Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
February 3, 2007

Awareness campaign targets hiring child maids.
By Sarah Touahri. 23/01/07

A nationwide campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of hiring child maids was launched in several Moroccan cities. The campaign is part of the Childhood National Action Plan adopted by the government last year. A month-long nationwide awareness campaign to prevent the employment of child maids has been launched in Morocco, part of a national project to raise awareness about the phenomenon.

"We hope that this campaign will raise public awareness of the dangers of this social problem, which is denying several thousand girls of their human rights and jeopardising them and their futures," Yasmina Baddou, the secretary of state for the Family, Childhood and the Disabled, told reporters on Friday (January19th) in Rabat.

Baddou said the campaign marks the beginning of project Inqad, which is part of the Childhood National Action Plan adopted by the government last year. The campaign, which runs from Monday through February 23rd, will feature a series of radio and television awareness and information spots. Discussion forums with a wide range of information materials targeted at people who employ child maids will be held in each of the four regions covered by the project -- Casablanca, Rabat, Fes and Marrakech. A publicity caravan will roam in the target cities, distributing awareness materials to families who employ child maids and families considered likely to contract their daughters to do domestic work.

It is difficult to estimate how prevalent the phenomenon is in Morocco since it happens within families, and there is a severe lack of statistical data on the employment of child maids. Human Rights Watch says there may be as many as 66,000 in Morocco. A study carried out in the Grand Casablanca region put the number of child maids in the city at 25,000.

The Inqad project aims to close the legal loophole in regards to employment of child maids. Current employment laws stipulate that children cannot be employed until they are 15. Although the employment of minors in work potentially hazardous to their health or lives is illegal, there are no established penalties for failure to comply. A new bill is being drafted to close these gaps in the law.

Prevention is therefore one of the main elements of the Inqad programme, which is intended to tackle the causes of the phenomenon. It will also target the network of intermediaries and encourage families in rural areas to send their daughters to school.

Sociologist Mohamed Bouchtaoui says there are many social and economic reasons for the phenomenon. "First of all there’s poverty and significant school drop-out rates in rural areas, which supplies the labour market with workers. Culture also plays a part -- a lot of families still favour sexist practices. Girls traditionally feel that they have to take care of the housework. The third factor is the legal loophole -- there is still no law on domestic work." Rkia Badie, 10, has been working in a house in Temara for six months. Although she says she is happy with the way her employers treat her, she says that she misses her family: "I would have liked to carry on studying at home with my family, but I have to help my parents."
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2007/01/23/feature-01
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Dam filling rate reaches 53%.
Casablanca, Jan. 29

The volume of waters stored in Morocco's forty-three dams has reached 8.45 billion square meters, that is a filling rate of 53%, against 43% in the same period of last year. A press release of the State Secretariat in charge of Water said this rate was reached thanks to the recent rain and snowfalls in the different parts of the country. The precipitation occurred after months of drought that struck Morocco in the current crop year, which compelled the government to announce, in mid-January, a program to counter the possible fallouts of rainfalls. By that date, the shortage in rain had already registered a 44% deficit than average.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/box5/dam_filling_rate_rea/view
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Ministry of Education, Intel launch Phase II of ‘Intel Teach Program’ in Morocco. 
Monday, January 29th

Intel Corporation and the Ministry of Education of Morocco has kicked off the year with a ceremonial signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to further develop ‘Intel Teach Program' launched in March 2006. This professional development training program is seen as an important step to provide teachers with 21st century teaching and learning skills and to integrate appropriate information and communication technology, teacher training, relevant content, and connectivity in the North African curriculum.

The signing occurred last week in Rabat in the presence of Morocco’s Minister of Education, His Excellency Habib El Malki and Intel’s World Wide Education Director Dr Brenda Musilli, and was witnessed by top educators, government officials and media. “Since the launch of ‘Intel Teach Program' last year, we are pleased to confirm that more then 120 Master teachers have completed the program and have started to teach the ICT skills and new curricula into regional academies,” said Dr. Brenda Musilli, Intel’s EMEA Director of Education. “As part of Phase II of ‘Intel Teach Program', the teachers will now have access to a pre service-level. MoE & Intel will train 3000 of the pedagogue & education pre-services teachers using the 80 hours training course over the next 12 months using the developed localized Moroccan version of the Intel Teach training manuals.”

