Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
April 22, 2006

Infantile mortality drops in Morocco.
AIDS First association of HIV positives created in Casablanca.
Moroccan association creating world's largest painting as show of solidarity with AIDS sufferers.
AMPF awarded Quality of Services Prize in sexual and reproductive health.
World Health Day Morocco celebrates health workforce.
Morocco's ambitious economic reforms 'still not enough'.
World Bank sets up anticorruption strategy.
Fuel-Efficient Cook Stoves for Moroccan Villagers...What's that Got to Do with Education? A Lot.
New SOS facility opens in El Jadida.
IDB to finance Rural Electrification Project in Morocco.
Mandatory Health Insurance covers 3.5 million people, Moroccan official.
Jews are 'essential part' of Moroccan heritage, Amran El Maleh.
Survey: Marriage highly valued in Morocco
First Festival of Oases to enrich cultural exchange.
About 1,000 children of Moroccans abroad invited for 'cultural stay'.
International Conference on Popular Arts held in Morocco.

Infantile mortality drops in Morocco.
Rabat, Morocco, 04/22

Morocco is among the nine developing countries that have recorded a drop in infant mortality rates, according to a world report on the follow-up of the Millennium Development Goals published here on Friday. According to the 2005 report of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the death toll among Moroccan children under five years old was estimated at 3.9 percent in 2003. The World Bank-drafted report, also noted a drop in infant mortality in Madagascar, Indonesia, Philippines, Bolivia, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Mozambique and Cameroon.
http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=434732 
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AIDS First association of HIV positives created in Casablanca.
By Karima Rhanem

'Annahar' association for HIV positives, the first of its kind in Morocco and the second in the Maghreb and the Arab World, was created in Casablanca on Friday to facilitate meetings and exchange and share information on prevention with HIV positives. K.J, the new president of the "Annahar" association, said its aim is to boost the moral of HIV positives, and to have a say in the international strategy of world organizations that work in the field of the fight against AIDS.

He added that the association also aims to fight against stigmatization and discrimination against HIV positives; promote exchange and contacts between HIV positives, create income generating activities for the reintegration of the people living with HIV, and participate in the meetings of the national coordination committee for the fight against AIDS.

Regarding the name of the association, K.J said that they named it after the 'Annahar' hospital that the King has inaugurated recently. "We were living in a miserable situation before the inauguration of the new hospital. We have seen light when the King opened the new hospital. That's why we have decided to give our association its name," explained K.J.

A.B, one of the elected members of the association's executive board recounted her story of suffering and how she got AIDS. "Through this association, we want to raise the Moroccan people's awareness of the danger of HIV-AIDS, and invite them to take precautions. We don't want the disease to spread in Morocco," she stressed.

The Association Marocaine des Jeunes Contre le SIDA (AMJCS), which hosted the general assembly of the association in its headquarters in Casablanca, offered the new members free training in computing, and free language courses (French-English). AMJCS also took in charge the transport expenses of the members in order to encourage them to come to the courses. The AMJCS is one of the associations active in the field of AIDS prevention. It was created in 1993 by a group of young Moroccans to fight the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STI) in Morocco

The AMJCS president, Abdessamad Oussayh, told Morocco Times that supporting this initiative is part of the association's strategy in the fight against AIDS. "We want the HIV positives to speak for themselves. We don't want them to be only receivers, but rather participating in all the actions against AIDS," he explained. "The idea of offering training courses aims at upgrading their educational level in order to apt to represent other HIV positives in national and international conferences against AIDS. We also want to help them generate income because most of them lost their jobs when their employers learned they had HIV," Oussayh added.

Dr. Hakima Himmich, president of the 'Association Marocaine de Lutte Contre le SIDA' (ALCS), who came to encourage the creation of Annahar association, said the pioneering initiative is "very positive", and invited the new members to adhere to the international network of HIV positives to facilitate communication and exchange.

Morocco is one of the North African countries that has known AIDS since the middle of the 80s. The first case of AIDS was discovered in 1986 in a man infected by a blood transfusion during surgery in France. Statistics up to 2005 reveal that the total number of full-blown AIDS cases in Morocco reached 1839. According to AMJCS, there are 16,000 to 25,000 HIV positives in Morocco.

