Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
June 23 , 2007

Over USD 350Mn earmarked for craft industry development in Morocco.
Meknès, June 12

Morocco has allocated some USD 360Mn for "Vision 2015" aimed at developing Moroccan craft industry, revealed, here Monday, Moroccan Tourism and Craft Industry, Adil Douiri. Speaking at a national conference on "the Strategy of developing craft industry by 2015", Mr Douiri explained that this strategy aims at promoting this sector to reach some USD 2.880Bn by 2015 up from USD 1.2Bn currently, and raising the volume of exportations to achieve some USD 837.5Mn.

The minister recalled the initiatives that enabled craftsmen to have access to funding and bank credits, including the "Tamwil" (funding), which gives access to bank funding, and "Inaya" (care) that provides medical insurance for this category of self-employed people.
This strategy which aims at overcoming the many difficulties faced by the sector, is expected to create some 115,000 jobs, 50,000 jobs of which would be created by structured businesses, while the rest is to be set up by small-sized businesses and craftsmen.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/over_usd_350mn_earma/view
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Morocco launches first micro-solar PV Station in Africa.
Casablanca, June 15

The Moroccan electricity utility (ONE) on Thursday launched a USD 350Mn micro-solar photovoltaic (PV) station in Tit Melli (Casablanca), to be the first of its kind in Africa, said the ONE project manager, Abdelmajid Essaigh. Dubbed "Chourouk" (sunrise), the station would help ONE cut its fuel bill and make electricity bill cheaper for its customers, Added Mr. Essaigh. The 46kWc-station consists of 1,024 photovoltaic panels of 45Wc, with an annual production of 70,000 kWh, i.e. the consumption of 120 households village (around 700 people) in a year.

"This project is part of an overall strategy set up by the ONE to promote renewable energy and encourage people to use this form of solar energy for domestic use in urban areas," he said, underlining that "the surplus will be injected into the national network." According to Mr. Essaigh, two other ONE-pilot projects are underway. The first, to be launched in 2007 in Errachidia (south), will target 1,000 households. The second will be established in Taroudant (south), where over 500 households are already equipped with solar kits. Part of its global rural electrification program, the ONE has provided over 40,000 households (250,000 people) with the PV system. http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/morocco_launches_fir/view
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Water Dam filling rate reaches 56% in Morocco.
Casablanca, June 13

The volume of water stored in Moroccan dams reached 8.410 billion cubic meters, a 56% filling rate against 63.5% recorded in the same period of last year, said a press release by the Secretariat of State for Water. This volume stored satisfies demand on water in cities and centers fed by dam reservoirs, the same source added.

A Breakdown by hydraulic region shows that the Moulouya and Draâ-Ziz Bassins (west) top the list by 650 million cubic meters in Mohamed V dam, followed by Mansour Eddahbi (425 million m3) and Hassan Addakhil (270 million m3). According to the press release, the overall hydraulic situation in Morocco is the same if not lower that last year's. however, it is not to disrupt water supply in different uses and regions of the country.

Minister of Territory Development, Water and Environment, Mohamed El Yazghi, had warned against a possible shortage of water for Morocco despite the existence of over 100 dams. He had called for revisiting the national water policy and for an overall mobilization in order to face the malfunctioning and to introduce the required reforms.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/water_dam_filling_ra/view
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World first's duckling born from hen egg.
Rabat, June 19

The first duckling born from a hen egg has seen light thanks to an embryonic transfer technique carried out by a Moroccan scientific team from the Emirati Center for Scientific Research and Wildlife preservation (EWSRC). The birth of a duckling from a hen egg (two different species) has shown that it is possible to carry out this technique, reserved so far to mammals, on threatened birds, Dr. Zinelabidine Aghezzaf and Driss Azizi, who supervised the research, told MAP.

This exploit will contribute to fill in great lacunas in the research on avian embryology and constitute a great stride that would open the path before specialists in bird genetics, particularly as a new biotechnological tool in threatened species production. Various other applications of this technique are possible, notably in the field of pharmacology, they said. The Rabat-based EWSRC started its research works in 2003, notably in the reproduction via artificial insemination of Houbara Bustard (Chlamydotis undulata) that led in 2005 to the birth of first bustard chicks.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/box3/world_first_s_duckli/view
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Morocco to plant 20,000 ha of cork oak trees yearly over a decade, official.
Lisbon, June 11

Morocco has worked out a program which provides for planting a total of 20,000 Ha of cork oak trees over the period 2005-2014, that is an average of 2,000 yearly, revealed, here Friday, visiting Moroccan Water and Forest Commissioner, Abdeladim El Hafi. Mr El Hafi said that Morocco has adopted an international partnership to develop the production cycles of cork oak, adding that Morocco has, for this purpose, concluded a cooperation agreement with Portugal, which has a wide experience in this area.

He underlined that this convention is part of the program aiming at upgrading cork oak forests, notably the Maamoura forest (near Rabat) which undergoes substantial pressure. The agreement, he added, also provides for collaboration in the fight against forest fires, pointing out that fires destroy 10,000 ha in Portugal each year. Spain and Portugal are Morocco’s major customers of cork oak. In 2003, Portugal imported 12,772 tons, followed by Spain which imported 4,076 tons.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/morocco_to_plant_209714/view
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Morocco earmarks over USD 200Mn to counter drought effects, Minister.
Rabat, June 14

The Moroccan government has launched USD 238Mn development projects that would generate 12 million additional working days, part of the emergency program to counter drought effects, said Moroccan Agriculture Minister, Mohand Laenser. The minister said different projects are programmed to promote jobs in drought-stricken rural regions, underlined government spokesman, Nabil Benabdallah following the weekly cabinet meeting. The governmental projects will create some 25 million job opportunities with an envelope estimated at USD 1.19Bn, said Mr Laenser.

Within the framework of this emergency program, the government has determined drinking water needs of some 359 rural communes at 30% and 70%, pointed out the minister. Part of the measures to counter drought effects, the minister noted that the government has set up more than 200 water stations, allocated insurance compensations to about 7,600 farmers, worth USD34Mn, in addition to other measures touching the livestock and seeds.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_social/morocco_earmarks_ove3875/view
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Concerts to Bridge Cultures with International Music in Washington, D.C., and Casablanca, Morocco.
CHICAGO, June 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Bridging cultures through the arts is at the heart of concerts coming to Washington, D.C., and Casablanca, Morocco. From the finale of the upcoming HAMSA-Fest in Chicago on August 25 and 26, 2007, an eclectic group of international musicians will travel to perform concerts on the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage on Monday, August 27, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., and in Casablanca, Morocco's Place des Nations Unis (United Nations Plaza), on Saturday, September 1.

Headlining the concert, Greek-born American Jewish tenor Cantor Alberto Mizrahi, of Chicago, will perform with Moroccan oud virtuoso Haj Youness, who is Moslem. Hay Youness is Dean of the Casablanca Conservatory of Music. They will be accompanied by a special guest artist, world renowned keyboard and diatonic harmonica legend Howard Levy (American), also of Chicago. In its world premiere, the Genesis at the Crossroads World Music Ensemble will include Persian guitarist Shahin Shahida and Ethiopian bass player Moneeb Jewad, both of Washington, D.C., Persian multi-instrumentalist Farshid Soltanshahi of St. Louis, and D.C.-based musicians Afghan vocalist and instrumentalist Humayun Khan, Moroccan Kader Rhanime on saxophone, Moroccan Mohcine Saqi and Moroccan Anis Rhanime on percussion, and Moroccan Hicham El Anmari on keyboard.

The Kennedy Center performance is free. In addition, it will be broadcast via live audio-video webstreaming, at http://www.gatc.org. The September 1st concert in Morocco will be syndicated for broadcast on more than 200 radio stations in the U.S. and 48 European stations as well as on XM satellite radio, with the potential to reach more than 20 million listeners worldwide. Sponsors of the Washington, D.C., concert include Sofitel Lafayette Square, Nuveen Investments, Royal Air Maroc, and 98.7 WFMT and the WFMT Radio Network. The Morocco concert is sponsored by Royal Air Maroc and 98.7 WFMT and the WFMT Radio Network.

