Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
June 2 , 2007

Interview with El Habib Nadir, a leader in Morocco’s campaign against illiteracy.
Interview by Sarah Touahri – 27/05/2007

The Moroccan government has published the findings of the first comprehensive survey conducted on literacy in the country. Illiteracy levels have dropped from 43% in 2004 to 38.45% in 2006. El Habib Nadir tells Magharebia about the programme responsible for the progress. Morocco released the results of its first nationwide survey on literacy recently, uncovering some positive results. Data indicate illiteracy levels have dropped from 43% in 2004 to 38.45% in 2006, an improvement that could boost Morocco’s placement in international rankings. El Habib Nadir is Director of the responsible agency, the National Campaign Against Illiteracy, a bureau under the Secretary of State for Literacy and Informal Education.

Magharebia: You recently (April 26th) carried out a significant national survey on literacy in Morocco. What makes it significant?
El Habib Nadir: The study is significant because it is the first of its kind. This is the first time that Morocco has carried out such an exhaustive survey on the illiteracy phenomenon in Morocco, as well as on school enrolment and participation.

The study had multiple objectives: to provide reliable data on the state of illiteracy, of non-schooling and reduced schooling; to identify the principal factors underpinning these phenomena; to create a profile and identify the needs of target groups in the fields of illiteracy and non-formal education; and finally, to gain insight into the negative impact on both adults and children of a lack of access to education by examining attitudes and behaviour. The ultimate aim is to apply knowledge of the reality of the situation by setting up programmes and action plans which focus on our target groups.

Magharebia: What are the most salient findings of the survey?
Nadir: Several statistics have proved significant. The drop in the illiteracy rate in the population aged 10 years and older from 43% in 2004 to 38.45% in 2006 marks a decrease of 4.5% over two years. This demonstrates the effectiveness of the government’s strategy and approach. This outcome is due in part to the very widespread increase in the number of people receiving assistance from literacy programmes these past few years. To illustrate this point, the number of beneficiaries over the last 4 years (2002 to 2006) was more than 2 million, which is the same number of people who received support during the 20 years preceding 2002 (1981 to 2001)… the rate of change has greatly improved.

Another key statistic concerns non-schooling: today only 15% of children between 9 and 14 years old are entirely outside the school system. This situation has also been improved by government efforts to make schooling more generally available. The drop in illiteracy rates has been more noticeable in women than in men. [Also] notable are the illiteracy rates amongst workers and employees in certain fields of activity: 60% in agriculture, 30% in the trades, 27% in the service industry and 22% in public administration and the local community sector.

Magharebia: How does the government intend to eradicate illiteracy in light of the survey results?
Nadir: Bearing in mind these encouraging results, which show our present strategy and approach to be effective, current efforts should be pursued to consolidate the gains indicated and to increase the pace of concrete change. We must target specific populations and zones for intervention. One general direction suggested by the survey is that we need to carry out research in order to secure help from as great a number of partners as possible. The National Initiative for Human Development (NIHD, launched by the king in 2005) would also be an appropriate place to look for support in the development of an effective and integrated action plan.

Magharebia: What schemes are underway to combat these issues?
Nadir: Currently, we are working with 4 action plans in the field: a general programme, managed by staff working in national education; a public services programme, managed by various Ministries (Islamic Affairs, National Development, Fisheries, Justice, Agriculture, Youth); a civil society programme, run in partnership with NGOs; and a private enterprise programme targeting employees within that sector.

At present, more than 670,000 beneficiaries are enrolled in the various programmes across the country.
For more information you can consult our official website: www.alpha.gov.ma.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2007/05/27/feature-01
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80% of Moroccan youth know of AIDS, survey.
Rabat, May 30

The preliminary results of the "National Multiple Indicator Survey and Youth's Health", released here Tuesday, showed that 80% of Moroccan youth know of the existence of AIDS, and 24% among them are reluctant to live with an HIV-positive member of the family. The findings of the survey, which was conducted over the last quarter of 2006 on 5,207 youth aged 15 to 24, and 3,721 under 5-s children, also found that 57% of Moroccan households do not have access to iodinated salt, and 85,2% get drinking water from improved supply sources, while some 81,3% of households use improved sanitation means.

According to the survey, 67,8% of the children aged over 6 go to school or did, and 84% of the school age children study in the first year of the primary. The survey revealed that 13% of the 15 to 24-year-olds have never been to school. 5% of them regularly read a newspaper or a magazine, while 30% listen to the radio and 80% watch the television every day.

Regarding the breeding of the children aged 0 to 5 months, the results showed that 15% benefit from exclusive breast-feeding, while 93% of the children aged 0 to 59 months benefited from breast-feeding, and 56% of the children aged between 12 and 15 months continued to benefit from exclusive breast-feeding. 77% of the respondents aged 15 to 24 declared that the use of contraceptives should be based on the approval of the partner. The survey also found that 85,4% of the respondents do not smoke.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/box5/80_of_moroccan_yout/view
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Eighteen per cent of Moroccans are smokers, 2006 study.
Rabat, May 30

Eighteen per cent of Moroccans aged 15 to 75 smoke tobacco, revealed a study conducted recently on 1,197 people on the prevalence of tobacco smoking. The figures, which were released on the occasion of the World No Tobacco Day, celebrated on May 31, also revealed that the average age of smokers is 17.6, and that 60% of them are aged between 20 and 39 years. The study said 14.5% of cigarette consumers are daily smokers, while 3.5% smoke occasionally. 41.7% of respondents are passive smokers, the study went on to say, adding that 90% of them admit that tobacco dangerously harms health.