The first association of HIV positives was created in Algeria in 1998 under the name 'El Hayet' association, which groups HIV positives and their families. Since its creation, El Hayet has been fighting against stigmatization and discrimination against the people living with HIV, as the disease is still surrounded with taboo in the Maghreb and the Arab world.

'Annahar' association is the second of its kind in the Arab world, which came to break the silence surrounding the disease and invite Arab and world leaders to show their political commitments in the fight against AIDS.
http://www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=11&id=14153 
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Moroccan association creating world's largest painting as show of solidarity with AIDS sufferers.
By Lahcen Moqnia -- 21/04/06

The Association Marocaine des Jeunes Contre le SIDA (AMJCS) is creating the world's largest painting, with the participation of 26 professional artists from Morocco and abroad. Work on the painting will begin 29 April in Nevada Square, Casablanca. Once completed, the painting will embark on a worldwide tour; first in a series of Moroccan cities and several world capitals, before reaching Canada for the International AIDS Conference in Toronto this August.

"We wanted our participation in the Toronto conference to be special and to influence the conference recommendations for the benefit of young people in Africa and the Third World. Therefore, we chose the means of artistic expression to communicate our message to the world. This painting is a message from Moroccan youth, on behalf of young people in Africa and the Third World, to governments and countries of the world and international bodies and organisations, inviting them to double their support and aid to African communities and poor countries to enable them to provide free treatment to sufferers and promote education and awareness to protect their young people, in order to curb the spread of this disease," AMJCS President Abdessamad Oussayh, told Magharebia.

The canvas will be made up of 56 120x150cm sections to form a total area of 250 square meters. The painting will be started on the morning of 29 April in Nevada Square, Casablanca, in the presence of representatives from accredited Moroccan diplomatic bodies, civil society associations, companies, and organisations supporting projects and various activities involved in fighting AIDS in Morocco.
Throughout the morning, children and young people will be given the opportunity to paint the canvas in order to leave their mark and express themselves. During the second half of the day, professional artists will work on the canvas. The graphic theme of the painting will be agreed to during a prior meeting to ensure the closest degree of harmony and unity in their work, as well as producing a painting of high artistic value.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2006/04/21/feature-02 
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AMPF awarded Quality of Services Prize in sexual and reproductive health.

The Moroccan Association of Family Planning (AMPF) was awarded, Friday in Rabat, the Quality of Services Prize in sexual and reproductive health, MAP news agency reported. The prize, granted by the International Federation for Family Planning (IPPF), was awarded to AMFP for achieving a 96% performance, topping the list of IPPF member associations, said MAP.

The AMPF vice-president, Khadija Mosleh, underlined that the prize rewards the common efforts of the association volunteers, the support of the health ministry and IPPF. "The award reflects the success of the association in sexual and reproductive health programs, underlining that the association contributes to improving health services, fighting exclusion and promoting women and their integration in development programs" said Mosleh.

The IPPF president of the Arab World bureau, Kawtar El Khayar, affirmed that "AMPF is an example to be followed in the Arab world thanks to its pilot experience in family planning and reproductive health services." She added that IPPF regional bureau will spare no effort to provide the AMPF with the technical support it requires to improve its programs and services.

Created in 1971, the AMPF is active in social and human development and has more than 21 centers of sexual and reproductive health.
http://www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=11&id=13991 
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World Health Day Morocco celebrates health workforce.
By Kaoutar Tbatou Rabat

The Moroccan Ministry of Health and Morocco's office of the World Health Organisation (WHO) celebrated on Friday in Rabat the World Health Day, devoted this year to health workforce as a key element in the quality of health service. Organised under the theme "Working Together for Health", the Day was opened by the Minister of Health Mohammed Chaikh Biadillah, who stressed the important role of health workforce and the necessity to coordinate the efforts of the sector's partners, including governmental departments, education and training institutions, international organisms, and the civil society, for the benefit of the sector's development.