The third bi-annual outdoor festival, HAMSA-Fest, will take place at Chicago's Lincoln Park, offering a wide variety of art, music, and food from different cultures. This is the first year that part of the HAMSA-Fest concert line-up will tour outside the U.S. "We are breaking traditional barriers by bringing together artists who would likely never perform on the same stage otherwise and whose music draws audiences across cultural lines," said Dr. Wendy Sternberg, Founder and Executive Director of Genesis at the Crossroads (GATC), a non-profit organization bridging cultural conflicts through the arts. "I am most interested in promoting the creation of new works of art as a product of these collaborations, providing an innovative and inspirational model for others to follow."

Additionally, Casablanca has been chosen as a project site of a new GATC initiative called ARTSLINK. The goal of ARTSLINK is to revitalize conservatories of music around the world that are in disrepair, structurally and infrastructurally, to empower local leadership to provide sustainable arts curricula and performances, creating unprecedented cross-cultural arts exchanges. Through ARTSLINK Casablanca, Morocco's Casablanca Conservatory of Music will receive a transformational renovation by internationally-reputed sound engineers, architects, designers and developers, using green technology. An international jury will select the winning design. The new facility will allow master classes to be offered in music, dance and theater. It will feature a 300 seat indoor concert hall, a recording studio, and a small museum of Andalucian musical history. Groundbreaking is scheduled for 2009, marking GATC's 10th anniversary. Contact: Ellen Beard, +1-434-245-8300, beardmedia@earthlink.net, for Genesis at the Crossroads
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Over 167k blood donors in Morocco in 2006 .
Rabat, June 13

The number of blood donors in Morocco in 2006 reached 167,450 donors, i.e. a 4.6% increase compared to 2005. Vice chairman of the regional center of blood transfusion in Rabat, Dr. Hassan Bel kebir said on the occasion of World Blood Donor Day that the number of blood donors in the kingdom does not exceed 2% of total population, though the World Health Organization (WHO) urges for a minimum blood donation rate of 5%.

Dr Bel kebir noted that the highest rate of donors was recorded in Casablanca center (47,000) followed by the regional centre in Rabat (more than 40,000). He underlined that the government has made a series of measures to increase the number of blood donors, namely through building new blood transfusion centres, revamping the existed ones and training the nurses who supervise blood transfusion operations.

The doctor also noted that efforts are made to raise people’s awareness of the importance and nobility of blood donation as a national and human duty. Statistics show that one person’s blood can save the life of four others. Blood donation of a person aged 18-60, which can be made every 56 days, does not constitute a danger to one’s health. The amount of blood donated is estimated at 400mm, i.e. 7% of the total blood mass of the human body.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/over_167k_blood_dono/view
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Moroccan professor wins 2007 United Nations Public Service Award For 'Fez eGovernment project'.
Ifrane, June 5

Moroccan professor, Driss Kettani, from Al Akhawayn University, won the 2007 United Nations Public Service Award for "improving service delivery" with his project "Fez eGovernment project". This award recognizes the "exceptional work" that serves public interest, according to Al-Akhawayn University, which adds that this award will be handed at a ceremony that will take place in Vienna on the fringes of the plenary session of the 7th global forum on government reinvention.

Over 1,000 participants, including heads of State, ministers and international experts and NGOs operating in governance field participated in this event, said the same source. Professor Kettani and his team had won the 2006 national digital administration award "e-Mtiaz" and have lately won the TIGA award in Africa for the same "Fez eGovernment project". The "Fez eGovernment project" will enable the local community to have easier and enhanced access to relevant administrative information and benefit from far less waiting time and higher quality for administrative services.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/culture/moroccan_professor_w/view
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Morocco works to reduce energy dependence.
By Sarah Touahri  21/06/2007

To overcome a lack of essential resources, Morocco is seeking to change its energy strategy. The High Commission for Planning has drafted potential solutions for Morocco’s future energy supply, focusing primarily upon nuclear energy and regional co-operation. In an effort to reduce its reliance on foreign energy, the Moroccan government is formulating a comprehensive energy reform strategy that focuses on conservation and nuclear power production. The country presently imports 95% of its energy from abroad at high cost. In 2006 the country spent 44.9 billion dirhams, the equivalent of 42% of its revenue from exports, on energy imports.

To inform collective decision-making on energy policy, the High Commission for Planning released a report called "Energy Prospects 2030". The report warns that Morocco faces a quadrupling of energy consumption based on average annual growth rates of 0.9% for population, 4% for GDP and 5.6% for energy. In this case, the country could achieve reasonable economic performance, but would still be far from the levels enjoyed by its European neighbours.

One proposed course of action calls for renewed efforts to invest in the energy sector, particularly in nuclear energy through public/private partnerships. "Technological developments in nuclear energy, which have allowed both an increase in safety standards and a relative reduction in investment costs, make nuclear energy a realistic and competitive alternative, especially when prices for oil and gas are at high levels," the report says. Another possibility is utilising regional partnerships, particularly in the Arab Maghreb Union, to circumvent problems of dependency and security posed by high energy prices.

The HCP report indicates it may be beneficial for Morocco to initiate a nuclear energy programme, but that it should do so in addition to developing a comprehensive energy strategy for the Maghreb region and neighbouring Europe. Abdellah Alaoui, President of the Moroccan Energy Federation, has said Morocco needs to make a greater effort to increase its self-sufficiency, as development relies fundamentally on energy. He has said that the only way forward for Morocco and developing countries in general is to turn to nuclear energy.

Nuclear Safety Commission President Abdelhamid Mekki Berrada shares this view. "Certainly, nuclear energy does not come cheap in terms of investment," he said in a May 9th interview with Le Matin. "But at least we would not be subjected to all the risks of importation. We would be less dependent, especially given the way that oil prices vary. With nuclear energy, things are different; the reactor is only fuelled once every three years. Throughout this entire period, electricity is produced at a price known in advance."

According to Berrada, Morocco has everything it needs to launch into nuclear energy, including land, feasibility studies and personnel. There is still much to be done, however, especially where financial studies are concerned. He says that Morocco's primary need at this time is an international partner to assist in financing, installing and operating the nuclear power plants.

Last January, the Ministry for Energy and Mining announced it was drafting a national energy conservation plan which will include energy rationing and the development of renewable sources. The project will concentrate first on rural areas. It calls for the introduction of regulations to save energy in public buildings and would mandate the exchange of 10 million standard light bulbs with low energy bulbs. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2007/06/21/feature-02
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Morocco’s IRCAM to fund 88 Amazigh culture projects .
21/06/2007

The Moroccan Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM) announced that it will fund 88 different projects for the promotion of Amazigh language and culture, ANSA reported on Wednesday (June 20th). IRCAM received 176 proposals from cultural associations and citizen groups and selected projects which will provide dialect courses, writing workshops, literacy programs, conferences and other activities designed to promote Amazigh culture. Tamazight is spoken in at least three regions of Morocco, including southern Souss, the Atlas Mountains and the northern Rif Valley
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2007/06/21/newsbrief-02
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Morocco takes steps to energise baccalaureate diploma .
12/06/2007 By Sarah Touahri

Some 294,115 candidates across Morocco took the Baccalaureate exams from June 7th to 9th. Also this year, the Ministry for National Education enacted new measures to improve the conditions under which the exams are held. Morocco’s Ministry for National Education has been taking steps to restore the credibility of the Baccalaureate (Bac). After introducing two-year exams in 2003, additional reforms were undertaken in the 2006-2007 school year to improve exam conditions.

