Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
December 29 , 2007

Morocco's annual inflation to reach 2.1% in 2007.26/12/2007
Annual inflation in Morocco is expected to total 2.1% in 2007, compared to 3.3% in 2006, Morocco's central bank said Tuesday (December 25th). The bank also reported a decrease in the cost of living index to 1.4% in November compared to 3.5% during the same period in 2006, MAP reported. The bank warned that the inflation rate could rise due to the surge in oil prices and increases in food prices.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2007/12/26/newsbrief-05
-------------------------------------------------------------

Morocco pledges $160m for telecoms in 9,263 rural localities.
27 décembre 2007

The Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ANRT) said Wednesday that the four-year programme will cover two million people, accounting for 1.7 percent of the Moroccan rural population. Telecoms operators will provide telephone and internet services to these localities, with 50 percent of them being recipients to the National Human Development Initiative (INDH), which was launched in 2005 by King Mohamed VI. A total of 311 rural localities will benefit from community access projects for the year 2008, the sources added. These projects, which are worth 42 million dirham, will provide access to information and communication technologies to the inhabitants.

Another programme costing 1.1 billion dirham aims at equipping Morocco’s 8,600 schools with multimedia rooms having Internet connections by 2009. The project, which was launched in 2005, is billed to cover over 6 million students or 20 percent of Moroccans. The fist phase of the project has covered over a 1.5 million students, 38 of them in rural areas. It has created a total of 1,900 schools, 2,050 multimedia classrooms and 31 training centres. The second phase, which was launched in July, concerns 4,000 schools, with 2000 located in rural areas.
YB/od/pos/daj/APA 27-12-2007 © APA News
http://www.spcm.org/Journal/spip.php?breve5813
-------------------------------------------------------------

Princess Lala Amina calls for comprehensive AIDS prevention campaign, meeting .
Rabat, Dec. 28

"There should be a large-scale AIDS prevention campaign based on a participatory approach to generalize screening centers for high-risk people," said Chairwoman of the Pan-African Organization for the Fight against AIDS (OPALS), Princess Lala Amina. Speaking Thursday at a meeting to discuss the recommendations issued by the first national colloquium on "STDs and NGOs' role", Princess Lala Amina also called for a better use of media resources to target the youth in the anti-AIDS fight.

During this meeting, OPALS' Deputy President, Nadia Bezzad, gave an overview of the main recommendations that were devised during the colloquium organized last March. These recommendations touched mainly on supporting the efforts of the Health ministry and OPALS to carry out screening and awareness raising campaigns in Morocco.

For her part, Health minister, Yassmina Baddou hailed the efforts carried out by health professionals, urging them to further cooperate to fight against the epidemic.

AIDS prevalence in Morocco up to June 30 is estimated at 2,306 cases, 68% of which are within people aged 15 to 39. Some 1,500 HIV-infected people receive tri-therapy treatment thanks to Morocco’s 2007-2011 national strategy to fight AIDS/STD. The USD 47Mn strategy aims at raising the awareness of over a million persons, mainly high-risk populations, creating 150,000 screening centers and providing medical assistance 4,000 people by 2011.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_social/princess_lala_amina/view
-------------------------------------------------------------

Morocco set to create centers to cure women batterers, Minister.
Rabat, Dec. 20

Morocco is set to create special centers to cure women batterers and provide them with proper treatment, Moroccan Minister of Social Development, Family and Solidarity, Nouzha Skalli, said on Wednesday. Speaking at the House of Representatives' question time on violence against women, Ms. Skalli noted that women batterers are people who need a psychological treatment to help correct their behavior.

Violence against women does not only have a heavy cost in terms of health and economy but a negative impact on children and on the family as well, she went on, recalling that since the launch of a free crisis hotline for women, some 17,511 acts of violence against women were documented by crisis centers as of January 2007. These acts were perpetrated by 10,053 women batterers, 78.8 of whom are husbands, the minister added, noting that some 10,053 violence-related complaints have also been made, with an average of 838 complaints a month.

Touching on the legal provisions in favor of women that are meant to uproot violence, Ms. Skalli said a bill is being prepared to toughen these provisions and curb violence against women. Over the past years, Morocco has adopted a set of measures to slash forms of violence against women, launched crisis centers for battered women and conducted awareness campaigns. The latest campaign was launched on November 30 to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Dubbed the fifth National Campaign to eliminate violence against women, it revolved around "Mobilizing Youths to fight Violence against Women". http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/morocco_set_to_creat/view
------------------------------------------------------------------

Jewelry allowed Moroccan immigrant to start new life .
Penni Crabtree UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER  December 26, 2007

Jewelry has always adorned Nathalie Rachel Sherman's life. It sustains her Encinitas jewelry design business, provides a creative outlet and, in a way, helped shape her destiny. As a 6-year-old from Marrakech, Sherman immigrated with her parents to Los Angeles in 1973, fleeing the anti-Semitism that reduced Morocco's post-World War II Jewish population of 225,000 to its present 5,000 to 6,000.

