Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
December 1 , 2007

Two thousand new AIDS cases in Morocco in 2007.
27/11/2007 By Imrane Binoual

The annual UNAIDS report has revealed an increase in Morocco's rate of HIV infection. To combat public attitudes surrounding the virus, health organisations plan a World AIDS Day march in Casablanca. The annual report from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), released ahead of World AIDS Day on Saturday (December 1st), said that while HIV infection has stabilised worldwide, AIDS "remains the top cause of death in Africa." According to UN statistics disclosed in the November 20th report, the number of people in Morocco carrying the virus rose from 18,000 in 2006 to 20,000 this year.

Morocco must confront the silence and stigma surrounding AIDS, argued Ahmed Douraidi, a human rights activist and national co-ordinator for one of the country’s main AIDS control NGOs, the Association to Fight AIDS. To further this awareness campaign, ALCS will help sponsor the "March to Fight AIDS" in Casablanca on World AIDS Day. "This is the first event that [the ALCS] is organising with partner associations with whom we have just set up a network of associations to fight AIDS," Douraidi told Magharebia.

The Morocco AIDS-Enterprise association works to connect AIDS-control NGOs with Moroccan business leaders. Chairman Brahim Sahib stressed the importance of setting up this network and confirmed that his association would be playing an active role in the December march. "AIDS is becoming a serious threat; we must fight it with all means available," he said. "Getting business leaders on board is really important in raising awareness about the damage caused by HIV and in the success of any such programmes."

These kinds of initiatives to counter HIV are partly responsible for reduced infection rates worldwide, the UNAIDS report notes. However, ALCS president Professor Hakima Himmich feels that focusing on such figures "could actually be a disincentive in our work to combat this killer disease."

One of the most important routes for transmission of the virus is through sexual activity and this, according to Himich, is where the alarm needs to be raised in Morocco. "[With] a very high number of sexually transmitted infections, around 350,000 new cases in Morocco, there is a real danger to be feared," Himmich said. "On top of this, 40% of people with AIDS are women, and 2.4% are working in the sex industry," she noted. "This puts us on a similar footing to Sub-Saharan countries affected by AIDS, such as Senegal." http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2007/11/27/feature-02
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Kuwaiti fund to support rural road construction in Morocco.
29/11/2007

The Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) announced it will provide a 42m-euro loan to Morocco to support the construction of 500km of rural roads. Morocco's Minister of Economy and Finance Salaheddine Mezouar and Kuwaiti Fund Director-General Abdelouahab Ahmed El Badr signed the agreement on Tuesday (November 27th). The loan is part of the second national programme for the construction of rural roads launched in Morocco in 2005. Earlier this week the government secured an additional 45m euros from the African Development Bank (ADB) for the same project. The programme is part of a government effort to limit the isolation of more than 16 million inhabitants living in the country's rural areas. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2007/11/29/newsbrief-04
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Morocco conference promotes cancer research and treatment.
30/11/2007 By Naoufel Cherkaoui

In partnership with other Eastern Mediterranean countries, Morocco will begin work next year on a comprehensive programme to fight cancer, expand specialised care and ease the suffering of those afflicted. A regional initiative to combat cancer was launched after a conference led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Lalla Salma Association Against Cancer (ALSC) in Marrakesh last week.

Consisting of non-governmental organisations, scientific groups and professional associations representing more than 15 countries, the Regional Alliance of NGOs of the Eastern Mediterranean Region for the Fight Against Cancer was created following the November 20-22 meeting. The alliance will co-ordinate regional efforts to support cancer sufferers and their families, to assist in training and research, and foster local and international initiatives to fight the illness.

Hussein Abdulrizaq Gezairy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said he hopes the planned regional alliance will lead to earlier diagnosis and reduced cancer rates. The WHO is calling upon all the countries in the region to make fighting cancer a national priority, he added. As part of the regional effort, the Moroccan programme will begin in early 2008. The Health Ministry and the ALSC will assess the general situation of the disease in Morocco and formulate policy on training, awareness, medical treatment and early diagnosis.