According to Abdesselam Zeroual, schools inspector and Head of Private Education at the Ministry of National Education, the reforms aim to restore the Bac to its former place in the education system. "Our objective is for the Bac to be a key that opens doors to useful further study. We have taken measures to combat cheating, notably by blocking and forbidding mobile phones," he explained. The number of exams students take has also been reduced, from as many as seven in a single year to just three or four. For certain subjects, performance will be measured entirely through ongoing assessment or coursework.

Of the 294,115 candidates this year, 44.8% are girls: an increase over the previous exam period, according to education officials. For the first time, a score of zero will not automatically eliminate the student. The evaluator must first justify his or her decision in a written report. Specialised regional committees have been established by the heads of the regional Education and Training Academies to examine zero-grade cases and to subsequently approve or reject the grader’s decision.

Bac candidates are delighted with the introduction of this measure, which will alleviate some exam pressures. Candidate Fatima Ezzahra Ezzarki is one of many independent candidates who have signed up for the Bac, without going through the national education system. She told Magharebia that "a good number of students will be saved by this move. In the past, the grading teacher could give someone a zero even if the student didn’t really deserve it. And that decision, possibly mistaken, had an irreversible impact on the outcome of a year’s hard work." Most of her friends share her point of view. Rajae Dabaoui, another student, indicated that the elimination mark is the Bac candidate’s worst nightmare. "The decision to link the elimination mark to an explanatory report should have been taken years ago", she says.

Teachers hope the new measures taken by the Ministry of National Education will improve the Bac's image. For teacher Boujmaa Lkhoti, the new assessment system shows promise. "It will let us evaluate the real level of the student and to avoid fraud," he said. Students always complain about the low passing rate in Bac exams. Last year, only 48% of school students and 21% of independently-educated youths achieved satisfactory results on the exams. According to the education ministry, passing the Bac should be the fruit of many years of education, and failure indicates deficiencies among both students and schools.

Two-year exams were introduced in 2003 to improve the diploma's value on the job market. First-year students take a regional exam in primary subjects. The final exam, in the second year, is organised nationally and accounts for 50% of the overall result. The system aims to reward students for consistent hard work. In past cases, the student has gone on to the second year without having scored an average of 10 out of 20 points on the regional exam. Under the new programme, the student and his or her family will be consulted to decide whether they should carry on or repeat the year. The class committee will provide the final decision. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2007/06/12/feature-01

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Low pass rate for baccalaureate exams in Morocco .
By Sarah Touahri  22/06/2007

The pass rate for this year’s first round of baccalaureate exams was 39.1%. Some 87,000 students, more than half of them girls, were successful. Science and technology subjects saw the highest success rates. Emotions ran high in Moroccan schools when the results of this year's first round of baccalaureate exams were announced on Wednesday (June 20th). The overall pass rate was 39.1%, up by 1.1% from last year.

This year’s baccalaureate exams saw some new initiatives to improve standards and raise the credibility of the qualification. For some there was relief, while others were unhappy with their poor results. "I’m very happy, but at the same time I’m sorry for the people who didn’t pass. Anyway, they’ve still got another chance in two weeks’ time," student Sarah Bakkali said.

A total of 86,994 candidates passed. More than half of them are girls. "Boys and girls did more or less equally well," a Ministry of Education statement said. "Girls have done better than ever." Science and technology subjects saw the highest pass rate of 46.7%, up by 5% on the same round of exams last year. Arts subjects continued to see the lowest pass rates, with only 30.3% of candidates making the grade.

This is not the end of the road for students who failed. Another round of exams on July 5th will give 118,767 students another chance. Ministry officials are expecting the overall percentage of successful students to rise considerably after the additional round since the number of candidates sitting the second session corresponds to half of those who sat the first.

The 25,460 independent candidates scored lower than average, with a pass rate of 15.2%. The final results of the exams will be published on July 15th, immediately after examiners conclude their deliberations. Many candidates who passed thought that some exams were too difficult or too lengthy for the time given to complete them. Although she managed to pass her exams, Rihab Souri told Magharebia that the length of time allowed for science exams was insufficient to enable candidates to obtain good results.

Teacher Jamal Salimi believes that although pass rates are still low, the results so far are a major improvement over last year. Some teachers criticise students’ lack of ability, which they believe is the reason why many candidates are unable to access higher education. "If the pass rates are still low, it’s because they reflect the true abilities of candidates. The exams are there to ensure that the better students get through," said Arabic teacher Jawad Hatit.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2007/06/22/feature-01
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Sefrou town crowns 2007 Miss Cherry.
Fez (central), June 11

2007 Miss Cherry was crowned on Sunday at the pinnacle of the 88th Cheery Festival, held on June 6-10. Crowned with a golden tiara, the 22-year-old university student marched through the streets of Sefrou (28kms southeast from Fez) handing out cherries to the festival guests.
Folkloric melodies and dances, typical to this mountainous region, set the scene for the parade. The festival menu also featured music shows, plays and painting exhibitions. The festival, which aims to promote local tourism, is also an opportunity for the city to exhibit and seek marketing possibilities for its famous local cherry. Created in 1920, the festival has since then become an annual tradition.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_culture/sefrou_town_crowns_2/view
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World's oldest jewellery dating back to 82,000 years found in Morocco.
Washington, June 8

Thirteen tiny shells, coated in red clay found in the Grotte des Pigeons at Taforalt in eastern Morocco, are the oldest known human ornamentation, an international team of archaeologists have announced. The shells date back to 82,000 years ago. Each shell has a hole pierced through it and a covering of red ochre, an ancient pigment made from clay.

According to Nick Barton from the University of Oxford in England, and one of the archaeologists on the team, the 'fact that they are coloured and have deliberate perforations, indicate that they were used as ornamentation'. Barton said some of the shell 'beads' also showed signs of wear inside the perforation, indicating that they were strung together as necklaces or bracelets. 'They were definitely meant to be seen,' Barton said.

Interestingly, the shells come from a genus of marine snail called Nassarius, which is not found along the Moroccan shoreline today. The nearest place where the snails live is an island off Tunisia that lies more than 800 miles (1,280 kilometres), according to National Geographic. 'It is possible that these beads were brought here from Tunisia and were very special objects,' Barton said.

In a paper published in the June issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), archaeologists have suggested that beads marked a shift in human development and the beginnings of modern cultural behaviour. 'We think that they were capable of thinking symbolically and able to use one thing to represent another,' Barton said, adding that the possibility of beads being used to establish group identity and indicate where certain people belonged, cannot be ruled out. 'Shells from other sites may turn out to be even older, and we may well be looking at ornamentation beyond a hundred thousand years ago,' Barton however, added.
http://www.newkerala.com/news5.php?action=fullnews&id=37313
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Marital violence represents 74% of violent behaviors against women, report.
Rabat, June 21

Marital violence represents 74 per cent violence behaviors undergone by Moroccan women, said, on Thursday, a report on gender-based violence for September 2005-August 2006. Other forms of violence vary from institutional (8.8%), societal (4.4%), and family-related (4.2%), notes the report, which was carried out by the national network of violence against women centers in Morocco "Anaruz". Alimony deprivation (58.4%) and physical abuse (30.4%) are the main mistreatments perpetrated against women within the marital scope, says the report, stressing the necessity to fill-in the legal vacuum to incriminate violence perpetrators. It also calls for guaranteeing the safety of women undergoing divorce, and setting up shelters and generalizing hotlines for women victims of violence.

Created in 2004 following a workshop gathering several women rights centers, “Anaruz” has established 39 centers around the country. These centers provide legal services to women victims of violence, gather data about the problem of violence against women in Morocco, raise awareness of gender-based violence and advocate for policy and legal reforms to protect women and reduce violence. This report comes on the morrow of the release of a guideline of norms and standards of care for women and children victims of violence that aims to raise people's awareness of the deleterious effects of this phenomenon and, thus, combat it. http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_social/marital_violence_rep/view
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Guideline on care for violently abused women and children in Morocco.
Rabat, June 21

A guideline of norms and standards of care for women and children victims of violence was published, here Wednesday, to raise people's awareness of the deleterious effects of this phenomenon and, thus, combat it. The 250-page guideline, prefaced by Princess Lalla Meryem (sister of king of Morocco), chairwoman of the Observatoire National des Droits de l'Enfant (ONDE), aims at promoting the quality of medical, psychological and social care for women and children victims of violence and ill-treatment.