Commenting on the collaboration to enhance Morocco’s education landscape, His Excellency M Habib El Malki said, “Working with companies such as Intel is paramount to enhancing our education infrastructure. This collaboration with Intel is set to help our students gain access to the global benefits of IT and to compete in the worldwide marketplace. We have a thriving youthful population and by injecting their education system with the latest tools and mechanisms, we can contribute further to the future of our economy,”

As part of Intel’s World Ahead Program launched last year, the company is investing more than $1 billion worldwide over the next five years in a broad new program to speed access to uncompromised technology and education for people in the world’s developing communities. Intel’s Dr Brenda Musilli also added that the development of the initiative was a sign of Intel’s commitment to education in Morocco.

“As part of Intel’s global strategy to close the digital divide, education remains a key focus for Intel and Intel Teach Program is one of the a professional development program to help both experienced teachers as well as pre-service teachers to integrate technology into teaching to enhance students’ learning and to develop higher-level thinking skills.”

The main aim of Intel Teach Program is to help students develop the thinking skills they will need in order to participate and succeed in a knowledge-based economy. Participating teachers receive extensive instruction and resources to promote effective technology use in the classroom. The teachers can learn how, when, and where to incorporate technology tools and resources into their lesson plans. They also experience new approaches to create assessment tools and align lessons with educational learning goals and standards. The program also incorporates use of the Internet, Web page design, and student projects as vehicles to powerful learning.

Established in 2000, the Intel Teach Program has changed the lives of teachers, and students, across 35 countries including those in the Middle East. The program offers strategies to develop digital literacy, creativity, higher-order thinking, communications and collaboration skills.
http://business.maktoob.com/itnew.asp?id=20070129012222
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Over USD 1.5bn tourism resort to be built South.
Rabat, Jan. 31

Egyptian company Orascom Hotels and Development (OHD) is to built a USD 1,165 bn tourism resort near the Southern city of Tan-Tan , under an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed, here Tuesday, with the Moroccan Government. The tourism complex to be built on the banks of the Chkiba river, some 50km of Tan-Tan, on the Atlantic Ocean, will include hotels with 4000 bed capacity and 7000 residences, in addition to leisure centers. The project will provide 4000 permanent jobs and will be built on 1500 plot land.

According to Moroccan Minister of Tourism, Handicraft and Social Economy, Adil Douiri, the technical studies of this "huge" project will be finalized in six months and the works will be launched in 2008. The first Hotel will open early 2011. ORASCOM Hotels and Development chairman, Samih Sawaris, underlined the tourism potential in Morocco and explained his group’s investing in the region by the “encouraging investment environment” in the North West African country and the climate in the region in addition to the security and stability in the kingdom.
With a land bank of over 91 million square meters and as a fully diversified tourism and real estate developer, OHD specializes in the development of fully self-sufficient destinations, complete with real-estate properties, hotels, marinas, golf courses, shopping centers, and restaurants.
It is also the primary designer, developer, contractor and marketing force behind the highly successful El Gouna (Red Sea, Egypt), Taba Heights (Sinai, Egypt), Tala Bay (Aqaba, Jordan) and The Cove (Ras El Khaimah, UAE) projects http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/box4/over_usd_1.5bn_touri/view
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EU to grant Morocco USD 50Mn to support energy sector reforms.
Brussels, Jan. 30

The European Union will grant Morocco USD 52Mn to support reforms in the energy sector. The grant is part of a EU program aiming to support reforms in the Moroccan energy sector, notably in natural gas, quality of products and energy demand, said, here Tuesday, Energy minister Mohammed Boutaleb at the end of a meeting with several European officials. The program, part of the European Neighborhood and partnership Instrument (2007-2010), is also meant to support Morocco's efforts in the sectors of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The program of energy cooperation with the European Union, noted Boutaleb, is part of a partnership approach aiming to "implement our strategy of energy sector reform, accompany our program to consolidate energy efficiency and secure energy supply in Morocco, which is linked through interconnections to the European Union’s."
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_economy/eu_to_grant_morocco/view
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Water shortage in Morocco, solution lies in desalination, Minister.
Fès (center), Jan. 30

Though possessing about a hundred water dams, Morocco is not spared from drought and needs thus to look for the appropriate means to face the repetitive drought years that have struck over the recent years, overexploitation of ground water tables and the growing deficit in water resources. The recipe seems to be the technology of desalination of seawater that abound in Morocco, according to Minister of Territory Development, Water and Environment, Mohamed El Yazghi, who was addressing on Monday a two-day regional debate on water held Monday in the central city of Fès. Back in November, Yazghi had warned against "the general belief that Morocco is spared from any possible water shortage, and that we can go ahead as if nothing has happened," making it clear however that "this is an erroneous and dangerous belief."