On the same occasion, Princess Lalla Salma, (spouse of King Mohammed VI) chairwoman of the Lalla Salma Association Against Cancer (ALSC) presided over the launch of the pilot program "Tobacco-Free Schools, High Schools and Businesses." Due to kick off this June, the two-fold program aims to prevent tobacco in schools and in professional environments, and to incite schoolboys and girls as well as employees to quit smoking.

The program extends on three years and is meant to contribute to the actions undertaken, and to raise the awareness of the youth as to the harmful effects of tobacco smoking. It ultimately aims to create and promote tobacco-free workplaces and public spaces.

The ALSC strategy in fighting cancer aims, at a first stage, to prevent tobacco smoking among school populations, mainly through encouraging the implementation of the anti-tobacco act in schools, high schools and businesses. The act, which was passed in 1995, forbids smoking in public areas. According to the figures of the World Health Organization, the world counts 1.3 billion smokers, of whom 5 million die every year, that is 9.5 people every minute. The WHO warns that if such a tendency continues in the same course, tobacco death toll would double by 2020.

Speaking on the occasion, chairman of the national order of physicians, and chairman of the scientific commission of the ALSC, Prof. Moulay Tahar Alaoui said this insidious activity is responsible for several illnesses, especially oropharynx cancers, larynx, oesophagus, bladder, kidney and cervical cancers. He also quoted a WHO study that establishes strong links between passive smoking and the occurrence of cancers, respiratory diseases, asthma in children…
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/eighteen_per_cent_of/view
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IBRD lends Morocco USD 100Mn to improve energy security.
Washington, May 30

The World Bank's Board of Directors approved, here Tuesday, a USD-100Mn loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) to Morocco destined to improving energy security, a press release of the bank announced. The loan is aimed at supporting the North African country to improve energy security through the development of national energy sources, the efficient use of energy and the elaboration of a strategy of energy import in the long term.

The same source added that the loan also aims at boosting competition in the energy market through a regional integration system, liberalizing the national market of high-voltage electricity, the opening of the oil market and the reduction of the government's subsidies to oil products. The loan, to be paid over 17 years, includes a 4-year grace period. For more information, please call Dina Mohamed Samir El Naggar at (202) 473-3245or email: delnaggar@worldbank.org
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_economy/ibrd_lends_morocco_u/view
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New 26k TB cases diagnosed in Morocco every year, Minister.
Casablanca, May 29

Some 26.000 tuberculosis cases are diagnosed in Morocco each year, revealed, here Tuesday, Minister of Health, Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah. Seventy percent of TB cases are registered in the most populous and urban areas, said the minister during the signing ceremony of a convention to support the fight against AIDS and tuberculosis, between the ministry and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. A national strategic plan has been launched to curb the prevalence of tuberculosis during the period 2006-2015, added Mr. Biadillah.

TB is among the leading causes of death in the world. Five millions cases are detected every year.
The fight against AIDS and tuberculosis is considered a top priority for Morocco, the minister noted, recalling the 2007-2011 national strategic plan to fight AIDS/STDs.

Ambitious, yet realistic, this plan is considered a landmark in the fight against this epidemic, the Moroccan minister said. It aims to give underprivileged populations access to prevention and care programs and set up a psychological support system, he went on to say.

AIDS prevalence in Morocco is estimated at 2,169 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 strategic plan to fight AIDS/STD.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/new_26k_tb_cases_dia/view
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Almost 2,000 private schools in Morocco.
Beni Mellal (center), May 26

Morocco counts 1,815 private schools and institutes, providing education for 6% of the country's pupils and students. According to figures revealed at the second national forum of the League of Private Education in Morocco, 460,000 new students were enrolled in private education institutions in the academic year 2005-2006. The statistics also reveal that the sector provides 56,580 jobs, including 48,800 teachers and administrative officers.

Stressing on the "qualitative" and "quantitative" boom registered in the field, chairman of the league, Mohamed Taleb called for more incentives to enable the private education institutions take up the challenge of receiving 20% of students by 2015. Private school and institutions had signed a framework agreement with the government that provides for overhauling the sector, especially through offering incentives that include mainly exemption from import taxes and access to the investment promotion funds.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/almost_2000_private/view
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Morocco will count 38 Million inhabitants by 2030, official.
Rabat, May

Morocco's population will count 38 million inhabitants in 2030 from 30 millions in 2005, that is a population growth of 300,000 per annum, revealed, here Tuesday, High Commissioner for Planning Ahmed Lahlimi. Speaking at a conference on "Morocco 2030", part of a series of meetings organized by the Moroccan Diplomatic Club, Mr. Lahlimi said that Morocco is undergoing an "advanced demographic transition" characterized by an inverted age pyramid.

Young population (0-15) is to drop from 8 millions in 2005 to 7millions in 2030, Mr. Lahlmi said, adding that the percentage of people aged 3 to 22 would also drop from 42% in 2005 to 28.6% in 2030, which, he emphasized, requires a thorough reconsidering of the educational system that targets this age group. Life expectancy will go up to 77 (from 74 in 2004), noted Mr. Lahlimi, adding that here will be 5.8 Million people aged 60 and over. This, he warned, could be a source of poverty and precariousness. According to the HCP, Morocco is to witness an accelerated urbanization, as city dwellers will increase from 16.4 millions (in 2004) to 24.4 millions in 2030 while rural population will drop to around 13.6 millions.