It also aims at popularizing legislations, strategies and action programs at the national level as well as Morocco's international commitments pertaining to human rights and women and children's rights. The guideline also targets the definition of concepts of violence and ill-treatment, their harmful impact, and determining the modalities of care for women and children victims of violence, the process of care, the organizational measures and the mechanisms of coordination with other sectors. Speaking on this occasion, UNICEF representative in Morocco, Maie Ayoub, and UNFPA representative in Morocco, George Georgi, hailed the publication of this guideline that, according to them, would contribute to combating violence against this important category of the society.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_social/guideline_on_care_fo/view
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Moroccan Women's Rights Wear Royal Robes Run Date.
06/17/07 By Leela Jacinto    WeNews correspondent

In Morocco, the king is viewed as a champion of women's rights, which means secular women's rights activists are often in the royalist political camp. First in two stories ahead of September elections.

CASABLANCA, Morocco (WOMENSENEWS)--The word on the streets of Casablanca, the bustling, commercial capital of Morocco, is out: The emperor has new clothes. He also has a new baby girl, and the Moroccan press made a splash about it. Weeks after the birth of King Mohammed VI's daughter, Princess Khadija, on Feb. 28, Morocco's two leading women's magazines offered an "exclusive" visual paean to her little, royal highness.

Featuring the Moroccan royal family in exquisite traditional robes, the special photo features offered a rare, royally sanctioned glimpse of the private world of Mohammed VI, 18th king in the Alaouite dynasty, one of the world's oldest ruling dynasties. "Of course I bought copies of both magazines," says Botoul Sahli, a 42-year-old teacher, minutes before the start of an open-air fashion show in an upscale Casablanca district.

"They are beautiful photos. I love the rich, royal traditional outfits," she adds, as gentle evening breeze ripples her shoulder-length hair. "His majesty does not give importance to the veil. His wife and his sisters go out without the veil. They are very important symbols for us, Moroccan Muslim women."

Hailed as a bright hope for Arab modernization when he ascended the throne seven years ago, Mohammed VI has had a mixed track record since. But even his fiercest critics concede that his initiatives supporting women's rights have been a resounding success.

On Oct. 10, 2003, the king presented parliament with a reformed Family Code. A package of personal and family laws covering marriage, divorce and inheritance rights, the code--or "mudawana"-- was a battleground for a decades-long fight between secular modernists and conservative Islamists who called the debate "a war between believers and apostates."

It was the deadly May 16, 2003, terrorist attacks in Casablanca that eventually turned the tide in favor of the modernists. Following a widespread anti-fundamentalist wave after the suicide bombings, the king came down firmly in favor of women's rights, while positioning his arguments within an Islamic rubric.

In a country where the monarch is the final, sacrosanct arbiter of power, the modified code was in effect, a done deal. Months later, parliament approved the code. Considered one of the most progressive in the Arab world, the code grants women equal gender status, shared family rights and the right to initiate divorce and marry without the permission of a male family member.

Women in Parliament
On the political front, the 2002 Electoral Code introduced a novel "national list" that reserved 30 parliamentary seats for women. Currently, women hold 35 out of 325 seats in the lower house, including 30 from the national list as well as five who won in their local districts. As the country heads for landmark parliamentary elections this September, Nouzha Skalli, parliamentary representative from the PPS (Party of Progress and Socialism), admits it's a long way from the mid-1970s, when she began her political career. The previous parliament, for instance, had only two women in the lower chamber.

But Skalli is quick to note that female representation in parliament of around 10 percent is only a first step. "Morocco is committed to having 30 percent female representation by 2015," she says. "To meet that goal, we have to do a lot more." Even for the women who have made it into parliament, Skalli says it's an uphill battle to make it into important committees and positions. "There's a constant struggle for power from men. We women don't like to fight."

Euphoria Ebbs
Although the reformed Family Code has won much international praise, Moroccan women's rights activists note there are widespread implementation problems across the country with millions of marginalized women still under the mercy of ill-informed, reactionary "adouls," or Muslim family affairs judges. More than three years after the code was signed into law, Moroccan women's organizations are now confronting serious shortcomings--primarily due to vague legal requirements--that were initially overlooked in the euphoria surrounding its passage.

Polygamy, for instance, was not entirely abolished. And while the new code put the legal age of marriage for men and women at 18, exceptions were made when the family affairs judges could offer a "well-substantiated decision explaining the interest and reasons justifying the marriage."

One of the most extensively documented shortfalls of the code is the criminalization of sex outside marriage--for females only. The stipulation imposes harsh legal and social stigmas on single mothers, says Aicha Ech-Channa, founder of Feminine Solidarity, a Casablanca-based nongovernmental group that is one of Morocco's leading champions of women's sexual rights. "We need to do a lot more to feed information to women and the media and to pressure politicians to change the law. But it will take a lot of work because of rising Islamism in Morocco," says Ech-Channa.

Unlikely Allies
Like many secular Moroccan women's rights activists, Ech-Channa views the king as a bulwark against Islamism in this Muslim-dominated North African Arab kingdom. "For me as a Moroccan, the king is a unifier," she says. "There's no real democracy in Arab countries and Morocco is not ready for a real democracy. We have a constitutional monarchy with political parties and the king can stay as a unifier." But others say Morocco is not a constitutional monarchy. Under that system a king's power is supposed to be checked by strong political institutions but Mohammed, by contrast, faces no such checks and balances.

As a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, the 43-year-old monarch bears the title of "Commander of the faithful," or its religious chief. He can form and dissolve both government and parliament, call for elections or rule by decree. In effect, the country's constitution grants him absolute power. In recent years, a small but increasingly vocal section of the population has been openly critical of the makzhan, a term popularly used to describe the royal court and a veritable shadow government of royal advisors and cronies who control the Moroccan economy. These include people from two quite otherwise unrelated and even opposing factions: secular, pro-democracy campaigners frustrated with powerlessness of Moroccan elected institutions and fiercely anti-monarchist Islamists such as the underground Justice and Spirituality Movement.

It's a peculiarly post-Cold War Moroccan situation that arranges these two mutually suspicious camps on the same side of the anti-makzhan divide, pitted against largely royalist secular women's rights supporters. The hope for many secular pro-democracy campaigners resigned to the current Islamic revivalism is that a moderate Islamic party such as the PJD can successfully bridge Morocco's precipitous divides.

It's an aspiration that could well be tested after elections in September.
Leela Jacinto is an award-winning freelance journalist who writes on Middle Eastern and South Asian affairs. She was an international news reporter at ABCNEWS.com, New York, and has taught journalism at the Pajhwok Afghan News Service in Kabul, Afghanistan.
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/3206/context/archive
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Elections Put Moroccan Women at Crossroads.
06/18/07 By Leela Jacinto    WeNews correspondent
Morocco passed landmark liberalizing reforms for women in 2000 but some secular activists fear they could be weakened in September by a change in Parliament. Second in two stories on the elections.

CASABLANCA, Morocco (WOMENSENEWS)--Nadia Yassine breaks into a face-splitting grin when asked about the parliamentary elections this September in her native Morocco. "It is a non-event," she pronounces mischievously, her kohl-rimmed eyes twinkling beneath a wispy, but tautly secured chiffon veil. "It's a grand media show which could let foreigners think we're in a democratic country."