To fund that flight and the subsequent rebuilding of their lives, Sherman's parents had to circumvent Morocco's strict currency laws, which forbid taking dirhams in or out of the country. So her parents converted all the cash they could into jewelry, which visiting family members periodically wore out of Morocco and stockpiled, to be reconverted into cash once the family made it to the United States.

“That's how we started life here – literally, with bangle bracelets,” said Sherman, whose Sophia & Chloe jewelry line is sold in 400 stores, boutiques and catalogs in 35 states and eight countries.

Paying homage to her parents and heritage, Sherman designed a jewelry series called Rock the Casbah, based on Moroccan henna tattoos, whose arabesque designs amount to a symbolic language. Even her serious-minded father, who died this year, had to smile.“My parents were huge on education. Their feeling was that if you are lucky enough to get one, you better do something serious with it – which didn't include 'art' things like what I do now,” Sherman said with a laugh. “But my dad really liked it. It took a long time for him to wrap his mind around it, but once he saw what was happening, saw the catalogs and the pieces, he thought it was cool.”

Sherman's light, sometimes whimsical, jewelry, which utilizes both wire-wrap and traditional casting techniques, is made with semiprecious stones, freshwater pearls, gold and silver. Prices range from $48 for a pair of earrings to $900 for certain necklaces.

Today, she sells about 500 pieces per month, and her designs have been featured in national and regional magazines, including InStyle, Modern Bride, California Apparel News and Riviera Magazine.

Though Sherman said she was always a design “doodler,” she planned to be an attorney. But law school was sidelined by a car accident, and while Sherman recovered, she took a temporary job as a paralegal. The experience taught her that she didn't want to be a lawyer. Instead, she carried on as a paralegal until 1997, when she gave birth to her first daughter, Sophia, and began her jewelry “hobby.”

By 1999, when her second daughter, Chloe, was born, Sherman had a full-fledged business – and the joint inspiration behind her business's name – on her hands. Things accelerated in 2003, when Sherman was accepted to New York's prestigious ENK accessory trade show, which features more than 500 designers and attracts jewelry buyers from all over the world.

“It is tough to get accepted. You have to submit your designs to a jury, so I was fully expecting not to get an invitation,” Sherman said. “But before I knew it I was on my way to New York, scared out of my mind.” Sherman needn't have worried, her loyal clients say.
“I go to all the jewelry trade shows and everything looks the same – I mean, how many turquoise single-strand necklaces can you possibly buy?” said Paula Gould, owner of Gale Grant, a New York City boutique that carries the Sophia & Chloe line. “But Nathalie's pieces are totally different, very unique, and the quality is fabulous.”
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20071226-9999-lz1mc26jewel.html
-------------------------------------------------------------

World Bank study examines how Moroccans get rid of poverty.
Washington, Dec. 20

Larger and/or prosperous urban communities provide more opportunities and services for the poor to get rid of poverty, according to a World Bank study on how Moroccans escape this plight posted on Wednesday on the institution's bank web site. The study, which was carried out by a Moroccan team over the last decade, found that the ability of households to diversify their resources depends mainly on the economic opportunities of the community where they live, which in turn is linked to "the size of the communities as well as to their relatively better infrastructure and services."

The study also established links between the proportion of the poor in a community and the latter's ability to move out of poverty. "Communities with the most movement out of poverty had relatively larger populations of non-poor,” it said, affirming that the reverse is true. Titled “Moving Out of Poverty in Morocco” the study, which was conducted on nine communities, was meant to understand the combination of individual, familial, community and national factors that would help the population move out of poverty.

The study stressed that diversifying income resources is a major strategy for households and communities to move out and remain out of poverty. It cited such choices as national and international migration and increases the demands for goods and services in the community. According to the same source, access to micro-credits, education and the existence of social infrastructures and services are instrumental to welfare both in households and in communities, while the economic role of women has proven to be decisive for the family.