Temperature in Morocco is projected to rise 0.6 to 1.1C° per decade by the end of the century, noted Mr. Lahlimi, explaining that such a change will be characterized by more frequent droughts and less rainfall (by 4%). He underlined that such a climate change will bring about new phenomena, such as the silting up of dams and the degradation of the vegetal cover and the lives of populations in arid and semi arid zones. It will also aggravate poverty and rural exodus. Morocco should mobilize in order to counter the effects resulting from the “big climate changes” the world is witnessing, the HCP stated. He also said Morocco has, since 2000, opted for a dynamic approach to raise growth rate to 6%, with a special interest in the rural world, good governance and human resources training.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/moroccan_population/view
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hosts photographs exhibition on Moroccan Gnaoua musicians.
Paris, May 29

The Paris-based "Arab World Institute" is hosting an exhibition of Photographs of French artists Augustin Le Gall and Virgile Jourdan under the theme "Memoire d'eux Gnaoua" ( Memory of them Gnaoua). According to the two French artists, the exhibition, to last until June 30, invites the public to discover the Moroccan Gnaoua musicians' mystical world through their photographic looks. It also aims at restituting and developing living arts, and provides an opportunity to set a photographic poetry to Gnaoua festivals such as Essaouira's , the core of Gnaoua music.

This exhibition is the fruit of a photographic and an ethnographic journey which led Le Gall and Jourdan to all Moroccan regions where specialized bands of this kind of music exist.

The Gnaoua are the descendents of slaves originating from Black Africa who established brotherhoods throughout Morocco. They are made up of master musicians (maâlem), and metal castanet players, and traditionally they were healers, blending African and Arabo-Berber customs. Despite being Muslims, the Gnaoua based their ritual on djinn (spirits) straight from the African cult of possession and the most spectacular and important ceremony was the Lila, whose function is essentially therapeutic. Their instruments consist of 3 stringed percussive lute (guembri), large metal castanets (qraqeb) and drums (ganga).

Nowadays, they are an integral part of society, performing healing trance music for births, weddings, and other events and entertaining tourists all over Morocco. A resurgence of interest in these traditional customs has occurred thanks primarily to the Essaouira Gnaoua Festival, a beautiful coastal town where many Gnaoua were relocated to by the late Hassan II in order to build the arts community there.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_culture/paris_hosts_photogra/view
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High in Morocco's mountains.
The Sunday Times.   May 27, 2007
There’s solitude high up in the Atlas Mountains – only your guide, your mule and a few excited locals will know you’re there.

The back of beyond used to be easy to find. It was a village called Imlil, a 90-minute drive out of Marrakesh. From there, you trekked up Jebel Toubkal, North Africa’s highest mountain, to see something of the great unknown. Sleeping options were simple, too: either bring your own sleeping bag or throw down Berber blankets.

Cheap flights and Marrakesh’s racing popularity have changed things. Villages that could not be reached by road in the 1990s are now accessible by car and studded with television antennae. Richard Branson owns a kasbah in the shadow of the mountain. Toubkal has become the great known.

So, where to go without fear of bumping into your neighbour? People told me I should look up a mountain called M’Goun. At 13,356ft, just 309ft short of Jebel Toubkal, M’Goun still feels remote. It’s not much more than 100 miles from Marrakesh, but it can take the best part of a day to get there – especially if, like us, you linger over breakfast in your riad and stop for lunch at the Cascades d’Ouzoud, memorable for the daring of the Barbary apes and the beauty of the waterfalls.

By the time we wound up towards the M’Goun peak, late sun was bronzing the foothills of the Atlas. Below was a vision of such extraordinary calm and beauty that we stopped to stare: an enchanted valley hemmed in by precipitous mountains, its green floor embroidered with a broad, meandering thread of gold.

“Welcome to the happy valley,” said our guide, Mohamed Aztat, when we stepped out into this Arcadian landscape next morning. We were two families – two couples and four children aged from 7 to 14 – and ahead of us was a four-day walk up the valley and over the shoulder of M’Goun’s lower slopes. Families Worldwide, which runs this trip, rates it as a medium challenge – there are some long walks, but no sheer climbs.

There are places where the notion of trekking with children is a nightmare, but Morocco shouldn’t be one of them. No country I know is so well set up for family adventures. The secret lies in the simplicity of the arrangements – and the availability of mules.

In the mountains here, these beasts are the only viable way to carry loads, so the more remote you are, the easier it is to find four-legged transport. What’s more, muleteers find lugging camping gear for walkers a good earner, and a break from the drudgery of carting supplies for locals. Our muleteers were especially happy, as we’d arranged for their mules to be lightly loaded so they could also carry tired children.

We spent the night in Agouti, the sort of village where nothing stirs between sundown and sunrise. Our gîte was basic but manageable. As in the old Toubkal days, we slept on mattresses on the floor.