After nearly two decades of brutal political and human rights repression, commonly referred to as "the years of lead," during the 1960s and 1970s, Morocco has seen a slow, careful democratic transition instituted by former King Hassan II at the end of his reign. Human rights in this Arab nation have been vastly improved, parliament has seen a limited increase in its powers and the former king did succeed in reaching out to political parties to bring formerly hostile organizations into government.

Today, the moderate Party of Justice and Development--so far the only Moroccan Islamist party to run in elections--is widely expected to win the largest number of votes in the polls. "These elections are historic for Morocco--and the international community--since there's a good chance that an Islamist party will emerge as the single most important party," says Marina Ottaway, Middle East Program director at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace,

But that seems to matter little to Yassine, whose father is Sheikh Abdessalam Yassine, the charismatic, 79-year old founder of the banned virulently anti-monarchist Justice and Spirituality Movement. A shadowy, banned Islamist organization, the Justice and Spirituality Movement has a disciplined organizational structure and growing cadre of supporters primarily in the sprawling Moroccan city of Casablanca and other urban areas.

As Yassine talks, a clutch of women around the table--grim, veiled and disciplined--hang on to her every word. The 48-year old Moroccan grandmother may be all disarming, maternal Muslim smiles. But her unsmiling lieutenants in this cafe in the heart of an unlovely district of Casablanca leave no doubt that Yassine is deadly serious.

Voice at Crossroads
Nadia Yassine is a loud voice at a crossroads for women in what is widely seen as one of the most liberal countries for women in the Arab world. Many devout women see her as an Islamic feminist. The Justice and Spirituality Movement has a "women's section" that purports to "break the trilogy of ignorance, poverty and violence that prevents women from joining the process of development."

Through a network of literacy and secret solidarity meetings, Yassine says the group teaches women, "how to be actors of history and not subjects." This, she adds, is done in an Islamic framework since "Islam has never said that women should only be beautiful, pregnant and shut up." But Yassine's track record on women's rights is bumpy and a deep distrust still separates secular Moroccan women's rights activists from their Islamic counterparts.

"Everyone says the Islamists will win," says Aicha Ech-Channa, founder of Feminine Solidarity, a Casablanca-based group that helps single mothers survive the social taboos placed upon them. "On behalf of democracy, they (the Islamists) may get power. But I'm scared they will withdraw women's rights."

Impressive Gains for Women
Over the past few years, aided by the current King Mohammed VI, who is widely seen as Morocco's biggest champion of women's rights, Moroccan women have made some impressive gains. In 2000, the Moroccan parliament passed landmark, liberalizing reforms to Morocco's conservative Family Code that ushered in a new era for women's rights. In an astute political move, the king, as the spiritual head--or "Commander of the faithful" of the Moroccan people--proclaimed the reforms were under the rubric of "ijtihad," or an Islamic interpretation of the scriptures.

During the debates over those reforms, Yassine's movement--along with the Party of Justice and Development -- infamously took to the streets protesting the proposed reforms as a "western imposition." Both the PJD and Yassine's Justice and Spirituality quickly endorsed the reforms following the deadly May 2003 terrorist attacks in Casablanca, which unleashed a popular anti-Islamist wave.

Nevertheless, secular activists often describe the turnaround on the Family Code reforms as opportunistic and strategic. "I don't believe in a moderate Islam," says Nouzha Skalli, a veteran socialist politician. "Islamist parties only use women to support their own vision. I don't believe they are preoccupied by women's freedoms. The only freedom they ask for women is the so-called 'freedom' to use the veil."

While conceding that the PJD and Justice and Spirituality "do not have much sympathy for women's rights," the Carnegie Endowment's Ottaway, like many Morocco-watchers, is intrigued about Yassine's political plans. "The interesting thing is that Nadia Yassine is a real feminist, although in the Islamic framework," says Ottaway. "Her organization is doing an outstanding job outreaching to everyone. In that sense, Nadia really is a political animal."

Perched Between Two Worlds
Perched at the western extremity of the Arab world, with only six miles of sea separating one of its edges from an increasingly inhospitable Europe, Morocco has long been viewed as a sort of model Muslim nation in Western capitals. Led by King Mohammed VI, the 18th sovereign of a dynasty that dates to the mid-17th century, Morocco is a staunch Arab ally in Washington's "war on terror." It enjoys the status of a non-NATO ally, has traditional trading ties with Europe and more than a million-strong expatriate population dispersed across Europe and North America.

Now, an Islamic revivalism--that runs the gamut from a nonviolent, religious identity consciousness to violent Islamic extremism--is sweeping Morocco as well as its neighboring Arab states on the northern rim of the African continent. On April 15, two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside U.S. diplomatic offices in Casablanca, just days after a police raid in a volatile shantytown led to four deaths. The attacks came barely four years after a series of suicide bombings across Casablanca killed 45 people on May 16, 2003.

Across Morocco and France, where the majority of Morocco's expatriate population live and work, there's a palpable fear of Islamic revivalism in secular Moroccan circles. But noting the PJD's moderate, largely pragmatic political track record Aboubakr Jamai, former editor of the independent weekly, Le Journal Hebdomadaire, dismisses what he calls "post-Iraq concerns" that certain countries are not ready for democracy as "a false debate."

"To me, the cost of excluding them (the PJD) is higher," says Jamai, noting the bloody cost of suppressing mainstream Islamic voices in neighboring Algeria. "When you bring people into the debate, you strengthen the moderate voices. If you don't, you risk strengthening the most radical elements." But Jamai is quick to offer certain rules of engagement. "When it comes to engaging with Islamic parties, it's a risk worth taking provided you take precautionary measures," he says. "To me, certain red lines – like hate incitement, racism, anti-Semitism and women's rights must be drawn."
Leela Jacinto is an award-winning freelance journalist who writes on Middle Eastern and South Asian affairs. She was an international news reporter at ABCNEWS.com, New York, and has taught journalism at the Pajhwok Afghan News Service in Kabul, Afghanistan.
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm?aid=3207&CFID=12094204&CFTOKEN=20377708
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Child maids toil for pittance, face abuse. 
20 Jun 2007 Reuters     By Zakia Abdennebi RABAT, June 20 (Reuters)

Five years ago Khadija's mother sent her 8-year old daughter to work as a housemaid in the city, where her first employer beat her. "In the capital my daughter will dress well and eat well," said Manana of her decision. She is paid 500 Moroccan Dirhams ($60.56) monthly for Khadija's work. "No person likes to see their children suffering. I sent her to work for her own well-being," Manana said on condition their family name was not used. "Me and my husband cannot look after her and the other 4 children." Now 13, Khadija is one of tens of thousands of girls working as domestics in Morocco, who according to a 2006 Human Rights Watch report face physical and psychological abuse as well as economic exploitation.

The U.N. agency for children UNICEF said in a recent report that 600,000 Moroccan children aged between seven and 14 are obliged to work, of whom 84 percent work in farms and 96 percent are forced to work for their own families. The same report showed that 800,000 Moroccan children do not attend school.

Khadija still remembers the day when a woman go-between brought her to Rabat from her hamlet in northern Morocco. "The first family I worked for was very bad. The woman beat me for no apparent reason," she told Reuters. "One day she hit my head against the window sill because I left the washing in a bucket."

The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that more girls under 16 work in domestic service around the world than in any other category of child labour. A working day of 14 to 18 hours, with no holidays, is common for girls like Khadija, Human Rights Watch said. Many are paid as little as six dirhams ($0.70) a day, some even less. Denied basic labour rights, they are beaten, exploited and sexually abused, and the authorities rarely punish employers who abuse them.

"There is a myth that these girls are improving themselves by working...the reality is that far too many girls end up suffering lasting physical and psychological harm," said Clarisa Bencomo, children's rights researcher for Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch. It reports similar situations in El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Togo, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.