The document warns, however, that the absence of formal safety nets could draw the household into what it called “downward mobility”, that is falling into poverty. Formal safety nets include insurance, social assistance and affordable healthcare. Poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon that involves several forms exclusion - “from services, from important social networks, and from power, while well-being depends not only on income but feelings of inclusion and dignity,” the study concluded.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/world_bank_study_exa/view
-------------------------------------------------------------

Youth can counter extremism with culture, hope.
By Mawassi Lahcen 14/12/2007

Head of the National Centre for Strategic Studies in Rabat, Mohamed Benhamou, talks to Magharebia about the role of Moroccan youth in building their future and countering extremism. Head of the National Centre for Strategic Studies in Rabat Mohamed Benhamou spoke with Magharebia about the role of youth, culture and society in combating the appeal of extremism. Benhamou said youth today lack confidence in themselves and their society and are insufficiently involved in public life. He suggested international partnerships, economic development and greater youth involvement to create an environment capable of stopping extremism and terrorism.

Magharebia: When we talk about the realities of young people in our country, we hear not only about their negativism, lack of participation and indifference to public affairs, but also of the increasing risk of their developing links to terrorism and extremism. How do you diagnose this regrettable reality?
Mohamed Benhamou: These matters are not restricted to Moroccan society alone. Rather, all contemporary societies experience such phenomena in varying degrees based on the peculiarities of each society.

For the young men in our region, the future is no longer clear, whether in terms of finding a job, starting a family or securing a decent living. Because of this, there is a major lack of social involvement and an absence of youth involvement in institutions, whether in terms of political parties or civil society organisations.

Even the role of education within the family and school, upon which we depend to play an essential role in social integration and in instilling the values of consensus and coexistence, and through them, the values of citizenship and democracy, has been restricted to a great extent by the difficulty of life. This strips education of the important place it deserves.

This lack of involvement perpetuates youths' abstention from participation in public life and in the affairs of their society.

Confidence and hope are essential for youth; confidence in oneself, confidence in the country where they live, confidence and hope in the future and in society. In the absence of this confidence and this hope, youth are put in a weak position, psychologically, intellectually, culturally or in material, economic and social aspects.

Magharebia: Would you say that lack of confidence is the door through which extremism and terrorism enter?
Benhamou: The issue should not be restricted to religious extremism alone. Youth today are experiencing several shocks that make them undergo a stage of self-searching. We have to deliver the youth from this tunnel and out of the state of disorientation in which they live. The thing that we should fear the most is that the youth fall into a crisis of identity. They can go through the experience of self-searching in a healthy and positive way, in which they form and build themselves, but the crisis of identity can also be a door for all forms of extremism. The issue at hand is: how can youth live in a state of peace and co-existence with their national identity and at the same time be involved in the modern world with its global values?

Magharebia: How can we protect the youth and boost their immunity against extremism?
Benhamou: I think we must reconsider the mechanism of communication between the state and society. We can't respond to the expectations, needs and aspirations of youth without the youth themselves.

What we need to do is to see with the youth what we can do together. What we need today is to reinstate the role of education in instilling the values of consensus, co-existence, citizenship, democracy, participation and responsibility. In this way, we will be able to turn these young people into positive, effective citizens who contribute to the building of their countries.

Our young people today live in a state of anticipation. This anticipation can't in any way serve the interests of young people or the interests of their country. The future doesn't just wait; it has to be built. What our young people need today is a feeling of peace with themselves, confidence in the future, and a feeling that this future can be built only here and only with them.

Magharebia: How much has Morocco been able to contain and control religious extremism?
Benhamou: I think Morocco is about to do just that. We are faced with a social phenomenon that requires a comprehensive solution in order to stop. Before religious extremism, our region knew leftist ideological extremism, whether Marxist or Leninist or otherwise. This extremism was a social phenomenon with a political expression. Today, we are faced with a social phenomenon that is represented in religious extremism. However, this phenomenon has not yet fully turned into a political phenomenon. I think it will gradually disappear. But we have to work hard towards that end, and we certainly need to create a suitable environment for stopping it. If such an environment is not created via culture, media, a suitable economic-political response, and the reduction of social fragility, we won't be able to stop it.

Magharebia: Is the security approach effective in confronting extremism?
Benhamou: The security approach alone is not sufficient. The security side can manage the results and consequences of the phenomenon, and may pre-empt some of its causes. However, I think that the response today must be focused on the causes rather than the results. The causes are multiple. However, economic and social fragility is one of the most important causes. The terrorist phenomenon is an external, trans-national phenomenon, and it needs answers not only from us. The issues of security and stability are not restricted to Morocco alone, but are of concern to all the countries in the region, and even European countries. They are also of concern to the Americans. No one has an interest in the instability or fragility of a nearby, stable country. We live in a continent that has been, unfortunately, torn by civil war, where many countries have collapsed. We live in an area that has been invaded by extremist and terrorist groups on the one hand, and by organized international crime in the field of drug trafficking, secret immigration and smuggling of light weapons, on the other hand. We are thus living in a stage of interconnection among criminal gangs and terrorist groups. Solutions must be comprehensive, and they can't be implemented except through international partnerships in the framework of respect for the sovereignty of states, respect of their choices, and consultations among all the countries concerned. I think this partnership can produce a Marshal-like plan for economic and social development.