The celebration was marked by the release of the World Health Report 2006, which provides an assessment of the current situation of health human resources in the world to determine the measures needed to achieve satisfactory services at an international scale. The major difficulties stated in the report mainly concern developing countries, with staff shortage at the head of urgent problems. According to the report, the rate of health staff in African countries for each 1,000 citizens is only 2.3, compared to 18.9 in Europe and 24.8 in North America.

In Morocco, there are currently 25,000 health workers, while 1,300 new jobs are created in the health sector every year. Nevertheless, these figures remain far below the needs of Morocco's over 30-million population, which places it among 57 countries which have a severe shortage in health workers. The WHO's report also highlighted the unbalanced distribution of health workforce between urban and rural areas, and between developed and developing countries, in addition to the unsatisfactory work conditions in developing countries.

To face these problems, the WHO has launched the "Health Workforce Decade" (2006-2015), calling all countries to set up decennial strategies which will concentrate on the improvement of administrative management, planning, and staff initial and continuous training. "To reinforce the health system, we must provide it with the right means to function properly," WHO's representative in Morocco Raouf Benammar told Morocco Times. "The decennial plan in Morocco will aim at achieving a more efficient health service, and meeting the expectations of the Moroccan population, but also those of the health workers who need appropriate work conditions, in order for them not to leave their country," he added.

The Day included four workshops for health professionals. They were devoted to the discussion of "Health Workers' Training", "Supporting and Protecting Health Workers", "Increasing the Efficiency of Health Workers", and "Solving Problems of Disequilibrium and Enequalities".

The celebration was also an occasion to honour 11 health workers in recognition of their efforts and achievements in their fields. They included Khadija Meshak, for her contribution in health law reforms, Naima Bouazzaoui, a pediatrician who created the first service of neonatology in Morocco, Hiba Fassi Fihri, the first woman director of the "Institut de Formation aux Carrières de la Santé" (IFCS), Fatima Debbagh, for her long performance in administrative service, and Rachid Bakkali, for having successfully implemented quality measures in his delegation in Tetouan.

The honoured health workers also included Abdelhamid Azizi, for his efforts in medical hygene and equipment, Moulay Ahmed Ghoulidi, for his performance in project supervision and financial management, Brahim Benlimane, ex-director of the IFCS, Mustapha Bennouna, for his contribution in the field of epidemiology, Ahmed Kabbali, for his administrative management of the Meknes Hospital, and Benaissa Ait Zaid, for his efforts in supporting disabled persons.

The World Health Day is celebrated on April 7 of each year since 1950. It aims at raising global awareness of a particular health theme.
http://www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=11&id=13975 
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Morocco's ambitious economic reforms 'still not enough'.
Posted Tue, 18 Apr 2006 Rabat

High unemployment and poverty levels have shown that the implementation of an ambitious reform program, that has allowed Morocco to achieve macroeconomic stability with low inflation and comfortable external position, has not gone far enough. Significant progress in the areas of price and trade liberalisation, financial sector reform, and privatisation has laid the foundations for robust economic growth, IMF deputy managing director, Agustín Carstens told Moroccan authorities in Rabat. He predicted that these reforms are bearing fruit: economic activity has become more resilient to the fluctuations of agricultural production, investment and domestic demand are picking up, and productivity is on the rise.
"However, the high incidence of poverty and unemployment clearly demonstrate that this is not enough. I agreed with the authorities that a significant acceleration of growth is required in order to enable a more rapid job creation and improvement in the standard of living," an IMF press statement quoted Carstens as saying at the end of his Moroccan visit.

He, therefore, welcomed King Mohammed VI's decision to put human development issues at the centre of the government's policy agenda, as reflected by the National Human Development Initiative (Initiative Nationale pour le Dévelopment Humain), launched in May 2005.
Accelerating growth to levels compatible with poverty reduction and unemployment calls for a multi-pronged strategy, including reduction in the fiscal deficit in order to boost private sector confidence, increase investment, provide fiscal flexibility that allows smoothening of external shocks, fight poverty, and increase productive government expenditures, said Carstens. He also cited trade liberalisation as key to achieving Morocco's growth objective, and pointed out that the recent coming into effect of the free-trade agreement with the United States is an important step in this area.