PROSTITUTION
Khadija, smiling awkwardly, says she is happy to work for her new employer -- a Moroccan family in Rabat. But her prospects are not bright, according to Souad Tawessi, a human rights activist and social worker."The danger for the young house maids is that they could become prostitutes when they grow into adults," said Tawessi, who worked for 10 years in Moroccan organisations looking after unmarried mothers: "About 90 percent of the unmarried mothers I met were house maids in their childhood."

The plight of child workers, Tawessi said, is the result of Moroccan social problems like poverty, illiteracy and an educational system which discriminates between girls and boys. The government has vowed to fight abuse of child maids: Yasmina Baddou, family affairs junior minister, agreed that discrimination in education is a factor behind child labour alongside poverty and violence.

"People accept that girls work at home and this makes the exploitation acceptable by the society," she told Reuters. "We want to make national opinion more sensitive about the danger of child labour." Baddou said the government sought to regulate the work of housemaids, insisting that no girl under the age of 15 should be employed as a domestic servant.

Human Rights Watch has praised Morocco's efforts to expand legal protection against abuse and address the underlying causes, but the group said the kingdom's efforts "do not constitute the integrated strategy for combating the worst forms of child labour that Morocco needs". For social worker Tawessi, that would need a profound change: "The poverty which is more dangerous is cultural poverty -- by which I mean Moroccan society increasingly turning its back on solidarity, as selfishness and greed prevail." http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ABD658819.htm
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Dreams of Europe in drought-ridden Morocco.   18 Jun 2007 : Reuters. By Tom Pfeiffer LAGFAF, Morocco, June 18 (Reuters)

When 2007 arrived and the winter rains had still not fallen, Morocco's religious leaders led anxious prayers to avert a rural catastrophe, quoting from the Koran: "And it is he who makes the rains fall after we have despaired, and spreads his grace."
The months passed but clouds scudded over the kingdom's central plains without shedding their load and in the fields near the central Moroccan town of Khouribga, seeds grew into stunted crops.

The harvest is almost over, and farmers gathered for the weekly market in the nearby village of Lagfaf say most of the wheat is good enough only for the animals. Only 100 kg per hectare were harvested, against 2 tonnes in a good year. The last time things were this bad was 1981, when scarcity of grain caused bread prices to soar and led to bloody riots in Casablanca. "It was similar back in 1981 but since then we've never had such a tough year as this," said Mohamed Darif, a tall, thin 78-year-old Indochina war veteran wearing thick glasses and a tufty white beard on his bony chin.

Young men who would normally be earning 30 dirhams ($3.57) a day helping with the harvest instead spend their time in cafes, talking about escape to Europe. "We're here all day just waiting for the evening. We eat, then we sleep," said Tarek Afhuf, 19. "I know my family is here but I must work. I need a future."

'STRUCTURAL PHENOMENON'
Officials in the capital Rabat say climate change has raised temperatures and contributed to a 30 percent decline in rainfall in recent years and fertile acreage is shrinking. They blame the drought for an expected slump in Morocco's economic growth this year, showing how farming in the kingdom still relies on smallholdings that lie beyond the network of dams and irrigation channels that guarantee water in dry years.

The government has launched measures to protect flocks using water trucks, tax breaks and subsidies on animal feed.
It says many grain farmers have joined an insurance scheme to protect their incomes and are benefiting from advice to help a shift to alternative crops like olives, fruit and chickpeas. "With global warming, the situation could worsen, but drought is already a structural phenomenon in the country," said an official at Morocco's agriculture ministry who asked not to be named: "Everything is being geared to water economy, diversification of crops and adaptation."

Farmers in Lagfaf say the help is failing to reach them. Their incomes dwindling, some say they would be unable to sow or harvest without money borrowed from relatives who have already moved abroad. Without help, they are unable to invest in equipment to improve productivity and raise their standard of living. An alternative -- to lease land to a bigger landowner with the financial clout to buy the equipment -- still leaves small farmers at risk.

A group of farmers in Lagfaf said they rented 1,400 hectares to a local official in 2001: he failed to pay them and has blocked government aid to them. A court ruled in their favour but the police have never enforced the ruling, they said. "Drought is a natural thing, the will of God that we must accept," said Darif. "What we won't accept is that we are deprived of subsidies and our land taken illegally."

HEROES
Two-thirds of the illegal Moroccan migrants arrested by Spanish authorities in recent years come from the farming and phosphate mining region between Khouribga and the nearby town of Beni Mellal, according to migrant family support group AFVIC. It says between 300,000 and 400,000 people have left the area in the last decade. Those who make it to France, Spain and Italy are viewed back home as heroes, encouraging more to leave. But some have decided to stay behind and pour their energy into making small-scale farming viable. A dairy cooperative recently established near Lagfaf has quickly grown to 100 members with a total of 600 cows to buy feed in bulk at lower prices and sell milk to Centrale Laitiere, Morocco's biggest milk buyer, controlled by the royal family.

An association trains cooperative members and helps them diversify feed sources and make better use of water. They hope soon to produce cheese and yoghurt using technology borrowed from an Italian non-governmental organisation."People who have not emigrated from here already are thinking about it," said cooperative board member Torri. "But we must not allow our land to fall idle." http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L1410200.htm
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Morocco earmarks USD 626Mn to build thermal-solar station east.
Madrid, June 20

Spanish ABENGOA signed a USD 626Mn agreement with the Moroccan Electricity Utility (ONE) to build a thermal-solar station in Aïn Béni Mathar south to the eastern city of Oujda. The agreement provides for building a 472MW electricity power station that combines natural gas and solar energy in electricity production. An estimated 20% of the electrical power will be supplied by a USD 43Mn field of solar panels spanning over 183,000 sq meters.

The Global Environment Fund (GEF) and the African Bank for Development have also chipped in this station, due to enter into service in the first quarter of 2009. The Spanish multinational said the agreement also provides for maintenance works during the first five years of management. Abengoa is one of Spain's largest applied engineering and process management companies. It manages projects for the energy, telecommunications, transport, water, and environmental industries.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_economy/morocco_earmarks_usd7620/view
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Inflation to stand at 2.3% in 2007, Central Bank .
Rabat, June 19 (MAP)

Bank Al Maghreb, Morocco's central bank said here on Tuesday inflation in the country is due to stand at 2.3% in 2007, down from 3.3% in 2006. A press release issued at the end of the quarterly meeting of the bank Board also said inflation stood at 2.2% in the first four months of 2007, against 3.1% in the same period of 2006, while underlying inflation dropped to 1.4% from 2.9%. The board noted, however, the persistence of sources of uncertainty, especially the pressure of oil prices and international inflation, in addition to the national environment, notably the impact of the shrinking agricultural production and the high level of cash ration.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/inflation_to_stand_a/view
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GDP to reach 1.6% in 2007, 5.8% in 2008.
Rabat, June 14

Gross Domestic Product would reach 1.6% in 2007 and 5.8% in 2008, said the High Commissioner for Planning (French acronym HCP) in a note about the economic aggregates in 2007. This economic growth estimation is calculated on the basis of a bad agricultural campaign, said HCP, which ascribed this "strong drop" of economic growth to a 17.2% decrease in the added-value of the agriculture sector after a 21% increase in 2006.

Cereal production would reach 20.5 million quintals in 2007, compared to 93 million quintals in 2006, said the same source, noting that agricultural production fall would be compensated by consolidating non-agricultural performances, notably in industry and tourism activities that would increase by 4.7% in 2007. Inflation, for its part, would increase by 2.6% compared to 2% in 2006, said the HCP, explaining that "this inflation would be more accentuated without State support to consumption of energy products and the adoption of a careful monetary policy."
National consumption would increase by 5.8% compared to 7% in 2006, notes the HCP, ascribing this tendency to a fall of households consumption.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/gdp_to_reach_1.6_in/view
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Morocco's non-agricultural GDP expected to increase by 5.5%, minister.
Rabat, June 13

Morocco's non-agricultural gross domestic product is expected to post a 5.5% rise during this year, which will reduce the impact of drought on Moroccan economy, said, here Tuesday, Moroccan Finance minister. Speaking at the House of Advisors' (Senate) question time, Fathallah Oualalou noted that this increase would alleviate the effect of the 18% decrease in the agricultural production on the kingdom’s gross domestic product that would post an increase in 2007.