Work that is done today in Morocco will bear fruit in the long run, but the patience of society has limits. Therefore, any support in this field would accelerate the results, and would reduce the chance of losing patience.

Magharebia: How do you see the future of Morocco, with its numerous open reforms?
Benhamou: I think that the future is being prepared in a good way, and confidence is starting to be gradually established. Morocco is characterized by its smooth transition from the democratic transition stage to the democratic consolidation stage. Now, with regular elections, the political regime's openness to the democratic game and developments in the media, we can say that there is a generally conducive environment. We have to support this environment with robust social and economic conditions.

We know that extremist ideology gains ground when the targeted parties, the young people, are in a shaky, unstable economic, social and psychological condition. When young people are in a state of need, they become easy prey. Morocco is doing a lot, but we can't just expect the state to do everything.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/reportage/2007/12/14/reportage-01
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Moroccan government seeks to promote employment.
27/12/2007By Sarah Touahri

This week's High Council on Employment provided an opportunity for Moroccan employers, labour leaders and government officials to assess the progress of three distinct job-creation programmes. As part of its campaign pledge to create 200,000 new jobs by the end of 2008, the new Moroccan government organised the first meeting of the High Council for the Promotion of Employment on December 24th-25th. The Council is an institutional framework for dialogue between the government, employers and trade unions.

Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi said dialogue between the government, business partners, employers and labour is the best way to implement effective strategies for economic and social development. The government’s goal, he said, is to "bring national unemployment down to 7% by 2012." Measures include "promoting investment, employ[ing] young people and improving the business environment", he said.

The meeting provided an opportunity to assess the state of the job market and evaluate three separate plans for creating the new jobs, Minister of Employment and Vocational Training Jamal Ghmani explained. Through the "Taahil" initiative, which is intended to adapt training to the needs of the job market, 12,000 new opportunities have been identified. Following agreements between the National Agency for the Promotion of Employment and Skills (ANAPEC) and the Office for Vocational Training and the Promotion of Employment, nearly 17,000 graduates are expected to be trained by 2009.

The "Idmaj" programme surpassed expectations by finding positions for nearly 73,000 jobseekers by the end of December 2007. The plan calls for helping a total of 105,000 jobseekers over the next three years.

Under the third plan, or "Moukawalati", over 9,560 people have been selected from 14,000 applicants and 2,693 employment-generating projects have been submitted to banks for funding. Moroccan Professional Banking Group chief El Hadi Chaibanou says that his organisation intends to make the procedures for accessing credit under Moukawalati easier by improving communication and providing support during the application process.

Ghmani emphasized that for the three schemes to succeed, procedures need to be clarified and entrepreneurial spirit among young graduates must be encouraged.

Moreover, as part of any initiatives, it is essential for the Labour Code to be enforced and observed, trade unionist Abdelkarim Al Aziz of the Democratic Labour Confederation noted. The High Council recommended establishing complementary incentives to employ graduates who have been seeking jobs for a long period, taking their length of unemployment into account. It also advocated close monitoring of the Idmaj and Taahil schemes and called on the State to pay some or all of the welfare contributions for people benefiting from these programmes.

The Council also resolved to acquire the necessary logistical means to study employment opportunities in the private, public and semi-public sectors.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2007/12/27/feature-01
--------------------------------------------------------------------

New report addresses causes of sex tourism in Morocco .
By Naoufel Cherkaoui 28/12/2007

A recently published report reveals causes of the sex tourism industry in Morocco and suggests several ways to combat the phenomenon. The International Coalition for Responsible and Respectful Tourism published a report early this month on the resurgence of Morocco's sex tourism industry, uncovering numerous causes of the phenomenon and proposing solutions. The report, compiled by coalition goodwill ambassador Khalid Semmouni, indicates close links between sex tourism, globalisation and the opening of borders, adding that people are attracted by what they perceived as exotic.

Poverty and exclusion are also among the causes, and have contributed to the prevalence of prostitution in Morocco. Other causes cited by the report include the violation of children’s socio-economic rights; a lack of public education on sex and human rights, especially for children; the disintegration of family structures; domestic abuse and a lack of responsibility on the part of schools.

