenomenon by 2015. The Moroccan ministry of Education was attributed, on September 23, the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy for its non-formal education program.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_social/over_600k_attend_lit/view
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Colorectal cancer third cause of cancer mortality in Morocco, expert.
Casablanca, Oct.10

Colorectal cancer (colon and rectum) stands out as the third cause of cancer mortality in Morocco after breast and lung cancers, stressed, here Monday, Mounir Bachouchi, cancer specialist at the "Al-Azhar" oncology Center of Rabat. Speaking at a press conference themed "Colorectal cancer: Targeted Therapies Carry Hope", Bachouchi explained that "compared to the 10 million new cases that were diagnosed in 2005 worldwide and the 15 million cases expected by 2020, our country recorded 40,000 new cancer cases and only 12,000 are treated."

"However, not all domestic cancer cases are indexed," he explained, noting that "cancer remains one of most devastating diseases in the world. Lung cancer is the principal cancer for men with 965.000 new cases and nearly 850,000 deaths in 2002, while breast cancer is the main cancer for women with 1.15Mn new cases and a death toll of 410,000." "Colorectal cancers touch mainly inactive obese people aged over 50 years," he said, adding that recovery chances at early stages reach 100%.

Bachouchi said that several innovating therapies are currently available to relieve the patients, especially the promising Bevacizumab, marketed under the name of Avastin, pointing out this drug has been officially authorized in Morocco since last February. The colorectal cancer symptoms are the presence of blood in stool, an unexplained loss of weight, abdominal pain and constipation or diarrhoea without any apparent reason, he explained.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/colorectal_cancer_th/view
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TV channel in Amazigh to be launched in a year, Minister.
Rabat, Oct. 13

Communication Minister, Spokesman of the Government, Nabil Benabdallah revealed, here Friday the creation, a year from now, of a TV channel in the Amazigh language. At the end of a periodical meeting with the institute of the Amazigh culture (IRCAM), the minister told the press a commission of experts will be set up to consider questions related to the funding, programming and broadcast of the channel. Besides the ministry and the IRCAM, the commission will include members from the two national TV channels, SNRT and 2M. The meeting also discussed the implementation of the commitments of the two channels to devote 30% of their programs to this language, which concerns a large sphere of Moroccans mainly natives of the Atlas and the Rif mountains.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_culture/tv_channel_in_amazig/view
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Morocco joblessness to remain high.
Tuesday 10 October 2006

Measures taken to reduce Morocco's dependence on agriculture and boost economic growth are starting to take effect, but high unemployment will not begin falling until next year. Mustapha Mansouri, Morroco's minister for employment and professional training, has said that the government expects economic growth of 3.5 to 4 per cent in 2007, allowing for the creation of 300,000 jobs.

According to an official report early this year, the kingdom needs to create 400,000 jobs per year over the next ten years to prevent mass unemployment that could threaten its stability. "You need a performance of 5 to 6 per cent [growth] to create enough jobs for those people arriving on the work market and to eat a little into the backlog of existing jobless." Mansouri told Reuters in an interview.

For the year 2006, the government sees growth rate of 7.5 per cent and Mansouri said that would allow unemployment to fall to about 8 or 9 per cent from 11 percent in 2005. With 2007 an election year, the ruling coalition of technocrats, conservatives and socialists is keen to show voters that reforms including public sector payroll cuts and more flexible labour rules are beginning toprove successful.

Employment reality
Official employment data may differ widely from the reality on Morocco's streets due to a vast informal economy which, according to some estimates, is even bigger than the formal sector. Working out who is employed is not easy in a country full of family-run shops, makeshift stalls offering fruit or toys, men wandering the streets offering to shine shoes or dispose of scrap metal, and where factory workers are hired and fired as contracts come and go.

Morocco's formal employment sector has its own problems after the education system failed to adapt to a rapidly-changing job market. Young graduates have been left unemployed as public sector payroll cuts barred the door to state employment, and weak levels of investment meant few private sector jobs. "Unfortunately our system of education continued to train generalists who are no longer able to find a place in the productive system," said Mansouri.

