Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
July 12, 2008

Moroccan health minister outlines plan to overhaul troubled sector.
By Hassan Benmehdi  2008-07-06

Moroccan Health Minister Yasmina Baddou appeared on national television on July 1st to present her road map to reform the health sector. Many Moroccans complain about poor management and say the provision of health care is linked with the patient's financial status.

Appearing on Moroccan television's Channel 1 on Tuesday (July 1st), Moroccan health minister Yasmina Baddou presented an optimistic plan for the future of the health sector in the country. Moroccans were quick to cite the sector's numerous shortcomings. "Health is first and foremost a right which every citizen should enjoy, and it is our duty to provide the necessary care and hospitals," Baddou said, adding that the present government has made health a priority. The 2008 finance bill includes a 10% increase for the sector.

According to Baddou, the sector's problems have less to do with inadequate financing than with management and good governance. She said that in order to set up an action plan, her ministerial staff has been working tirelessly for seven months to overcome the basic problems, failures and loopholes which have made Morocco’s health system so sick. The minister promised to report back to the nation in six months’ time on her progress. Chief among the issues on the minister's reform agenda are inaccessibility to care in rural areas, problems with emergency treatment, poor cleanliness in public hospitals, cronyism, corruption, and, most of all, she said, problems with the fair and timely provision of care and medication to needy citizens throughout Morocco.

Many of those who watched the minister's TV interview found Baddou optimistic, but far from convincing."Getting treatment is still very expensive in Morocco, and many people still cannot afford to go and see a doctor or have an operation," Casablanca shoemaker Abdlemounaïm Doublal told Magharebia. Baddou’s health strategy is all theoretical and unrealistic when it comes to solving the real problems with the Moroccan health system, he added. Zaki and Moustapha, two waiters in a Casablanca café, commented that there were times when they were unable to get into Casablanca's Ibn Rochd hospital because of a lack of resources and the unavailability of specialist doctors.

University lecturer Miloud Belcadi, however, is more positive about Baddou's chance of success."Morocco has seen excellent results in family planning and the wider provision of vaccinations," he said, adding that it would be sensible to wait a bit longer before judging the effect of the minister’s strategy on the ground. "We are certainly not asking her to work miracles in seven months. There is a huge amount of ground to be made up, failures spread like gangrene throughout the whole system, and the shortages are enormous," he said.

Doctors, meanwhile, have said that Baddou’s strategy will be difficult to implement because there is a huge lack of resources, particularly in rural areas, and accessibility to health care is often tied to financial solvency. "In Morocco, medical progress remains the privilege of socio-economic groups who are well off, and does not benefit the general public," one doctor who asked not to be identified told Magharebia. "One example is breast cancer, for which today’s advanced and modern treatment requires an average of 25,000 dirhams per month. This is well beyond the reach of a broad swathe of the Moroccan population, not forgetting that in Morocco there are only two public haematology and oncology centres."

Baddou’s media appearance coincided with the July 1st signing of an agreement by the health ministry to provide doctors with raises, medical and social security coverage and integration into the public service after their first year of employment. According to the minister, this should help improve matters.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2008/07/06/feature-01
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ISU: Partner in New Moroccan University
Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Indiana State University has taken its eight-year-old partnership with higher education in Morocco to a new level by signing an agreement with a leading businessman and philanthropist who envisions a new International University in Morocco, reports the ISU news bureau. The agreement calls for Indiana State and Group Chaabi YNNA Holding to conduct an in-depth feasibility study of a not-for-profit private university mid-way between Rabat and Casablanca.

Indiana State’s partnership with Morocco higher education began in 2000 and was formalized in 2002 when Benjamin signed agreements with Hassan II University-Mohammedia and Al Akhawayne University. Since then, more than 300 students, faculty and administrators have participated in exchange programs and the partnership has grown to include several Moroccan universities, the Ministry of Higher Education, the Moroccan High Council of Education Development and such organizations as the U.S. Agency for International Development, the World Bank and Higher Education Development.

Existing partnerships include a higher education leadership program involving 14 Moroccan universities, a sport management program with universities and the Royal Soccer Federation and a program in which Indiana State assisted in developing the first social work program in Morocco at Hassan II University.

Current projects include a visit by 40 ISU faculty and students to Morocco to work with Moroccan students and faculty in the area of social work. Indiana State is also partnering with Morocco on the development of a national educational accreditation system - a project that has attracted the attention of the World Bank, which is interested in sharing ISU’s work with other North African and Middle East nations.