As "an efficient and healthy financial sector is another important pillar of Morocco's growth strategy," he commended the authorities for recently strengthening the legal, regulatory and supervisory framework of the financial industry and increased autonomy of the central bank in the conduct of monetary policy and the broadening of its supervisory authority to modernise the financial sector.
Carstens held discussions with Prime Minister Driss Jettou, Minister of Finance and Privatisation Fathallah Oualalou, Central Bank Governor, Abdellatif Jouahri, the President of the Finance and Economic Development Commission of Parliament, Mustapha Hanine and representatives from the Moroccan business association. -panapress 
http://www.businessinafrica.net/news/north_africa/241847.htm 
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World Bank sets up anticorruption strategy.
By Kaoutar Tbatou

"Corruption not only undermines the ability of governments to function properly, it also stifles the growth of the private sector," said the World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, who has presented this week the Bank's anticorruption strategy. The strategy aims at increasing the World Bank Group's governance and corruption fighting efforts, both at the level of governments and in the Bank's projects. "We know that when governments don't work, the development assistance we provide them with doesn't work either. It means that children are denied the education they need, mothers are denied the health care they deserve, and countries are denied the institutions needed to deliver real results," Wolfowitz stressed. Wolfowitz explained that the strategy will be based on three main axes: a country approach, World Bank-funded projects, and partnerships with a wide range of groups that have a key role in improving governance, especially the private sector.

The first approach aims to expand the Bank's anticorruption work at the country level. This will include investing in professional expertise to deal with the issue of corruption, and backing the Bank's teams in the field with governance specialists. Investment will be increased in key areas such as judicial reform, civil service reform, the media and freedom of information and the decentralisation of public service delivery.

The procedures concerning the World Bank-funded projects aim to protect them from the risk of corruption. This will be attained through the deployment of anticorruption teams in Country Offices. The teams will collaborate with local institutions, including the governments' audit units and anticorruption commissions to protect the projects from corruption and strengthen public procurement.

As for the third axis, which will concentrate on partnership with the private sector, the World Bank's director said that corruption strongly affects the private sector when it prevails in any economic system and when the rule of law is undermined, which hinders the growth of economy and affects the whole society. The World Bank's strategy in this respect will be based on cooperation with companies and individuals to detect the misuse of the funds allocated by the Bank to private sector projects.

"Fighting corruption is a long-term commitment, and results will not come overnight. Any strategy for solving the problem requires the commitment and participation of governments, private citizens, and private businesses alike," Wolfowitz concluded.

In the latest annual report issued by Transparency International, an anticorruption NGO, Morocco ranked 78th among 158 surveyed countries. The survey was based on the perceptions of business people and country analysts.
It also drew on a series of polls organised by independent institutions in each country.

The NGO's branch in Morocco had called on the public powers to "urgently understand the seriousness of the current situation, and its disastrous consequences on the accessibility and quality of the Moroccan public services, economy, employment, as well as the country's image and level of economic attractiveness."

Morocco was one of the 94 countries who signed the United Nations' Convention against Corruption on Dec.9, 2003.
http://www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=11&id=14099 
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Fuel-Efficient Cook Stoves for Moroccan Villagers...What's that Got to Do with Education? A Lot.
18 Apr 2006

Firewood ranks as the second largest source of fuel in Morocco. Despite harsh climates and other dangers, Moroccan girls as young as eight and women as old as 60 spend hours each day finding, collecting, and transporting firewood for cooking and heating. It's a time consuming and burdensome chore, particularly in rural areas where the land around villages gets picked clean. So the task takes ever more time, the distances to walk become longer, and the amount collected progressively less.

According to a recent study covering the south of Ouarzazate Province where Near East Foundation works, women typically collect wood from 4 to 10 a.m., six months per year, traversing on average 15 kms per day, carrying between 20 and 30 kg of wood each, including young girls. Moreover, smoke from cook stoves causes illnesses, particularly eye disorders and respiratory problems. In addition, there are the obvious environmental problems for area woodlands. In short, daily collection of firewood constitutes the likely prime activity preventing young girls from attending school, diminishing the energy and enthusiasm of young mothers and girls for continuing education and self-improvement, and leading to their premature aging.