He said education was being reformed and the government planned to spend $228 million over three years to train Moroccan graduates and to help 30,000 of them set up their own companies. About 5,000 have already applied since the scheme was introduced a few months ago, he added. The government says it is addressing problems of an ill-adapted education system, poor infrastructure, bureaucracy, slow justice and high payroll taxes that have put firms off investing in job creation.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2C9C1AD6-5857-47EA-82C4-79A7C9F78135.htm
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Government launches citizenship development programme for young people.

The Moroccan government launched Saturday in Rabat a convention programme on the “development of citizenship for young people”, MAP news agency reported. The convention programme was signed between the Secretariat of State in charge of Youth, the Social Development Agency (ADS) and the Forum for Citizenship. The programme is a socio-educational programme aiming at reinforcing the culture of democracy and citizenship for young people. It also seeks to support the projects aiming to accompany and reinforce their capacities of organisation.

The Secretary of State in charge of youth, Mohammed El Gahs, stressed that this programme is part of the general policy of the government in catering for young people. ”The building of a strong society can only be achieved by the qualification and training of young people,” El Gahs affirmed, inviting them to make a true revolution in "our ways of thinking and our bad habits".

For his part, the president of the Forum for Citizenship, Abdelali Mastour, underlined that the signing of this convention is the result of the efforts made by various partners in order to promote the culture of democracy. The Director of the ADS, Mohamed Najib Guedira, asked to seize the opportunities offered by the National Initiative for Human Development to mobilise the capacities of young people regarding the local development, stressing that the ADS will not spare any effort to support their initiatives.

On this occasion, the Secretariat of State in charge of Youth, the Social Development Agency (ADS) and the Forum for Citizenship launched the "programme of citizenship for young people". It is the first initiative to be made as part of the "programme of citizenship development for young people". This first sub-programme aims particularly at reinforcing and widening the role of young people's houses in the sustainable human development, by upgrading their structures and developing their roles in the social development of the disadvantaged districts.
http://www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=11&id=17303
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Emergencies receive 3 million people a year, Minister.

Moroccan Health Minister Mohamed Sheikh Biadillah said that the emergencies of public hospitals receive three million people each year. In an interview published Saturday by the Moroccan daily Assahra Al Maghribia, Biadillah stressed that the emergencies services undergo pressure because of this high number, of which 70% are not considered as urgent cases. He explained that with the entry into force of the Mandatory Health Insurance (AMO) and the Medical Assistance Care (RAMED), there will be a revision of the methods of access to these services in order to control the flows.

In this context, the minister underlined that a number of law projects governing the sector of the emergencies are under development, affirming that the ministry aims at setting up modern infrastructures to guarantee the best conditions of health care. Biadillah ascribed the crowds in the emergencies of public hospitals to the immediate reception and free medical care provided by these services. In addition, he estimated that the problems from which the hospitals suffer are not only related to the lack of financial means, but "to their use in accordance with the laws in force".

The newly enacted health insurance code provides for two systems. The Mandatory Health Insurance (AMO) and the Medical Assistance Care (RAMED). AMO will apply to people who have a paid activity, pensioners, former Resistants, members of the Liberation Army and students. RAMED is a public mechanism which should guarantee completely or relatively free health care. It has enabled 3.5 million people to be covered for health care. It is expected to increase the total number of Moroccans benefiting from health coverage from 17% to 34%. The benefits will later be extended to liberal professions, allowing 50% of Moroccans to be covered. This insurance will include all chronic diseases and cover 70% of drug expenses.

RAMED is estimated to cost between MAD 1.7 billion and MAD 2.3 billion, covering between 12 and 15 million people with limited incomes and who have had no medical coverage so far. As for the enforcement of RAMED, the government will take gradual measures to secure free health care in state hospitals, for a budget of MAD 600 million (Euro 53.5 million).
http://www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=11&id=17185
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