Next morning, while the mules were loaded, we walked ahead along a track that followed the Ait Bougmez river. The valley was hemmed in by sheer rocks, but ascents were gentle and our trickiest challenge was to cross the river as it swung across the plain. Hopping over stepping stones kept the kids amused, and the sure-footed Mohamed Aztat ensured they made it without mishap.

By mid-morning the sun had warmed the valley, and the younger children were beginning to tire. Right on cue, the mules caught up and the kids climbed on. There were no saddles, but our mattresses, laid over the mules’ wicker baskets, made for a cushy ride, and the children’s spirits revived as they moved ahead of us.

A couple of hours later, we found them throwing sticks into the river, the mules unloaded, mattresses spread, and the cook preparing a lunch of salads, eggs, tuna and bread. We were less than 48 hours from home, yet already in remote, mountainous Morocco. The landscape changed repeatedly during our walk that afternoon. At times, we clambered through narrow gorges with barely space for a path between the river and the rock walls that contained it. At others, we spread out across broad, green fields, beneath trees that Mohamed identified as walnut and juniper.

As the sun dipped soft and low, we began a steep final pull up to Rougoult, and the children’s weariness disappeared as they realised that this village had no gîte – we would be camping. No camp site, either, so we pitched the tents in an idyllic, tree-trimmed spot near the river. Local kids came to watch, and the various children eyed each other while Mohamed unveiled the first of his surprises, a large mess tent. It could rain at any time up here, and he knew from experience that nothing made foreign walkers more miserable than ending a long day with a damp dinner. After we’d eaten, he revealed the second neat touch, the “bathroom” – a small, man-sized tent with a toilet seat and a long drop.

There was something unexpectedly satisfying about walking up out of the Ait Bougmez valley the next day. I had been prepared for the beauty, the wildness, the challenge of climbing long slopes on city legs. But I hadn’t anticipated the fundamental joy you get from following a river through tight gorges, winding gullies and sharp ravines to its source – which in this case turned out to be on the lower slopes of Jebel M’Goun.

The source was a slit on a slope at about 9,000ft, from which water seeped down towards the valley. We reached it in time for lunch, to find our chef had got ahead of us and put up the mess tent to keep us warm – there was ice at this height. I couldn’t resist putting my head down for a postlunch nap.

However grand the Ait Bougmez had been, the panorama beyond the pass, down the Tessaout valley, was even more dramatic – a vast, primordial landscape that looked as if it was still being formed. Such immensity, we all agreed, tends to put life, its problems and obsessions into perspective. We walked down towards the first village with a sensation of overwhelming joy.

The Ait Atta, the tribe who live here, have responded to the grandeur of their valley by studding its slopes with remarkable houses, animal pens and fortified granaries, all built using materials found within walking distance, and therefore in perfect harmony with their surroundings.

This architecture is so pure, so exceptional, that in one village we came across a professor of architecture from Rabat university, bringing his students to observe construction techniques that haven’t changed in centuries. He said they were only to be found here and in remote parts of Yemen and Afghanistan.

The rogue colours in this world of blacks, beiges and greens were occasional clumps of irises and the multi-patterned clothes of the young girls who ran ahead to alert their families of our coming, or walked alongside holding our hands, beaming at this simple contact.

All the way, Mohamed interpreted for us – not just the Berber dialect, but so much else: the region’s geology, the properties of plants, the best way for our children to catch frogs, how corn is ground . . . and a thousand other differences in the life and thinking of the lucky people who live in the happy valleys that slope down towards what now seemed a more comfortable but much less extraordinary world.

On our final night, we shared a larger gîte with another group of foreigners, and had electricity for at least some of the evening. By then, the children were sufficiently familiar with their new environment to run around with the village kids. They came from different worlds, shared no language in common, but that didn’t stop them playing tag through the village, running between houses and leaping over rocks as though they’d lived there all their lives.

We had experienced four days of remarkable landscapes, of walking up one river and down another, of seeing no other trekkers. The M’Goun had more than lived up to its reputation for being remote and rewarding. But for how long? Mohamed has had more people asking about walking here. And, as we saw when we finally reached tarmac the next day – our legs heavy, our hearts more so – the Moroccan government is encouraging visitors by improving the little-used road over the Atlas.

Before long, no doubt, coach parties will pop over from Marrakesh for lunch, Richard Branson will buy a kasbah, there will be beds in the gîtes and it will be impossible to walk far without bumping into your neighbour. For now, though, this is where to find the back of beyond.

Anthony Sattin travelled as a guest of Families Worldwide
http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/destinations/morocco/article1839851.ece
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Morocco promotes economic development plan.
Alexandre Rocha, special envoy*.  alexandre.rocha@anba.com.br   05/30/2007

The Programme d'Emérgence forecasts a series of incentives to attract national and foreign investment for the textile, agricultural, tourism, aerospace, automobile and electronics industries, and for the service sectors. The plan belongs to the government, but it was proposed by the CGM, the national organisation that represents the private sector in the country.

Casablanca - Morocco is promoting an industrial development programme that involves the granting of benefits in order to attract investment and encourage new sectors of the economy. Baptized as Programme d'Emérgence, the plan includes three traditional segments and four other new ones. "The sectors were identified by the government," said the foreign relations advisor at the Federation of Moroccan Companies, Nadia Achimi Aloui. Yesterday (30), she received at the head office of the organisation, in Casablanca, the marketing vice president at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Rubens Hannun, and an ANBA news reporter.