The agreement between Indiana State and the Chabbi Group calls for a study phase of approximately 180 days during which each entity will assign a working group to analyze and develop a proposal that will detail the nature of future collaboration, including a business plan and an agreement on the role each will play in developing the new campus. ISU will share its expertise in such critical areas as information technology, library and media services, student housing, and records systems. The Chabbi Group will provide financial support with ISU providing technical assistance and administrative leadership toward the proposed American-style campus.

The Chabbi Group, with annual revenues of $1.7 billion, is Morocco’s largest employer. It has previously financed the start-up of a technical school in Morocco and is building residence halls for several Moroccan universities.
http://nationalitiescouncil.blogspot.com/2008/05/isu-partner-in-new-moroccan-university.html
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Jewish pilgrims converge on town in Morocco.
By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU – SAFI, Morocco (AP)

It's an uncommon sight for an Arab country: hundreds of joyous Jewish pilgrims gathering without fear around a rabbi's tomb, greeted by local Muslim officials who share a prayer with them at a synagogue. Yet most of the 400 Jews who converged on the Moroccan coastal town of Safi — some from nearby cities, others from as far as France or Israel — at a weekend pilgrimage said they felt welcome here.

While religious tensions flare in Jerusalem and beyond, in Morocco, Jews and Muslims say they nurture a legacy of tolerance and maintain common sanctuaries where adherents of both religions pray. Decades of emigration to Israel by Morocco's Jews and terrorist bombings in Casablanca that targeted Jewish sites haven't diminished the draw of these annual pilgrimages.

During the festival that began Friday, visitors prayed and feasted around the shrine of Abraham Ben Zmirro, a rabbi reputed to have fled persecution in Spain in the 15th century and then lived in Safi, where he is buried with six siblings. A half-Jewish, half-Muslim band played local tunes during a banquet, including a song in French, Arabic and Hebrew with the line: "There is only one God, you worship Him sitting down and I while standing up."

The pilgrims were joined Sunday by Aaron Monsenego, the great rabbi of Morocco, who prayed alongside the regional governor and several other Muslim officials at the shrine's synagogue for the good health of Morocco's King Mohammed VI and his family. "It's very important for us to pray altogether," Monsenego told The Associated Press. Regional governor Larbi Hassan Sebbari said, "We're also very proud of it: it gives a lesson to other countries of what we do together without any taboo."

While several Arab states refuse to recognize the Jewish state's right to exist, reject Israeli visitors and ignore the remnants of their local Jewish heritage, Moroccans insist it is not the case in this moderate Muslim nation and U.S. ally. Once home to some 300,000 Jews, Morocco hosts the Arab world's only Jewish museum, funds Jewish institutions and frequently holds events to celebrate Judeo-Moroccan heritage.

Still, the Jewish population here has dwindled to about 4,000 — most in Casablanca. Economics, fears of living in an Arab state and sporadic discrimination drove hundreds of thousands of Moroccan Jews to Israel, Europe or America over the past few decades. Many left in 1948 when the state of Israel was created, or in 1956 when Morocco won independence from France. Other waves followed after the Israeli-Arab conflicts of 1967 and 1973 caused riots in some Moroccan towns.

Jewish leaders who stayed say they practice their religion freely and that synagogues are well protected by police, especially since the 2003 bombings in Casablanca. And despite the bombings, Casablanca — Morocco's commercial capital — still boasts 32 active synagogues. "There was never any racism in Safi," said Haim Ohana, one of only 10 Jewish people remaining in a town where 6,000 Jews once lived. "People left from here because they were poor," said Ohana, who helped organize the pilgrimage and runs several businesses.

The pilgrimage rituals are called Moussem in Arabic and Hilloula in Hebrew. Many of the pilgrims, including ultra-Orthodox Jews from Israel and French and Canadian businessmen, are emigres who say they come to pray in Safi because of their emotional ties to Morocco. Therese Elisha, an Israeli, said she makes the pilgrimage every other year. "This is the town where I grew up, the synagogue where I prayed," she said. "I feel at home."

"We're maintaining a bridge over the divide of the exodus," said Simone Merra, a human resources manager in Paris. Some of Morocco's Jews wonder how long their community will remain. Nadia Bensimon, who runs a fashion boutique in a coastal town, said she had no plans to leave. "But that could change if the Islamists become too powerful," she said.