The minister asserted that non-agricultural sectors are witnessing substantial momentum, particularly building and public works, textile, electricity, electronics and tourism. Mr Oualalou assured that this year's agricultural situation would not have a considerable effect. He, nonetheless, added that the climatic situation has had negative repercussions, namely a decrease in the cultivated areas, the income of farmers and a deficit in terms of employment, not least in the rural areas. It would also result in a loss of some 24 million working days.

The official recalled the measures taken by the government in this regard, such as the exemption of livestock food products from import taxes as of January 2007, supplying the market with barley at USD 18/quintal, and the compensation of drought-stricken farmers affiliated to the agricultural insurance, with a budget of some USD 16.8Mn. In this connection, 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.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/morocco_s_non-agricu/view
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2006-2007 agricultural campaign: agriculture products deficit not to exceed 12%.
Rabat, June 12

Despite a 70% decrease in cereal products, agriculture products deficit will not exceed 12% for the current agricultural campaign, said Agriculture Minister, Mohammed Laenser. The quantity of cereal products will reach 21Mn quintal, compared to an annual average of 60Mn to 65Mn/ quintal, the minister told the Moroccan radio "Aswat" on Monday.

The Moroccan policy to alleviate the drought effects is based notably on reducing the cultivated lands destined to poor productivity products, and creating alternative agricultural forms, such as olive, carob and almond trees, said the minister. Mr Laenser noted that food security requires mainly the diversification of agricultural products as well as the promotion of the export capacity in a bid to ensure the equilibrium of the agricultural trade balance. The filling rate of Moroccan dams has reached 56%, i.e. some 8.4Bn cubic meters, said the minister, underlining that irrigation requirements will be normal in many irrigation perimeters.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/2006-2007_agricultur/view
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Morocco allocates USD 1.6Bn to subsidize basic consumer goods, minister.
Rabat, June 14

The Moroccan government has earmarked MAD 13.4Bn, around USD 1.6Bn, to subsidize basic consumer commodities, announced, here Wednesday, Minister Delegate in charge of economic and general Affairs, Rachid Talbi El Alami. Speaking at the House of Representatives' (lower house) question time, Mr El Alami noted that the government reduced the price of oil products twice following the decrease registered on the international market.

Notwithstanding the recent rise in the fuel price up to USD 70, he went on, the government has not raised the price so as to preserve the citizens’ purchasing power. The minister also pointed that the government urged the fruits and vegetables association to reduce the prices, as well as the transport companies to reduce fares , mainly following the fall in energy products prices.

The government had earlier announced that a total of 6.127 projects, worth USD 242Mn, were launched in 2006 as part of the National Initiative for Human Development. These projects would, according to Prime Minister Driss Jettou, benefit some 1.4 million people throughout Morocco. 7,000 additional projects are planned for this year.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/morocco_allocates_us8603/view
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Morocco moves forward thanks to full-scale reforms rather than natural resources, Minister.
Meknès (center), June 19

The Moroccan Finance Minister stressed, here Tuesday, that Morocco moves forward, both at the qualitative and quantitative levels, thanks to the global adhesion to reforms in different fields, rather than its natural resources. The minister, who was speaking at a meeting on "the Regions' economies in tomorrow's Morocco", noted that the average growth rate has reached, between 2001 and 2006, 5.4% as against 2.5% in the 1990s, underlining Morocco's ability, for the first time ever in its history, to manage oil constraints without relying on neither economy nor the budget.

Mr. Oualaou pointed to the accelerated pace of reforms undertaken in the North African country, which led several international credit rating agencies to rank it among the countries that proved capable of promoting abilities to attract investments. He underlined the Moroccan economy's ability to attract more regional investments mainly in the fields of electronics, aeronautics and automobile industry, calling for exerting more efforts to promote the achievements and step up the implementation pace of the launched projects, and boost the performance of the economy.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_economy/morocco_moves_forwar/view
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The Sahara's dunes showcase Morocco's desolate beauty.
By ANIKA MYERS PALM THE ORLANDO SENTINEL (Original publication: June 10, 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.
More at http://www.nyjournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070610/LIFESTYLE01/706100301
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Five pencils and one Morocco. Writer and illustrator Roger Mello, from Brasília, spent two weeks in the Arab country. With five pencils and a copybook in his luggage, he drew what he saw. The adventure became book 'Desertos' (Deserts), by Objetiva publishing house, which also includes poetry by Roseana Murray.
Isaura Daniel* isaura.daniel@anba.com.br

São Paulo – Writer and illustrator Roger Mello, from Brazilian capital Brasília, but who now lives in Rio de Janeiro, lives surrounded by pencils, paint brushes, ink, rulers, all kinds of material for drawing. In 2002, however, he travelled to Morocco with just a copybook and five coloured pencils in his luggage. The artist spent two weeks travelling to cities like Marrakech, Rabat and Casablanca, drawing and painting what he saw. From the adventure came a Morocco in black, red, blue, green and yellow, showed in book "Desertos" (Deserts), published last year by publishing house Objetiva.

The illustrations received poems by writer Roseana Murray, from Rio de Janeiro. Mello drew a man in black and white clothes, facing backwards, entering a street in Medina. And Roseana wrote: "Beside the wall, the man walks, his body saturated in prayer, carrying a sacred cane, with his steps he stitches together the West and the East." Mello also drew three women talking on a road. "An ancient wind blows through the desert, crossing millennia and reaching Tamelet, where three women, and tree birds, are lightly carried, to land within a poem," wrote Roseana.

The verses were inspired on the drawing themselves because Roseana did not travel to Morocco with Mello. The artist drew colourful stands in the market, windows of concubines, refineries, and electric installations. "I did not focus only on the traditional, I also showed the now," stated Mello. The book is a graphic travel diary. "I drew the landscapes," stated Mello. Many illustrations were made on buses, while the writer moved from one place to the other. Why did Mello decide to travel to Morocco? "I was at a phase in which I started and stopped everything. I needed a hiatus," he explained.

The choice of the country was due to the author's admiration for Morocco. "Morocco is fascinating. Literature owes much to the East," stated Mello. "Desertos" was the first book written by Mello in the Arab countries. The illustrator is programming, however, a publication about Iraq. The book will be called "Zubair and the Labyrinths" to tell the story of a boy called Zubair who hides in Baghdad Museum when it is pillaged. The boy takes a carpet from the place and on it discovers labyrinths that transport him to another Bagdad, with its ancient palaces and markets. Mello decided to write the book after following news about the pillaging of the museum, in 2003.

The illustrator
Mello draws and also writes. The Brazilian has 15 books published, some just with illustrations and others with his own drawings and texts. He has already, however, illustrated over 90 books, some by famous authors like Guimarães Rosa, Graciliano Ramos and Ana Maria Machado. The most famous book by Mello is "Meninos do Mangue" (Boys from the Mangrove), which tells the story of books who live off hunting crabs. The work received the Jabuti award, the most traditional Brazilian literature award, in two categories in 2002: best children's book and best illustration of a children's book. He also won the Grand Prize of the Swiss Fondation Espace Enfants.

The illustrator graduated in Industrial Design and Visual Programming from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). He has also worked with writer and illustrator Ziraldo, and with some television channels, like Rede Globo, for which he drew for the ads of soap opera Vamp. His first book, Flor do Lado de Lá (The Flower from That Side), is the story of a tapir that is interested in a flower, it was published in 1999. His first illustration of a book was in "A bolinha de jornal” (The newspaper ball), by Fátima Portilho, edited in 1991.