Morocco has to take advantage of the 3,500-km coasts (both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean) to secure the supply of its population with drinking water, the minister stressed on Monday, underlining that the north African country will be able, through this strategy, to take up the challenge of water shortage. Morocco has already gained a genuine experience in this field after setting up several desalination units in mainly those of Agadir, west and Tan Tan, southwest, but the experience of Spain could be of great help to us, he said. The European country has managed to boost key-sectors such as agriculture and tourism after the development of the seawater desalination technique.

Morocco has lately drawn up a plan to treat used waters, rationalize the use of this resource, preserve water richness and fight the abusive exploitation of ground water tables. Yazghi recalled that his department, in cooperation with the Interior Ministry, has sketched a national program of liquid water sanitation and purification, which will be ready by 2020.

Monday, the State Secretariat in charge of Water announced that the volume of waters stored in Moroccan dams has reached 8.45 billion square meters, that is a filling rate of 53%, against 43% in the same period of last year, thanks to the recent rain-showers and snowfalls that occurred after months of drought. A rainfall shortage of 44%, compared to average, has compelled the government to announce, in mid-January, a program to counter the possible fallouts of water deficit.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_social/water_shortage_in_mo/view
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Economic growth rate to stand at 3% in 2007, HCP.
Rabat, Feb. 1

The economic growth for 2007 is expected to reach 3% in the event of a medium crop year of 53Mn quintals, while inflation would be maintained at about 1.5%, High Commissioner for Planning said. According to the 2007 provisional economic budget the HCP has published recently, the economic perspectives for the current year omens an improvement of non-agricultural activities up to 5.5% in real terms against 5.2% in 2006.

The secondary sector, it wrote, is expected to increase 5.3% against 4.5% last year, while the tertiary sector would maintain its 5.6% rhythm. The primary will contribute 12.5% to the GDP in the current year, that is 1.9 point less than 2006. If the shortage of rainfalls, which stood, up to early January, at 44% in comparison to last year, continues till the spring, the growth rate will very likely be limited at 1.6%, HCP warned. Investment rate is due to reach some 29.9% in 2007, according to the new calculation, while national savings would stand at 33.4% of the GDP. The provisional budget is sketched according to the UN accountability system, which, since its implementation in 1993, has influenced all the macroeconomic indicators for the period 1998-2005.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_economy/economic_growth_rate/view
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Moroccan civil society and government try to help children at risk.
by Sarah Touahri  02/02/2007

Civil society and government agencies in Morocco are trying to take children off the streets, but resources are limited. In the backstreets of Rabat, children comb the streets and turn up at mosques and bakeries looking for charitable souls. Mohcine Zalafe, 10, is one of them. Over the past year he has become used to approaching passers-by next to the bus station in Rabat, looking sickly and pale-faced, and dressed in filthy clothes. "I can collect between 80 and 120 Dirhams a day," he says proudly.

"The older you get, the less people want to give you money," says his friend, 16-year-old Samir Bouchtaoui. The two boys are hardly ever separated. Mohcine’s mission is to collect as much money as possible and Samir undertakes to "protect" him from the other street children.

Up to now, there have been no precise statistics regarding the phenomenon of street children. In Casablanca, there are thought to be between 5,000 and 7,000 street children. In Morocco, there are around 25,000 according to the associations. "It’s difficult to get a clear picture of this phenomenon. Most of the children spend their time moving from place to place and from town to town, fleeing from the police, attackers and the eyes of society," says Omar Saadoun, street educator for 12 years with the Bayti association.

Sociologist Ahmed Chaabouni explains that the rupture of the family unit is at the heart of the street children phenomenon: the death of the father or mother, divorce, remarriage, poverty, irresponsible parenting. "There are many children who say they have run away because of the brutality of family members. The streets present an irresistible temptation for these young fugitives."