The report also mentioned the lenience of Morocco's legislation on child rape and the lack of a national action plan to protect children from violence. It states that sex tourism is in violation of existing international agreements which Morocco has ratified, namely the 1949 Convention against the sexual exploitation of women, CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women) and the Convention on Child Rights.

The report also points to legal gaps and loopholes and proposes that the Penal Code be strengthened to more effectively counter the sexual abuse of women and children.

The solutions put forward include the adoption of adapted legislation to bolster children's protections, the use of media to inform the public and alert families to the dangers of prostitution and the sex trade's impact on society, and also the organisation of trainings for members of the judiciary to guarantee faster responses to young people's needs.

Semmouni told Magharebia that "this problem also exists in other Arab countries, but it is much more severe in Morocco, since this country is open to the West and also due to its geographical position." Semmouni proposed that all tourists found guilty of paedophilia in Morocco should be banned from returning. He also advocated the creation of a vice squad to monitor tourist activity from a distance and intervene where necessary.

Najat Anwar, president of the NGO "Don’t Touch My Child", told Magharebia: "We need to establish a partnership with international NGOs and authorities such as ECPAT and INTERPOL to detect, condemn and prevent harm to Moroccan children by criminal tourists who travel to our country to satisfy their desires." She added that "at the national level, our association has found that foreign paedophiles no longer enjoy the 'tourist immunity' they once had, and are just as liable to be punished as Moroccan paedophiles."

Despite far-reaching government efforts, including the creation of tourism police in Marrakesh in 1994 and the conviction of over 40 tourists for paedophilia and prostitution offences since 2001, human rights activists in the country insist that Morocco still has a long way to go to eradicate the problem.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2007/12/28/feature-01
-------------------------------------------------------------

Italy grants Morocco nearly Euro 2Mn to fund social projects for children.
Rabat, Dec.18

Italy will grant Morocco Euro 1.83Mn to fund a pilot project dubbed "Solidarity with the Children of Morocco" (French acronym Salem), a press release of the Ministry of Social Development, Family and Solidarity said on Tuesday. This project is meant to "strengthen operational capacity of the Entraide Nationale (national mutual aid), promote local competences and build up a protection system of minors who are vulnerable to illegal migration and slavery."

It also touches on developing existing facilities dedicated to children, providing vocational training for local social actors and setting up counseling services in favor of the minors and their families. The agreement, which draws inspiration from the principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and of the founding treaty of the international Labor Organization (ILO), will be implemented in the central region of Khouribga. http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/italy_grants_morocco/view
-------------------------------------------------------------

CCDH chairman calls for adopting human rights approach to fight poverty.
Rabat, Dec.10

Chairman of the Advisory Council for Human Rights (CCDH), Ahmed Herzenni, called on Monday for adopting a human rights approach to set up policies and programs aiming to fight poverty. Speaking during a seminar on "Legal Enabling of the Poor", Mr. Herzenni stressed the need for adopting policies based on equality and social justice, underlining that the best way to fight poverty lies in respecting social, economic, civil and political human rights.

This meeting means to draw up anti-poverty proposals to guarantee the rights to property and work, and encourage the creation of productive and economic activities under the law, Mr. Herzenni went on to say.He also noted that the respect of human rights requires observing the principles of equality and non-discrimination, and attaching a particular interest to people with special needs or those living in a precarious situation.

For his part, the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Morocco, Mourad Wahba said the initiative of the United Nations Higher Commission for the integration of the poor will draw up new recommendations to fight poverty, through a number of measures aiming at strengthening the rights of property and work and granting a broader access to Justice.

Fighting poverty and achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), depend on the governments’ actions and the interest attached to citizens and especially the poor, he added.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/ccdh_chairman_calls/view
-------------------------------------------------------------

Nearly 5000 cases of violence against women in Morocco in 2007, report.
Rabat, Dec.10

A total of 4799 cases of violence against women were reported in 2007, according to Moroccan NGO, Union de l'action feminine (the Union of Women's Action, UAF). In a report, presented at a press conference, the UAF said physical abuses top the list with 1436 cases (30%), followed by refusal of alimony: 759 cases (16%), expulsion from the matrimonial home: 608 cases (13%) , psychological violence: 515 cases (11%), and single mothers: 395 cases (8%). The other cases concern divorce: 199 (4%), children not registered in the civil status: 175 (4%), abandoned families: 157 (3%), home leaving, 155: (3%), and finally sexual harassment with 90 reported cases (2%).

A report on the first half of 2007, released recently by another Moroccan NGO, la Ligue democratique des droits de la femme (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. http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/nearly_5000_cases_of/view
##########################################################

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.