"This initiative must keep abreast of the current situation on a national level, keeping in mind the [country’s] deficiencies in health service coverage, specialist doctors, hospitals and awareness," said ALSC Scientific Committee President Tahir Al-Aloui. He noted that 1,200 cancer sufferers are treated annually in the kingdom's various hospitals, yet 30,000 people in Morocco – including more than 1,000 children – are diagnosed with cancer every year. Global statistics indicate that for those with access to medical care, the recovery rate is 80% for children and 65% for adults. Many people, however, cannot afford to pay for each stage of the expensive treatment.

The country also has a major lack of specialist establishments. There are only three public centres, in Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakesh, and just four more belonging to the private sector. Each year, Morocco registers 101.7 new cancer cases for every 100,000 citizens. Breast cancer ranks number one, followed by lung cancer, cervical cancer and prostate cancer. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2007/11/30/feature-03
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France earmarks $2.6m to support Morocco's human development initiative.
30/11/2007

France granted Morocco $2.6m to finance projects within the National Initiative for Human Development. The contract was signed Thursday (November 29th) by Morocco's Finance Minister Salaheddine Mezouar and France's Ambassador to Morocco Jean-François Thibault. MAP reported that the aid is part of the $11.7m in financing French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced during his visit to Morocco in October. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2007/11/30/newsbrief-06
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Morocco looks to renewable energy.
30/11/2007

The Moroccan government is striving to boost foreign investment in the renewable energy sector. Speaking on Thursday (November 29th) Energy Minister Amina Benkhadra said the government is considering tax reforms aimed at improving the investment climate. The reforms aim to reduce or eliminate taxes on imports of renewable energy devices, including a reduction from 20% to 14% in VAT on solar water heaters. Developing renewable energies is a major element of the national energy strategy which aims to increase the use of alternative energy sources from 4% to 10% of national consumption by 2012, Benkhadra said. The minister also said Morocco's renewable energy potential from wind power stood at 6,000 MW per day and that an additional 5 KW per day could be produced from solar energy. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2007/11/30/newsbrief-07
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Investment Commission okays USD 543Mn projects.
Rabat, Nov. 29

The Investment commission, chaired by Moroccan Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi, approved, here Wednesday, six projects, amounting to USD 543Mn. These projects, which would generate over 6,006 jobs, touch on various sectors such as cement industry, car industry, petro-chemistry, tourism and distribution, a press release of the Prime Minister's office said on Thursday. The projects will be implemented in Tangier (north), Tetuan (north), Casablanca and Nador (north east). As of January 2007, the investment commission has approved 76 investment projects -amounting to USD 8.89Bn-which generated no less than 43,400 jobs.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_economy/investment_commissio/view
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Launch of project to slash tobacco addiction in schools and businesses.
Khemisset (west), Nov. 29

The official launch was given Wednesday in the town of Khemisset (80km east of Rabat) to the project called "Tobacco-Free Middle and High Schools and Businesses" aimed to prevent tobacco-related cancers in schools and businesses across the country. The project, known as CLES, and which was launched by Princess Lalla Salma, chairwoman of the Lalla Salma Association to Fight Cancer, aims to reach these objectives through setting up information, awareness-raising and education activities on the effect of tobacco addiction among the school society, and through supporting businesses set up services and practices aimed at breaking nicotine addiction for their staff.

At a first stage, CLES will be designed to 31 institutions in the Rabat/Casablanca and Souss (south) regions, and for five large firms, before spreading throughout the country. Since its inception in partnership between the ministries of health and of education, the Pfizer foundation, Maroc Telecom and three regional councils, the CLES has trained 64 medical doctors and 16 social workers and nurses on tobaccology to provide specialized consultations to help tobacco addicts quit smoking.