FEMALE EDUCATION & LEADERSHIP
It is in these same Berber villagers in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco that NEF, in collaboration with the U.S. State Department's Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), is promoting the value of education and encouraging school attendance, particularly for girls. To meet objectives NEF has organized local parent-teacher associations, adult literacy classes, and associated groups of rural women leaders actively encouraged to be involved in their communities. Naturally the NEF project also focuses attention on what inhibits female education and leadership, since the NEF program's success depends not only on changing people's perception of the importance of education, but also on identifying obstacles--like firewood collecting.

AN ALTERNATIVE
Based on previous NEF work with appropriate technologies for household use, fuel-efficient cook stoves and baking ovens have been tried and passed testing. Made from clay by trained local women, these simple appliances can significantly decrease wood consumption--by 50 to 60 percent; reduce the labor required to collect and transport wood fuel; and cut smoke emissions creating unhealthy conditions within the home. A win-win situation, fuel-efficient cook stoves safeguard the environment, reduce distances traveled to collect fuel, and prepare for sustainable forests in the future.

NEF's interest in this and similar issues goes back to 1993 when we created an Appropriate Technology Training Center in partnership with the Ouarzazate Regional Agricultural Development Authority. The aim was development and promotion of technical solutions to the problems of poor village women in rural areas of southern Morocco--household energy/natural resource management, sustainable agriculture/food processing, water/health, and income-generation.

By 1997 the center had moved beyond simple technical assistance into a more comprehensive program of support for local village associations, helping rural families to take control of their lives and change their communities for the better. NEF's current emphasis on female education and leadership is but the latest effort.

Given our experience, NEF decided last year to provide fuel efficient cook stoves and baking ovens to interested villages within the education project area. To date 28 improved cook stoves and 28 baking ovens have been introduced in the seven villages where NEF is now working. They were made available to rural women leaders collaborating with our project, who were nominated by their peers, and trained to install and use these new technologies, collect data, and promote expanded use.

FACTS & FIGURES
According to NEF estimates, as much as 30,000-plus tons of wood can be saved each year in these seven villages alone and individual women and girls spared as much as 120 hours a year collecting firewood. Also, their kitchens will be cleaner, smoke free, and related health problems significantly reduced.

Local women are excited about the new stoves, "I'm so happy that now my daughters will be able to protect their eyes. They need to be able to see if they want to learn how to have a better life," commented one, a sentiment echoed by many others.
NEF now plans on working with these same women to expand the use of fuel efficient cook stoves in other project villages, which have increased from the original seven to 15 in the program's second year. While appliances are provided free to participating women leaders, individual householders purchase their stoves from the market with women leaders providing training based on their own experience. For its part, NEF will continue with follow-up and support.

Next NEF hopes to establish income-generating projects with one or more PTAs within these communities. The plan is to have the PTAs distribute stoves through the network of women leaders, who also will promote the idea and train purchasers. Profits made from the sale of stoves will support local education, scholarships for secondary school attendance, adult literacy, and the repair and maintenance of local schools. Actualizing this plan will depend on funding availability.

BIG SAVING FOR SMALL INVESTMENT
Cook stoves sell for as little as $30 each and baking ovens for as little as $50. The $600 which provided most of the funding for them came from a North Carolina chef named Debrah Lovan, not incidentally, the sister of Roger Hardister, NEF's Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa. She accompanied her brother on a project evaluation trip to Morocco, and this enterprise fit right in with her particular interests in food and women's issues, making her donation to Near East Foundation a very personal expression. When asked by a group of village women about gathering firewood for her own household, Ms. Lovan had to admit, the closest she had come to carrying firewood was using a wooden match to light her oven.
YOU CAN HELP NOW! Please donate to support our work in MOROCCO and around the world at www.neareast.org  [ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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New SOS facility opens in El Jadida.

The Moroccan Association of Children's Villages (SOS) will set up a new boarding house in the next few months for abandoned and orphan children in the province of El Jadida, MAP news agency reported. The reception capacity of the village, which will accommodate 100 children, will increase once children will be lodged in new houses of young people (SOS) to enable new ones to fill their places.