According to Claude Groshamp, general superintendent of the Moroccan Association for the Protection of Children in Danger (ADIM), civil society’s efforts remain limited in this field, despite major action taken by various associations. Curing addictions, reintegrating the children and returning them to education are the principal areas of action, despite the meagre funds available.

Groshamp says he tries to make contact with the children, to understand them and to give them guidance. "I give them food. I talk to them like an older brother, and I try not to make them feel they’re being blamed."

Many other associations try to brighten up the daily existence of these needy children.
In El Youssoufia, a working-class district of Rabat, the Shemsy association takes in several of these children in need; the centre has been open for decades. "To offer a calm place for child victims of delinquency to stay is one of the association’s priorities," explains Chairman Thourya Bouabid.

At the association’s headquarters, educators try to get the children reintegrated into school to rescue them from the grasp of vice. Those who are beyond school-leaving age receive professional training.

"An educator in an open setting is permanently out on the streets listening to children and talking them round. He is there not to judge them but to understand them. The parents are sometimes an obstacle to children being integrated, wanting their offspring to continue begging at any cost. The educators’ work is very difficult. On the ground, they must give their all to convince the children and those close to them of the benefits of children reintegrating," Bouabid says.

In the centre’s Arabic class, children listen to teacher, Mohamed Kanbaou. But some of them are distracted, and do not seem to pay much attention. Kanbaou admits that he encounters a lot of difficulties with these children, who require a different approach from the other pupils.

"The economic and social situations of these children cause us enormous difficulties. They lack concentration. Some even stop coming here. Before teaching them, we prepare them so that they can regain their self-confidence. But we must always keep a close eye on them," Kanbaou explains.

In the photo laboratory, children are learning to develop and print photographs which they took themselves with the help of their teacher. For many, it's their favourite activity. However, the place where all the children like to "take refuge" is undoubtedly the drama studio. That is where they learn to express themselves freely, to reveal their pain, suffering and also their hopes, all without fear.

From watching "halquas" (street performances), Krimou, one of the students, has proved to be gifted in improvising these shows. Before coming to the association, he had a stutter. But he soon managed to overcome this obstacle and now talks normally.

Bouabid explains that despite the civil society’s efforts, the financial resources are proving to be limited.
The state is trying to combat the phenomenon of street children. The first mobile unit in the emergency social services, essentially targeting street children, was formed last September in Casablanca, with the intention of being rolled out to all cities in Morocco. Five child protection units will be set up in Casablanca, Marrakech, Tangiers, Fez and Laâyoune, thanks to a special judicial framework.

According to the state secretariat with responsibility for families, children and the handicapped, the "idmaj" programme, which is part of the national childhood plan of action (2006-2015), aims at reintegrating street children, concentrating its work in the first stage on large- and medium-sized towns.

In Casablanca, the paramedic service patrols go out every other day. From 9pm to 5am, a mobile team combs the areas of Casa-port, the fishing port, Place Verdun, the Ancient Medina, Mers Sultan, Derb Omar and the Korea district, looking for children. First aid consists of Betadine antiseptic and sticking plasters for those who have injuries, in addition to psychiatric help. "As for the most serious cases, such as fractures, bronchitis attacks or major cuts, these are taken to hospital," explains Afifa Belghiti, director of the paramedic service.

With both the state and civil society involved in the effort to offer Morocco's street children a better reality, the onus is on families to provide these children protection and a sense of belonging. According to the Bayti NGO, which has been trying to reintegrate street children into their families and schools, the success of these efforts is contingent not only on financial support, but on a true partnership between the family, the school, the state, the NGO and the private sector. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/reportage/2007/02/02/reportage-01
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Morocco's GDP forecast downgraded.
02/02/2007

Morocco’s statistical institute (HCP) announced that expected economic growth for 2007 is 3%, downgrading its previous expectations of 3.6% due to a poorer agricultural harvest affected by drought, MAP reported on Thursday (February 1st). The forecast is based on a medium crop year and inflation of 1.5% in 2007 compared to 2006. HCP foresees strengthening of non-agricultural sectors by 5.5%, up from 5.2% in 2006. Given the poor forecasted agricultural harvest for 2007 and expectations of an increase in crude oil prices on international markets, inflation is more likely to remain in the 3-4% range, which will further depress real economic growth.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2007/02/02/newsbrief-05
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