Surveys on the prevalence of tobacco addiction are being conducted part of the project in a number of pilot middle and high schools, as well as tobacco audits in businesses. The project also consists in creating anti-tobacco clubs in education institutions.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_social/launch_of_project_to/view
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Launch of 5th campaign on elimination of violence against women.
Rabat, Nov. 30

The fifth National Campaign to eliminate violence against women was launched on Friday in Rabat to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The 17-day campaign, to revolve around "Mobilizing Youths to fight Violence against Women", was kicked off by Prime Minister, Abbas El Fassi, who said this practice is a universal phenomenon with tangled dimensions that impact on the future of societies.

He said the government is set to activate two important assets in this field, including mainly the national observatory to eliminate violence against women as a follow-up and coordination mechanism among all institutions and organizations that endeavor to curb this phenomenon. The government will, in this regard, submit soon two substantial reforms involving the incrimination of violence against women, and the legal age to hire maids.

Speaking on the same occasion, Minister of Social Development, Family and Solidarity, Nouzha Skalli, said the ministry has institutionalized the elimination of this kind of violence by adopting the national strategy to eliminate violence against women, which lays down the intervention of each party through a participatory approach.

She announced the creation of an IT system on violence against women. A 2007 report on the green number, set to receive violence-related complaints, which was presented at the campaign launch, showed an average of 838 complaints each month, with a total of more than 17,500 violence cases, most of which are physical.

The day was also marked by the launch of a media campaign on the impact of wife abuse on children. A report on the first half of 2007, released recently by the Democratic League of Women's Rights (LDDH), said over 96% of the cases of violence against women are committed by an intimate relative. It showed that housewives are the most exposed to violence with 57% of the documented cases, and that 88% of the battered women are aged 18-48. The report also indicated that economic violence includes mainly failing to support the family, which represents 37.31% of the cases, while physical violence ranks second with 22.75%, i.e. 425 of the registered cases. http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/launch_of_5th_campai/view
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Japan grants Morocco USD190K for rural development.
Rabat, Nov.27

The Japanese government on Tuesday granted a financial assistance amounting to some USD 190,000 to carry out two rural development projects in the regions of Chtouka Ait Baha (South) and Khenifra (Atlas mountains). The donation is meant to build a 1,600m track in the village of Taroudant (south) and to supply the village of Ait Ichi Zoukch (Atlas Mountains) with drinking water. These projects will benefit some 2,542 people.

Japan's ambassador to Morocco, Haruko Hirose, said this initiative which is part of the Japanese non-reimbursable assistance program granted to local micro-projects contributing to human security aims to support Morocco's anti-poverty program, the National initiative for Human development (INDH).

Since 1989, Japan granted Morocco some USD 16.7Mn to bankroll 301 projects.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/japan_grants_morocco_1/view
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Over 96% of violence against women committed by partners.
Casablanca, Nov. 26

More than 96% of the cases of violence against women are committed by an intimate partner, according to a survey conducted by the Democratic League of Women's Rights (LDDH), released on Sunday on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The survey which was conducted in the first half of 2007, showed that housewives are the most exposed to violence with 57% of the documented cases, and that 88% of the battered women are aged 18-48.

The LDDH report, which was presented at an international meeting on "Violence against Women and the Framework Law", indicated that economic violence includes mainly failing to support the family, which represents 37.31% of the cases, while physical violence ranks second with 22.75%, i.e. 425 of the registered cases.

In terms of cities where violence against women is most widespread, Casablanca, Morocco's largest city and economic capital, tops the list with 589 cases, while the northern small town of Larache brings up the rear with a total of 64 cases of violence in the studied period. The survey also noted that illiterate women are the ones to be more subjected to all kinds of violence, since they are involved in 692 of such cases, while women with university education only represented 78.