The creation of this village is the fourth of its kind in Morocco, after those of Ait Ourrir (Marrakech), Imzouren (Northern Morocco) and in Dar Bouazza (Casablanca). It seeks to meet the pressing needs for the services provided by the SOS association in favour of abandoned or orphan children, since the reception capacity of charitable institutions is limited.

The village will be set up in the centre of El Jadida city in order to profit from the advantages offered by the proximity of transport and medical facilities. This project, which will be carried out at a budget of MAD 7,954 million, will shelter 12 completely equipped family houses, each covers 130m2.

A house costs MAD 516.000. It will accommodate a family made up of a 'mother' and 10 children. It also includes a host room for the reception of visitors. The project envisages an administration department for the director of the village, who will be assisted by a deputy manager, a team of pedagogues, and professional teachers.

In addition, the village will include workshops of pottery, visual arts, a multidisciplinary room and a space for sports activities. It will contribute to the creation of direct jobs for 400 families; at the same time, it will put its facilities at the disposal of civil associations working within the framework of the National Programme of Fighting Illiteracy.

A fund-raising campaign in favour of the project launched by the SOS Association, was favourably received by economic and commercial organisations. The French city of Sète, linked to El Jadida by a twinning agreement, granted a first financial contribution. The SOS Association, which is presided over by HRH Princess Lalla Hasna since 1985, is member of the International Association of Children's Villages, which exists in 132 countries and manages 500 villages worldwide.

The association aims at offering a permanent house and affection for children who are in difficult situations. It assists them until they become mature and helps them acquire professional competences and be integrated in their social environment. It mainly accomodates the children from orphanages and ensure their education and medical care in order to overcome their problems, especially those of a psychological nature.
http://www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=11&id=14039 
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IDB to finance Rural Electrification Project in Morocco.
Rabat, Apr.19

Morocco signed several loan agreements worth USD 56.3Mn with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for Rural Electrification Projects in 13 regions of the Kingdom. The agreements were signed on the occasion of the two-day joint annual meetings of Arab finance institutions, opened on Tuesday in Rabat.

The Electrification Project is intended to improve life conditions in 998 villages of Morocco. The IDB also signed another agreement with LASAMIR refinery on Tuesday amounting to USD 100Mn agreement to import crude oil, says the press release of the Ministry of Finance and Privatisation.
The IDB funded several development projects in Morocco that reached over USD 2.5Bn since 1975, in particular in foreign trade and technical and institutional support, says the press release.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/box5/idb_to_finance_rural/view 
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Health Mandatory Health Insurance covers 3.5 million people, Moroccan official.
By Morad Aziz 4/20/2006

Six months after it started, the Mandatory Health Insurance (AMO) has enabled 3.5 million people to be covered for health care for the first time, said Minister of Health, Mohamed Sheikh Biadillah. He stressed the importance of this project to improve financing of the "heterogeneous and not very solidly-based structure" of this sector. "The activation of AMO will reduce the pressure on the households, since 3.5 people million have benefited from medical services for the first time," said, on Thursday in Rabat, Biadillah who opened a workshop under the theme "Health: vision 2015".

The government has already earmarked MAD 2.5 billion to develop part of the Kingdom's 126 hospitals, and 2,510 medical facilities of basic care will be touched by this reform, the minister added. While warning against the lack of human resources, he considered it necessary "to manage a demographic transition doubled with an epidemiologic transition". This double transition, he explained, involved threats weighing on pubic health and requiring more resources. For Biadillah, the problem of human resources "touches the whole world and our country unfortunately does not escape from this challenge". "The health sector will need 10,000 more medical staff in 2020," he stressed.

The sector counts 52,000 employees, half of whom are women, and the medical profession "has become feminised quickly. This increases the social problems to be solved when medical personnel are taken on", Biadillah pointed out. He urged the problems of under-staffing, the lack of balance of the medical teams, the bad spatial distribution, the international migrations and the unequal working conditions between the regions to be faced. The Minister recommended that "another form of governance" be based on transparency, regionalisation and optimisation of human resources, in order to effectively fight the inequalities concerning access to health care. Among the measures to be taken to make up for the deficit of financing, the speakers suggested an increase of 10% of the ministry's budget, and mobilisation of an additional 6% of funds, through the development of partnership.