The traditional sectors are the textile, agriculture and food, and tourism industries. The segments that are now being developed are aerospace, automobiles, electronics, and offshore services, i.e., provision of services to foreign companies, such as telemarketing and even accounting.

In the aerospace field, according to Nadia, local companies are manufacturing aeroplane parts. "There were six companies in the beginning of the programme, now there are fifty," he said. The plan was implemented in 2003.

In the automobile sector, Renault, for instance, is making its Dacia Logan in Morocco. According to her, the vehicle will soon start being exported to Spain. There are also several auto parts industries.

The programme includes the granting of tax breaks, subsidies for companies to be able to invest in workforce, and advantages for obtaining areas for installation of industrial units.

According to Nadia, the programme was created by the government, but born out of a proposal elaborated by the CGM. The organisation brings together 27 sector organisations, which answer to 80% of the formal private sector in the country. "We cover every field in the services and industry sectors," she said. The most important segments represented by the institution are those of textiles, leather, engineering and construction, agriculture and food, automobiles, new technologies and parts in general. "The textile sector, for example, is very strong, it generates many jobs," she stated.

Divided into 14 thematic commissions, such as law, employment, environment, fighting corruption, among others, the CGM provides a series of services to its affiliated companies, elaborates proposals to be forwarded to the government, and promotes international cooperation actions. In 2004, for example, the organisation signed an agreement with the National Confederation of Industries (CNI) from Brazil.

"The objective, in that case, is to serve as mediators in the country," said Nadia. "Currently, the signing of agreements is subject to the approval of an action plan for their development, and every year there has to be a reflection about the agreement, so as to reinforce exchange, such as the promotion of conferences, for instance," she claimed. "The objective is to elaborate things together," she concluded.

The visit to the CGM was the last activity of the Brazilian mission to North Africa in Morocco. The Brazilian delegation, which counts on representatives of 24 different companies, arrived in Tunis, capital of Tunisia, last night where a conference on business opportunities and roundtables will be held today. The delegation will also travel to Egypt.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
http://www.anba.com.br/ingles/noticia.php?id=14891
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Anti-smoking campaign gets underway in Moroccan schools and workplaces.
By Sarah Touahri – 31/05/2007

In June, the Lalla Salma Cancer Prevention Association will launch a smoking prevention programme targeting young students and companies in order to prevent smoking in schools and workplaces. A campaign against public smoking is scheduled to start in June in schools and workplaces across Morocco. Entitled "Smoke-free schools and businesses", the programme was developed by the Lalla Salma Cancer Prevention Association and was unveiled at a science conference on Wednesday (May 30th).

Moulay Taher Alaoui, chairman of the association’s scientific committee, told Magharebia that the three-year programme will target young students in secondary schools in the regions of Rabat-Sale-Zemmour-Zair, Sous-Massa-Daraa and the wilaya of Greater Casablanca, as well as at a number of businesses. The outcomes will then be assessed before the programme is rolled out in other regions.

The goal of the programme is to prevent young people and employees from taking up smoking, as well as to help smokers kick the habit and to protect non-smokers. A combination of information, awareness-raising, education, support campaigns and initiatives will be used to help change attitudes and behaviour with regard to smoking. Cultural, sports, social, educational and support activities will be organized at all sites participating in the programme. Training on treating tobacco addiction will be provided to school doctors and nurses and also healthcare professionals in workplaces.

The programme comes in the wake of a nationwide survey on smoking carried out in 2006 by the Fez University of Medicine, in partnership with the International Union Against Tuberculosis. Fez University professor Chakib Nejjari explained that 18% of the world’s population are smokers, with 14.5% smoking on a daily basis and 3.5% occasionally.

The average age of smokers was found to be 17.6 years, and over 60% of smokers were between the ages of 20 and 39. In Morocco, a 2000 survey by the ministry of health showed that around a third of the population smokes, with figures high among public servants and the military. According to a 2001 study, 24.3% of adolescent Moroccans begin smoking before the age of 10.

The programme calls on numerous organizations and individuals to ensure that anti-smoking law 15-91 is enforced. Enacted on August 2nd, 1995, it outlaws tobacco advertising and smoking in some public places, specifying the penalties for infringement. However, Nourredine Chaouki, director for epidemiology and disease prevention at the Ministry of Health, believes that the law is still being ignored, especially in public and private offices. "We need to ensure this law, which will protect non-smokers and solve many problems, is enforced," he said. He added that the responsibility for tackling smoking lies not only with the Ministry of Health, but also the whole of society including the government, private institutions and the public.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2007/05/31/feature-01
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World Bank gives Morocco loan of 100 mln U.S. dollars for water reforms.

Moroccan Prime Minister Driss Jettou presided Thursday over a signing ceremony for a loan agreement worth 100 million U.S. dollars, advanced to Morocco by the World Bank for financing water sector reforms. This is the first in a series of four loans spread out over a period of four years, whose total cost is estimated at 400 million U.S. dollars, for supporting implementation of key water sector reforms program. The reform program, to be financed by this new loan, focuses on a number of key sectors, among them, governance and leadership, water sector, and integrated water resources management reforms.

The loan will also be used in the improvement of services, investments sustainability, water development in irrigated zones and improvement of access to clean water supply, drainage system, water purification and pollution management, particularly in the rural and marginalized areas.