In a speech read out on her behalf during the meeting, Social Development, Women and Solidarity Minister, Nouzha Skalli said her department has put fighting violence against women on top of its priorities, stressing the urgent need to work out an efficient and global approach that involves associations and pubic authorities, in addition to awareness raising campaigns to curb this phenomenon.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/over_96_of_violence/view
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Tourism investment in Morocco's eastern region reaches $340m in 2006.
26/11/2007

Tourism investment in Morocco's eastern region totalled $340m in 2006, up from $23.2m in 2005, according to a survey of the Commerce, Industry and Services Chamber. The survey noted that the tourism sector constituted 52.4% of overall investment in 2006 compared to 47.6% for other sectors. Twenty-eight tourism projects were approved in 2006, generating some 4,276 job opportunities, the survey pointed out. Between 1995 through 2005, the number of tourists and guest nights rose by 21.1% and 22.7%, respectively. French citizens topped the list of tourists, followed by Spaniards, British, Algerians, Dutch, and Belgians. Tourism receipts remain a principal source of foreign currency and help offset the trade deficit. The government has targeted the sector's development in the Vision 2010 strategy to attract 10m tourists by 2010. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2007/11/26/newsbrief-06
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Fes hosts conference on dialogue among civilisations, cultural diversity.
27/11/2007

An international conference on dialogue among civilizations and cultural diversity wrapped up Monday (November 26th) in Fes, Morocco. The three-day meeting ended with a joint statement which stressed the attendees' view that dialogue requires "recognizing the right to be different, to live responsibly, to develop oneself and fight double standards in international relations," MAP reported. The participants drafted a series of recommendations and called on international and regional institutions "to consolidate and develop mechanisms of dialogue, and foster a culture of peace." Scholars, religious leaders and politicians from around the world took part in the event. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2007/11/27/newsbrief-03
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Hundreds protest turning Morocco into a "brothel": Moroccan "bride" jailed for gay wedding.
Tuesday, 27 November 2007

A wedding for a well-known gay man in Morocco ended with the colorful 'bride' behind bars, along with five other wedding guests, and sparked riots and calls for authorities to clamp down on gays in Moroccan society. The Court of First Instance in the northern city of Al-Qasr Al-Kabir, where the wedding took place, handed down jail sentences to six people who participated in the lavish wedding ceremony, including the 'bride', Fouad, a well-known gay man who sells alcohol for a living.

The identity of the groom is still unknown, press reports said Monday, but a full investigation is underway.
The wedding, attended by scores of gays and lesbians, lasted two days and had many elements of a traditional Moroccan wedding. The 'bride,' adorned with jewelry and full facial makeup, wore a green gown with a golden belt. His head was covered with a white scarf. For the second day's celebrations, which featured a musical performance, he changed into a yellow cloak.

A black bull – one of the gifts to the newlyweds – was slain to the celebratory sounds of cheers and ululations. Afterwards, the 'bride' knelt, filled his glass with the bull's blood, and drank it, one of the guests reported. But the 'bride' turned himself into police after he was caught and beaten by protestors, the Moroccan newspaper Al-Tajdeed reported.

Indignation
More than 600 men and women took to the streets, chanting slogans condemning the city's leniency towards homosexuals and criticizing the couple's audacity to hold a gay wedding in the open. An MP for the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), Saeed Khairoun, said the wedding signaled the disintegration of Muslim values and was a flagrant violation of the society's traditions. He called on the government to "combat those want to turn Morocco to a brothel."

Moroccan gays were recently allowed to found their own organization, which demands equal rights for homosexuals and aims to combat all forms of discrimination. According to article 489 of the Moroccan Penal Code, homosexuality is illegal and is punishable by six months to three years in jail and a fine of 120 to 1,200 dirhams (15 to 155 dollars). But the law is rarely enforced, and the sight of gay couples has become fairly common, especially in cities with large European expatriate communities like Tangiers, Marrakech, and Agadir. (Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid).
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2007/11/27/42200.html#000
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Meet Them at the Kasbah
Local high schoolers are embarking on a ten-day class trip to Morocco
by Laurie Gwen Shapiro / Grand Street News  editor@grandstreetnews.com

Ten fortunate local high school students – six girls and four boys – have their passports ready, and on November 16 will bid M’a salama to the Lower East Side and get ready to rock the Kasbah as they journey to the Kingdom of Morocco. The school is housed on the fourth floor of the building most 10002 residents associate with Corlears Middle School. The Henry Street School of International Studies was founded in 2004 with a mandate of introducing economically disadvantaged students to greater worldviews via language study, multicultural research, and the best part, travel (O, Paul Bowles! O, Allen Ginsberg! They're smiling somewhere).