The poet
Book "Desertos" was not the first publication in which Mello and Roseana worked together. They won the 2002 Brazilian Academy of Letters Award for book Jardins, in which Mello illustrated poems Roseana wrote about plants. In "Desertos" the process was the opposite. "I wrote about his pictures," stated Roseana. The poems were written based on references that the writer and poet had of the region, having read the classic Thousand and One Nights and the Bible. "I wanted to create a loving look into the East," she stated. Roseana has over 50 children's and infant books published. Almost all are poetry books.

Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Roseana graduated in Literature and French from the University of Nancy, in France. She published her first children's book in 1980 and won the "Best of Poetry" award by the National Foundation of Kid's and Infant Books (FNLIJ) in 1986, for work Fruta no Ponto (Ripe Fruit), in 1990 for Artes e Ofícios (Arts and Crafts) and in 1997 for Receitas de Olhar (Recipes for Sight). Roseana currently lives in Rio de Janeiro, in the city of Saquarema.

Service Desertos (Deserts) By Roger Mello and Roseana Murray Editora Objetiva 88 pages Price: R$ 29,90 (US$ 15,70) *Translated by Mark Ament http://www.anba.com.br/ingles/noticia.php?id=15081
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My kind of town: Fes, Morocco.
03/06/2007

Mark Ellingham, the founder of Rough Guides, enjoys mint tea and pigeon pie in a medieval labyrinth………...
Why Fes?
Read more here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?xml=/travel/2007/06/04/etfes104.xml
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Morocco's Hip Hop Revolution.   
21/06/2007  By Latifa al Arousni Rabat, Asharq Al-Awsat

Audiences scream and shout in frenzied anticipation for Morocco’s rap bands to perform. Moroccan rap artists are taking the local music scene by storm in what can only be described as a bona fide phenomenon reflecting the voices of the country's younger generation. Held annually in Rabat, the ‘Mawâzine Rythmes du Monde’ festival dedicates a main section of its artistic program to provide a platform for such artists and groups to perform their music, which it dubs the ‘Mawazine generation’. Musical genres include rap, rock, hip-hop and reggae. Among the names of some of these bands are ‘Zanka Flow’ (Street Flow), ‘H-Kayne’, ‘Fnaïre’ and ‘Kanka’. These bands depend on sharp performances that address their listeners in an immediate and direct manner.

But what is the secret behind the popularity of these groups that draw twenty-something year olds? They perform very simple musical compositions and most of the performers lack musical background. The only redeeming quality to their music is their love for this Western type of music, which they imitate or ‘Moroccan-ize’ by integrating popular Moroccan rhythms such as Gnawa [also Gnaoua]. But is it not only the music that reflects the Western influence as their choice of clothes, loose cotton t-shirts printed with certain phrases and baggy jeans worn low on their hips, is also a sign of Western influence . They emulate American artists especially, and often wear sports caps, gold and silver chains and even earrings.

It’s true that they make up a phenomenon that is worthy of close examination, not simply because of the concerns they address in colloquial Moroccan Arabic, but particularly because of the influence they have on Moroccan youth. But it’s not only their demeanor and movement that attracts attention and lends an impression of freedom and challenge; the words of their songs have come to constitute a reference for their thoughts and experiences. Through their music they are able to voice their positions and what they are against or dissatisfied with. They use phrases such as, “Be a gentleman or leave,” and at times express absolute pessimism declaring “no present, no future and no past.”

The topics broached by the songs are endless and include unemployment, poverty, wars, drugs and prostitution, and perhaps this is what accounts for their success and the positive response they receive from their young audiences. But the problem is that some of these performers do cross the line and do not hesitate in using abusive or hurtful words under the pretext of ‘realism’ when they talk about shameful phenomena in society such as prostitution for example.

The artist ‘Bigg’, who rose to stardom, is hosted on TV talk shows and has also been featured in a number of advertisements. Bigg has even collaborated with political parties that describe themselves as ‘historic’ or ‘nationalist’, which rely on his presence in their propaganda gatherings to ensure the largest turnout of Moroccan youth. What is marked is that the majority of these groups has a strong sense of nationalism and expresses its patriotism in its own unique way.

Asharq Al-Awsat interviewed various artists during the ‘Mawâzine Rythmes du Monde’ festival [18-24 May, Rabat] to see what their view was on the matter.

According to Farid Ghenam, one of eight members that make up the Casablanca-based group ‘Ma Yara Fusion’, their music is a blend between traditional Moroccan and Western sounds. The group was awarded this year’s Mawâzine prize in the music category [the same award also went to ‘Hakmin’ from Meknes], and the reason behind its success, in Ghenam’s opinion, is that the group’s members exert all their efforts to deliver the best to their audiences. He affirms that audiences are able to discern between genuine songs and pretentious ones. Ghenam does not deny the role of the media in making these groups known; groups that have imposed themselves on the scene to fill the gap that already existed.

However, Zacharia Bnan, a member of the Bnan performance arts troupe, which performs folkloric Moroccan music, believes that the rap phenomenon in Morocco is a short-lived one that will soon disappear. He predicts that the people will get bored with such groups and ultimately seek tradition, which is embodied in the Moroccan music culture. Bnan, who spoke with confidence, said that his troupe wanted to emphasize the fact that Moroccan youth do not rush to imitate the Western tradition and that they were attached to their Moroccan identity.

For his part, 23-year-old Yousef al Fajri who is the accountant for ‘Hnouz’ group stated that young people nowadays prefer loud music. He said that this was the reason ‘Hnouz’ chose to play this type of music, and furthermore added that the lyrics of their songs were not a priority but rather that the melodies and rhythms came first.

But the success of many of these groups, in their own view, is based on their ‘politique’; or their words about politics, which they approach with boldness and honesty. Their young listeners have found that the words of these songs express what goes on in their own minds.

As for the members of Hakmin, they insisted that they learnt music through ‘perseverance and expertise’ and absolutely reject the notion that they are merely imitating American rap groups. In their opinion, ‘rap’ is a rhythmic genre that exists in all languages. The members added that their music was not simply directed at youth but rather at all segments in society. They revealed that they rely on Moroccan musical pieces, which they incorporate into their music to make new versions and remixes. The group also stressed that it was careful to emphasize the beautiful and positive aspects of Morocco, while including messages that urge youth to practice good morals. They too, like the members of ‘Ma Yara Fusion’ acknowledge the significant role the media played in their rise to fame.

So, what are the views of the musicians on this new wave of music?
Baleid al Akef, Moroccan composer and member of the ‘Mawazine generation’ jury committee told Asharq Al-Awsat that the majority of these groups deal with Western music by virtue of the ages [of the musicians]. He added that their ages ranged between 16-30 years old and that they lacked experience but that the festival offered them a chance to mature for the future  especially those that show potential and promise. Al Akef pointed out that the festival encourages groups that emerge from the Moroccan musical tradition, meaning that they integrate tradition and contemporary aspects of music. However, he expressed his amazement at those who sing in English despite their improper pronunciation of the language.

Al Akef explained that ‘rap’ music fundamentally relies on street “lingo” that express the socially and economically repressed conditions of a particular segment of society, which is why this type of music is prevalent in the marginalized neighborhoods and districts. He compared it to the roots of rap and hip-hop in Harlem and the Bronx in the US, and French rap that originated in France’s poor suburbs [les banlieues, French rap is often referred to as the voice of the banlieues]. According to al Akef, French and American rap has a huge audience and moreover has a significant impact on social, and even political, life. Al Akef maintains that such artists and performers possess an awareness, which he contrasts with Moroccan rap performers. Al Akef believes that the content of Moroccan rap is vacant and full of slander, pessimism and vile language.

But al Akef was quick to affirm that he does not direct any blame at these youth but rather at the officials of the Moroccan Ministry of Culture and Communication who place youth showing artistic promise within a framework. He added that they establish cultural centers that specialize in artistic development to guide these young artists’ inclinations rather than let them creatively grow into their own.
http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=7&id=9341
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