For the achievement of these objectives, Moroccan water sector reforms consists of structural and institutional actions, as well as others, aimed at strengthening efficiency strategies and performance of key sector operators.
Source: Xinhua
http://english.people.com.cn/200706/01/eng20070601_379835.html
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Spain grants Morocco USD 247k to support water plan.
Madrid, June 1

Spain will earmark some USD 247,000 to the FAO-led project of technical assistance to Morocco's National Water Plan, part of a total budget of over USD 1.2Mn. The financial contribution, approved on Friday by the weekly Spanish cabinet meeting, will benefit the pilot project of water saving in the central city of El-Jadida (190 km south of Rabat), implemented with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The envelope is destined to funding the technical management of this project, which aims to improve irrigation systems on pilot plots and achieve a better water network regulation that matches technical and economic options and various crops. Elaborated in conjunction with the farmers and the technical services of the agriculture ministry, the project also aims at achieving sustainable improvement of land productivity, workforce and water saving. This experience is due to cover, at a later stage, all the irrigated areas in the north African country. http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/box5/spain_grants_morocco/view
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Morocco earmarks over USD 30Mn to drought-stricken farmers, official.
Rabat, May 31

Morocco has earmarked some USD 33.6Mn to help farmers, affiliated to the agricultural insurance, overcome the negative impact of drought, announced, here Wednesday, Morocco's State Secretary in charge of rural development, Mohamed Mohattane. The Moroccan official, who was speaking at a House of Representatives' question time, noted that the payment of compensations is expected late June, two months ahead of the date provided for in the convention signed for this purpose.

He said assessment operations on drought-stricken farms have started in mid May, pointing out that the government has launched, since last January, an emergency plan aimed at protecting the livestock. In this respect, M. Mohattane indicated that supplying the market with cattle feed, watering the livestock and its health protection are the main objectives of this plan, which has been strengthened by an additional global program that provides particularly for suspending the import duty and the VAT on imports applied to cattle feed. He highlighted that the government will support barley, which will be sold at USD 18/quintal instead of USD 30/quintal.

The Moroccan government has earlier announced that it had earmarked some USD 97.5Mn to counter the rain shortage impact on the livestock for the 2006-2007 agricultural season, marked by a 50% drop in rainfall. Touching on the agricultural production of the present campaign, M. Mohattane noted that, according to the preliminary estimates, the production in terms of cereal growing will be 20.5 Million tons, posting, thus, a 77% decrease compared with the previous campaign and 70% against the average of the past five years.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/morocco_earmarks_ove_1/view
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MEPI to launch a network of programme beneficiaries.
01/06/2007  By Jamel Arfaoui

Last month, the US State Department-sponsored Middle East Partnership Initiative announced the establishment of an alumni network, to connect the beneficiaries of its programmes. Administrators of the US State Department-funded Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) announced last month that they would establish a network for alumni of its programmes, including small business owners, non-governmental organisations, students and lecturers, in order to foster friendly relationships and co-operation among them.

This step comes after four years of projects and investments in Arab civil society designed to help shape hundreds of champions for reform in the Middle East and North Africa. Since its inception in 2002, MEPI has allocated more than $293m to Middle East and North Africa residents working toward democratic and educational reform, economic growth and expanding the role of women. Communications director Fawzi Echaouche said, "The preliminary step before the formation of the network will be the creation of a committee gathering participants from Jordan, Bahrain, Yemen, Lebanon, Morocco and Egypt." Echaouche added that the remaining groups will be added next July, and it is expected that the full assembly of participants will be completed in September.

In a statement to Magharebia, Walcott Lawrence, Deputy Director of the regional MEPI office in Tunis said, "The goal of establishing this network is to create relationships among the beneficiaries of our programmes so that they can exchange experiences and expertise in order to support efforts for reform."

Over 1400 participants have been invited to join this network, which was created in conjunction with the America-Mideast Educational and Training Services (AMIDEAST). MEPI fellow Dr. Abd al-Majid al-Zahaf welcomed this project, which he considers "crucial for exchanging expertise and experiences among the various beneficiaries, which could then lead to cooperation between members." Al-Zahaf obtained funding for two projects: the establishment of the Centre for Youth and Life (Markaz al-Shabab wa al-Hayat), to help youth infected with AIDS, and a second centre to study the progression and spread of the disease in male and female youth. "I believe that we in the Middle East and North Africa need exchanges of expertise in this field, which remains surrounded by taboo," Al-Zahaf said, adding that the centre is prepared to offer "advice about the methods it followed to encourage youth to discuss their ordeal without fear".

Early last May, MEPI directors invited young democracy leaders from the Middle East and North Africa to submit applications to join a three-month democracy leadership program in the United States. Successful applicants are given the opportunity to complete an academic programme, acquire practical experience and refine their skills in a subject of their choice. The initiative’s democracy leadership scholarships will begin in 2008 and run for a six-week period under the leadership of the Maxwell School at Syracuse University in New York. The program will resemble a typical semester at Syracuse University, and will present each participant with a customized program geared towards a professional career.