The two-day workshop, initiated with the support of the World Health Organisation (WHO), seeks to support the debate and reflexion around the means to work out a new vision for the health sector in Morocco.
http://www.moroccotimes.com/paper/article.asp?idr=11&id=14237 
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Jews are 'essential part' of Moroccan heritage, Amran El Maleh.
Madrid, Apr. 19

The Moroccan French-speaking novelist Edmond Amran El Maleh, said Jews are an "essential part of the Moroccan heritage," rebutting as "self destructive" the book by writer Esther Bendahan who described as "broken memory" the past of Jews in Northern Morocco. In a thesis published late March in "El Pais," Bendahan wrote that "of Jews who had lived in northern Morocco for centuries, only remains a broken memory."
El Maleh, who described the thesis as an "alleged historic analysis," published Wednesday an article in "El Pais," underlining that "nothing substantiates" the thesis of Bendahan, a native of northern Morocco. "Nothing can attest that Jews' imprint in Morocco has disappeared," insisted El Maleh.

The Mellah of Tetuan, "hobbyhorse in Bendahan's arguments," has never been a "ghetto, but one of downtown districts open to circulation and exchanges, where also Muslims families lived," El Maleh went on. When Bendahan rose the issue of Jews immigration that started in 1948, said El Maleh, she "did not evoke the responsibility of Zionist NGO which led a propaganda campaign in several Moroccan cities and within Berber communities in the Haut Atlas (Central Morocco), pushing villagers to leave the country."

On the Arab-Israeli conflict, El Maleh said "the whole Moroccan people, including his Majesty king Mohammed VI, has never succumbed to the temptation of making an amalgam between their constant support to the Palestinian people and any form of anti-semitism." El Maleh also recalled the solidarity of the Moroccan people with the Jewish community in the wake of Casablanca terrorist attacks in 2003, that targeted a Jewish cemetery and a Jewish community center.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_culture/jews_are__essential/view 
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Survey: Marriage highly valued in Morocco
By Bachir Niah / 4/18/2006

Marriage is highly valued and very much associated with procreation, so that marriage without children is almost unthinkable, revealed a survey conducted recently by a group of researchers for the Hassan II University of Mohammedia. A total of 1,000 people, representing all the Moroccan regions, were questioned. The criteria for choosing the population surveyed were based on the place of residence (urban/rural), gender, age, marital status, educational level and profession.

This national survey on Moroccan society's values concluded that more than 90% of Moroccans, men and women, favour marriage. Eighty five percent of them say it is preferable to marry before 25. Early marriage is associated with women and the late one with men. Most of the population said that over 25 is the ideal age for men to marry. By and large, the researchers reached a number of important conclusions concerning marriage, marital relations, and parental relations. They found that both men and women felt that the most desirable quality in the spouse is the "Maâqoul" (seriousness) and obedience counts a lot in marital relations. The results showed that girls' marriages are often arranged for her, but that most Moroccans favour free choice. They also concluded that family solidarity enjoys a central position in Moroccans' lives. It is felt that old parents should be taken care of by their children and not by the state or charities.

The survey was designed to come up with a general idea about Moroccan society's values, concerning mainly family, tradition, religion, politics, work and leisure. Earlier this year, Minister of Justice Mohamed Bouzoubaâ said that marriage rate increased by 3.48% between 2004 and 2005. In January 2004, the kingdom introduced important amendments to the family code with view to enhancing women and children rights, and reinforcing family ties.
http://www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=11&id=14177 
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First Festival of Oases to enrich cultural exchange.

After 3 years of gestation, the first International Festival of Oases started Saturday in Figuig, south east Morocco. Groups from Saudi Arabia made the long journey to enrich the event by their participation. The opening of the festival, attended by the governor of Figuig province Abderrahmane Addi, was marked by folkloric dances performed by participating groups. These dances include "Laâlaoui" of Laâmour, Ain Chouater, Zusfana and Bouarfa (Figuig), folkloric dance performed by a band from Zagoura, Tissint (Tata) and a local group called "Ichemjan". The festival scheduled the participation of music troupes from Libya and Kuwait but they desisted at the last minute.