After the kids touch soil in, sigh, Casablanca, they’ll have a quick immersion lesson in the Moroccan Arabic dialect. Jetlagged, they’ll head for the capital, Rabat, to explore the Kasbah des Oudayas. A Kasbah — for all (like me) who sung along with The Clash without knowing what they were singing — is a fortified ancient city used by the Berber tribes. The LES teens will then tour the Hassan (the minaret of an incomplete mosque intended to be the world’s largest), and the Mellah (the Jewish quarter), and take a well-deserved rest in the breathtaking Andalous gardens, planted by the French in the 20th Century.

Then they’ll visit the Rabat orphanage, have dinner with host families, and the girls will have a henna party.
Talk about empowering. They’ll stop in the resort of Essaouira for a quick jump in the Atlantic Ocean.
In Marrakech there’s the infamous souk, the market. After a day of hard bartering and sorting through their souk goodies, they’ll be guests at a local concert.

Then back in Casablanca where they’ll do that city justice as well. In addition to visiting the aforementioned sights, and sampling authentic couscous, tagines (stews) and bisteeya (savory squab pastry) spiced with cumin, tumeric, saffron, and mint, these students will be aiding others in greater need, with the help of local Peace Corps volunteers in Smimou. They will plant medicinal herbs for a co-op that makes nice smelling soaps out of them, and plant trees for the double purpose of erosion control and town beautification. Again, talk about empowering.

The students have been asked to contribute a small portion of this incredible itinerary’s cost, $250 each, an amount that for many of their families is still a struggle. The total amount needed for the 13 travelers, even with homestays in Rabat and inexpensive hotels elsewhere, is $30,000, or $2300 each. The kids are helping to fundraise for the overall cost as well. 33 students applied. Those eventually selected were deemed eager to try new things, ready to do what it takes to get along with the group, and most importantly — responsible.

I have seen this firsthand: I heard about the trip while waiting for my daughter to get out of pre-ballet at Henry Street Settlement. Akeel St. Vil, a recent transplant from Seattle, was there selling juice boxes and bags of popcorn in the lobby. Akeel had quite a long line of little customers in pink leotards and tights as he happily told me that his social studies teacher Morgan Hall had conceived and coordinated this massive endeavor.

“Our pre-study of Morocco has led to a few surprises for these students,” Morgan Hall said as her students gathered on the Henry Street sidewalk for our magazine cover shot. Like?“Like not everyone in Africa is black.”
She thinks more.“And the parents and some of the faculty were surprised, too, that the fourth-most populated Muslim nation has no major travel advisories.” Morocco is, in fact, an important ally of the United States. In 2006 they celebrated 50 years of independence from France.

Ms. Hall, who came to the school from PS 16, knows firsthand what a difference a trip can make towards gaining global perspectives: She traveled to France during her teen years, and only then realized the United States was not the Center of the Universe. Also going are English teacher Chandler Wells, a preppy-looking young man fresh off a teaching gig at LaGuardia Commnity College, who has been to Morocco before, and Sofia Genao, who was born in Morocco. (One of the girls going, Soukayna Bentmim, was also born in Morocco, in Rabat.)

I look forward to seeing their trip photos, which we hope to print in the following issue and on LoHo10002.com. As for the younger students who did not get the chance to go, there is talk of more great trips (China, anyone?) down the pipe, but Morgan Hall laughs and says, “I’m ready to give the other staff members a chance to coordinate it all.” One footnote: any of our readers who can contribute to the trip is encouraged to do so via work opportunity or an outright donation. Please contact Ms. Hall at the Henry Street School of International Studies , 212.406.9411
http://www.grandstreetnews.com/scripts/grand/paper/Article.asp?ArticleID=653
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