After the completion of the academic program, the participants will gain practical experience and professional contacts during a five-week internship period at non-governmental or public policy organizations in Syracuse, New York City, or Washington, DC. Scholarship recipients will receive a certificate attesting to their successful completion of the full three-month programme. The program requires participants to be between 25 and 40 years old, hold a bachelor’s degree and speak fluent English. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2007/06/01/feature-01
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Moroccans wait for marriage, but keep ceremonies traditional.
By Sarah Touahri, 01/06/2007

Moroccan women are waiting longer to marry, but when they do tie the knot they do it with all the pomp and circumstance of yesteryear. For many Moroccan women, marriage remains a necessity, even if it comes later in life. Society has seen a great deal of change in recent decades, with improved education having perhaps the most profound impact on the deferral of marriage. The average marrying age of women has risen from 17 in 1960 to 27, according to the High Commission for Planning and Statistics (HCP). But many of the most modern women eventually submit to tradition.

Sociologist Jamila Baadi told Magharebia that in Morocco, as in other Arab countries, marriage may no longer be the top priority for women, but it remains a necessity. "The Moroccan mindset has changed... over the past three decades. Families no longer feel the need to marry off their daughters as soon as possible, preferring to send them to school first, so that they can be educated and financially independent," said Baadi.

However, while society’s views on marriage have changed, women still face great pressure from society when they reach their thirties. Jalila Arafaoui, a bank clerk, married two years ago at the age of thirty-five. She was enjoying success in her professional life and thought that nothing could stop her from having fun and making a life for herself. "But when I turned thirty, the way my neighbours and family looked at me became irritating. My parents asked me every day if anyone wanted to marry me. Because of the pressure they put me under, I accepted the first offer that came my way, and suffered the consequences," Arafaoui said, adding that she got divorced after four years.

Many women like Jalila feel this pressure as they approach their thirties. Samira Sefrioui, a teacher, suffers daily because she is 38 and still unmarried. Although she is financially independent, she is still receives hurtful comments from all sides. "I can’t stand the pitying way my close relatives look at me. It makes me ill at ease, even though the fact I’m not married is a personal decision I took some years ago, to have a quiet life," she explained.

But while Samira has deliberately chosen to remain single, other young women suffer because they have been unable to find the ideal husband. Baadi explained that some young women who have achieved a high level of education begin looking for a husband with the same level of university qualifications. But as time goes by, they realise that they have spent the best years of their life searching and not finding anyone. "That is the moment when they feel social and cultural pressure from those around them," Baadi said.

Khadija R., a doctor, is a perfect example: at forty years old, she is still not married. A few years ago she wanted to marry a surgeon, but as time went on her demands became less specific. "For now, I no longer have that requirement. I simply want a respectable husband so that I can have a child before reaching menopause. I regret having spent my life looking for a tailor-made husband," she says with frustration.

Even the most modern women submit to tradition and celebrate their marriages according to ancient tradition. "The young bride, whether educated or illiterate, always aspires to observe the special rituals of the marriage ceremony," said Baadi.

It is almost impossible for the young bride to refuse the mahr [a financial gift from the husband to the wife]. The mahr is obligatory under Islam, but is normally only a symbolic amount. In Morocco, however, it represents the woman’s value in the eyes of her future husband. There are very few women today who would put up with a symbolic mahr. Asmae Bekkali, a 24-year-old student, just broke up with her fiancé because of the mahr. "To me, it’s symbolic, and it’s love which counts. But for my family, where I’m the only daughter, my future husband must express my value," said Bekkali. "I cannot change their minds. My fiancé had the means, but as a matter of principle he refused to give me a mahr which would satisfy my parents’ aspirations," she continued.

Other traditions and rituals are equally important. The marriage celebration has an atmosphere of its own, beginning with the hammam [or Turkish bath], which the bride visits with her closest female relatives. On the eve of the wedding she attends a henna ceremony, in the presence of women from both families. The groom's gifts to the bride are displayed for the guests amidst great festivities, singing and dancing. On the big day, the bride is presented to the guests in her best finery. A professional co-ordinator called the neggafa paints on the bride's henna and takes meticulous care of her appearance and wardrobe, which changes several times throughout the ceremony.

Saida Tounoussi is a neggafa. She learned the trade secrets from her grandmother, and has spent the past ten years preparing brides for their wedding day. "It’s a captivating profession which I’ve no doubt will always be profitable. Certainly, my income is only predictable in the summer, when a lot of marriages are celebrated. But I manage to make a living," she declared. In her shop in Temara, a young woman is busy looking through a photograph album to choose the traditional costumes she would like to wear for her wedding. "Without a neggafa, I wouldn’t consider myself to be properly married. Like all girls, I want to be the most beautiful woman at my marriage ceremony. And that’s where Saida will help me," the young lady said happily. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/reportage/2007/06/01/reportage-01
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When the Sahara calls: A desert journey through Morocco will stir a visitor's soul on levels at once mysterious and familiar.The Sahara's dunes showcase Morocco's desolate beauty.
Anika Myers Palm | Sentinel Staff Writer May 27, 2007

Chances are, if you ever find yourself in the middle of the Sahara while on a trip to Morocco, it will feel familiar. You'll wonder at the silent strangeness of the dunes at Erg Chebbi near Merzouga, but fully expect to see people or things you "know" from books and movies -- Paul Atreides and the Fremen, Luke Skywalker or even Lawrence of Arabia -- pop up from behind the hills of sand.

In the Valley of 1,000 Kasbahs, approaching the desert on an all-day driving trip, my husband and I pass through what seem like hundreds of small towns. I'm casting about for a subject of conversation when I spy something that reminds me of home: construction.