Dedicated to the culture of oases, the event is organised by the ministry of culture with the cooperation of the municipal council of Figuig and the support of the French Institute of the Eastern region. During a conference held for the occasion, the participants evoked the historical role of the caravans through oases (Figuig, Draâ, Oued Noun), as an exchange crossroad. They also underlined that the festival aims at creating opportunities of communication between oases and other national and international sectors to revive the patrimony of oases as a human richness, especially that of Figuig. The participants seized the occasion to stress the necessity of promoting the region, notably at the economic and socio-cultural level.
http://www.moroccotimes.com/paper/article.asp?idr=49&id=14132 
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About 1,000 children of Moroccans abroad invited for 'cultural stay'.
April 19, 2006

Some 1,000 children of Moroccan nationals residing abroad having achieved good school performance this year are to be invited for a 'cultural stay' in Morocco from July 2 to August 15, said Minister in charge of the Moroccan community abroad, Mrs Nouzha Chekrouni. At a question time at the Chamber of Advisors (upper house of the parliament), Chekrouni said the trip is sponsored by the Hassan II Foundation and is meant to foster the Moroccan cultural identity among the new generations of Moroccans living abroad and reinforce ties with the mother country. Chekrouni recalled that 729 children of Moroccans living abroad benefited last year from this kind of travel, adding her department has taken a series of measures to host the children in summer camp facilities.

The Minister said one of the objectives of the initiative is to create « an environment that fosters perfect citizenship among the Moroccan living abroad and especially among their children born in countries that have a different culture ». This spring, some 18,000 girls and boys throughout Morocco attended on April 7 through 15 spring camps organized by the Youth State Secretariat in cooperation with the National Children Camps Body.

The 4th session of the national « holidays for all » program scheduled many activities during the camps for 15 to 17-year olds, who belong to youth organizations and associations. The gatherings are meant to instruct and implant the spirit of civics, responsibility, mutual help and commitment to the youth, as well as teach them skills in arts, sports, literature. The teens lived in 63 camps located either on the seaside or on mountains under the supervision of associations officers, writers, sportspeople, artists and others.
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International Conference on Popular Arts held in Morocco.
By Hassan Benmehdi -16/04/06

The focus of the fourth International Conference on Popular Arts in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in Meknes was popular culture as a form of heritage to be preserved for the benefit of future generations. The event was held to raise awareness of the need to broaden the scope of research into the various aspects of popular cultural heritage. The fourth International Conference on Popular Arts in the MENA region was initiated in partnership with St. Antony's College at the University of Oxford and was entitled "Popular Culture: Public Space, Mass Media and Mass Consumption". The event was hosted from 5 April to 7 April by the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, and was attended by sociologists, linguists, anthropologists and academics from within and outside of the Maghreb. The main purpose was to widen discussion of issues regarding the use of regional dialects and mixing between the Amazigh, Arab and French languages.

Popular culture is a factor and reference point in understanding people's everyday lives Delegates began by discussing regional cultural diversity and richness, noting that popular culture is a factor and reference point in understanding people's everyday lives. Highlighting popular sayings as a form of oral expression, as well as the habits and customs of the MENA region, they said that stories, songs and drama, as well as architectural preferences for certain styles of construction and colours, are a clear illustration of a people's way of life and thinking. Poetry, handicraft design and pottery also tell the story of the development and cultural identity of nations, the delegates went on to say.

Speaking about the raï musical genre as an archetypal expression of popular culture, Belkacem Boumediene, a lecturer at the University of Mascara in Algeria, said that it used to be regarded as a kind of "artistic merchandise" and a degraded form of authentic art. In his speech, called "Raï Music, from Local Obscurity to International Recognition", he pointed out that this genre appeared in Oran at the beginning of the 20th century as an expression of resistance to the French occupation and views on taboo social issues. "Raï has evolved over the years," he said, noting that this music uses everyday language, the language of emotions, feelings and dreams -- in short, a modern and progressive form of Arabic understood by young and old alike. The meeting also examined several themes including authenticity and identity, the use and sale of heritage, the impact of mass tourism, the influence of popular culture of the Middle East and Africa on other cultures, and the use of modern media technology and its impact on culture.
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