When I ask about what seems to be a boom in homebuilding, our driver says that many of the towns' residents work in Spain and France. They send money home for family members and to build palatial houses for their eventual return to Morocco.

I also am struck by how the streets in the small towns are filled with men. Women are almost nowhere to be seen, but when they are, they're mostly covered.

I expected that in this mostly Muslim nation, but the reality of the near-absence of half the population from many towns' streets saddens me. I've been told that Morocco has some of the most liberal women's-rights laws in the Islamic world -- and when I was in Fes and Marrakech, large cities, that distinction made sense -- but my Western eyes have a hard time adjusting to these towns. I wonder what these women think of their sisters in the big cities, and vice versa.

But some things are the same everywhere: When we drive past a school, we see teen boys wearing jeans and slouching under the crushing weight of their bookbags while teen girls walking nearby giggle on cell phones.

Do camels laugh?

When we arrive at Merzouga, we are greeted, as we had been everywhere in Morocco, with hot mint tea. We wait awhile before we set out for camp because our guides want to time the trip so that we will see the best of the Sahara at sunset.

Merzouga is in southern Morocco, near a disputed border with Algeria. Guidebooks say Morocco's desert has nothing on Algeria's, but visitors to Merzouga are uniformly impressed with what they see.

Here's why: It feels like the end of the Earth.

At base camp, you're surrounded by sand as far as the eye can see, with a 400-foot dune as the backdrop. You imagine yourself as Columbus, seeing what feels like uninhabited land for the first time.

As we watch our guide, Ibrahim, prepare the camels for our trip, my husband and I pull long-forgotten knowledge from grade school and half-remembered documentaries to get ready for our first up-close experience with these animals:

They don't rear up. We think.

They spit. (Our conversation takes place at a comfortable distance.)

They run, but usually not with people in tow.

I say a silent prayer as Ibrahim instructs my camel to kneel so I can hop onto the folded blankets he has placed on her back. As she rises, I start to wonder if this trip is a good idea for someone who is as much a city girl as I.

The camels mostly ignore their human cargo but snort repeatedly at what I start to imagine is some hilarious camel joke at my expense.

Lively companions
About 45 minutes into the ride, we stop to enjoy the sunset. Trying not to groan in pain, we dismount to take pictures as the sun changes the sand from beige to pumpkin to scarlet.

We mount our camels again, and after a thigh-chafing hour-and-a-half, we arrive at our camp in the desert.

What seem like mountain-size dunes are a backdrop for the camp, which is composed of 10 to 12 tents set off by sparse groupings of date palms. I'm exhausted after our long ride but am strangely hesitant to leave my camel. I've grown attached to her during our journey.

The guides -- Ibrahim is joined by another Berber escort, Moha -- immediately usher guests to a meal tent, where we gladly accept more mint tea to ward off the approaching cold.

The camp also includes three sleeping tents and a cooking tent. Guests get to know one another while seated on cushions on the sandy floor of the meal tent.

These camps have a reputation for being especially popular with Spaniards and Frenchmen who pop over for quick weekends the way Floridians might take trips to Miami or Key West.

The guests in our camp for the night include 10 men from France who are spending a few days riding motorbikes through the dunes, and four Spaniards: a 60-ish man, his 30-ish son and two of the father's contemporaries.

I understand French well-enough to follow what's being said but not enough to participate in a complicated discussion about motorcycle maintenance. The Spaniards don't speak English, but because I speak Spanish, we manage to have a lively conversation.

A Mexican art student who says he has been living with the Berbers for a few weeks appears from nowhere when talk turns to a subject in which I have no expertise: the best place in the world to score hashish (the verdict: Chile).

Tales around the bonfire

Our dinner, a one-dish meal with what I think are chickpeas and goat meat, arrives just as I start to despair of ever feeling warm again. Because my husband and I didn't think to pack a dessert, our Spanish friends share their dulces with us as dinner winds down.

During an after-meal bonfire, Moha shares stories about camel disasters so disturbing that if I had heard these first, I never would have consented to ride one. He follows those stories with tales of games -- one sounds like a cousin of Spin the Bottle -- that he played with childhood friends on December nights in the desert not unlike this one.

His family once lived in the desert, but tourism has provided them with the opportunity to live in a town. Still, he says, he prefers to spend his nights in the sands, returning to his apartment home only once every two weeks.

And the sandman comes

As the night grows colder, and the fire begins to die, the Frenchmen hike to the top of a dune, where they enjoy a few beers by moonlight.

We retire to our tent. From the comfort of my bed -- a few blankets laid on the sand -- I hear the Frenchmen return to camp. I pull the hood of my jacket over my head to protect my ears from the bitter cold. In minutes, one of their number is snoring loudly enough to make his companions laugh.

Finally, just before 11, the camp falls silent, with the exception of our French companion's rhythmic snoring, and the occasional grunts of the nearby camels.

I toss and turn, but when I finally drift off, I dream of the hot mint tea that will greet me after the morning's call to prayer.

Anika Myers Palm can be reachedat apalm@orlandosentinel.comor 407-420-5022. Eric Palm, whose photographs appear with this story, can be reached at epalm@orlando sentinel.com or 407-420-5451.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/printedition/orl-desert2707may27,0,5985934.story?coll=orl-travel-headlines-print
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