Morocco's main Islamist opposition party — Adl wal Ihsan — enjoys broad support, but it is banned from politics; secular parties dominate parliament. Though most of his relatives now live abroad, Ohana said his family traces its arrival in Morocco to 2,076 years ago.
"As for Safi, we've been here for nine centuries," he said. "It's my town, I'd see no reason to leave."
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jbthKmQ7gpHKFIZjcle1ZAZq1CCAD91P7H5G0
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Moroccan economy has developed 'resistance to foreign impacts', AfDB.
Rabat, July 10

Medium-term economic prospects are good for Morocco, whose economy has developed through years a "resistance to foreign impacts," said the African Development Bank (AfDB). "Morocco's economic performance in recent years has been remarkable, due to both favorable international conditions and macro-economic modernization underlined by reforms to boost competitiveness and diversification," said the African Economic Outlook 2008, a collaborative project between the AfDB, the OECD Development Center and the UNECA, with financial support from the European Commission.

The growth rate in Morocco is positive, as it could reach 5.8% between 2008 and 2011, said the AfDB, which hailed the "satisfactory results” achieved by the Moroccan economy in recent years. According to the report, which was presented Thursday in Rabat, overall investment increased in 2007 by 8.1% to increase the investment rate to 34.2% of GDP, against 31.6% in 2006. Overall investment was up 8.1% in 2007, boosting it to 34.2% of GDP (31.6 per cent in 2006), and should continue to grow in 2008 by 7.4%, chiefly because of major programs to speed up infrastructure work and tourist area improvements.

AfDB and OCDE note that “Morocco is keen to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), especially gender equality.” Morocco has succeeded in reducing poverty rate that moved from 19% in 1999 to 14.2% in 2004, according to the report.“But despite substantial progress in promoting growth and employment to continue on this path, modernization of government services and the strengthening of the institutional and legal framework need to be pursued to consolidate its gains and entrench long-term growth and human development,” the document concludes.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/moroccan_economy_has/view
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Drip irrigation to help increase irrigated area, Minister .
Rabat, July 10

Morocco's program to save irrigation will allow for covering 700,000 hectares, that is half of the irrigated areas, thank to the drip irrigation system, Water and Environment State Secretary said on Wednesday. Abdelkebir Zahoud, who was speaking at a question time at the House of Representatives, said the program would alleviate pressure on the demand for water for about a billion cubic meters a year.

The program would also improve the income of farmers, Zahoud underlined. Morocco has encouraged the use of the drip irrigation system through the increasing of subsidies by up to 60%, creating a one-stop service to reduce application consideration time, fighting water waste and revamping the water distribution grid. The program also involves 260 cities and urban centers where linking households to the wastewater network is due to be boosted 80%, and where water pollution will drop 60% by 2020.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/drip_irrigation_to_h/view
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6.8% economy growth rate 'attainable', minister.
Rabat, July 10

Economy and Finance Minister, Salaheddine Mezouar ensured Wednesday that a 6.8% growth of the economy, as estimated in the 2008 finance act, is "attainable." Growth in Morocco during the first quarter of 2008 stood at 7%, Mezouar said before the parliament's finance and economic development commission, and "all indicators show that the goal of a growth rate of 6.8% is attainable," he added.

The government has been working to dissociate Morocco's growth rate from weather vagaries, and has partially succeeded, as most economy sectors have registered a substantial development recently. Morocco is set to maintain the deficit within the limits of 3% despite the impact of the global price hike, and to raise tax receipts 20% in order to uphold the compensation system. The compensation fund is one of the rare systems in Africa that makes up for the difference between global and local prices. The government has increased in allocation to over USD 5Bn in 2008 to face the surge in food and oil prices.

Mezouar also affirmed that inflation would not exceed 2.8% during the year, though the rate is higher that an initial forecast of 2%. Year-on-year inflation was 5.4 percent in May. Morocco's efforts to weather the impact on its economy would allow growth rate to reach 6.3% in the coming years, Mezouar said. He had at a question time at the House of Representatives said that bank loans to individuals and businesses have increased 6% by the end of April, as equipment loans, which comprise 22% of the overall bank loan, rose 9%.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/6.8_economy_growth/view
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Poverty rate in rural areas dropped to 21%, Minister.
Settat, July 8

Poverty rate in rural areas targeted by Morocco's anti-poverty program, the National initiative for human development (INDH), dropped from 36% to 21%, Minister of Social Development, Family and Solidarity said, citing findings of a survey of the High Commissioner for Planning (HCP). Nouzha Skalli, who was speaking at a meeting themed "the rural family home, another innovative and complementary approach for a better integration of rural youth," deemed "positive" these findings, stressing that developing rural areas, upgrading its human resources and fighting disparities and gender-based discrimination are necessary to build up a modern, inclusive and democratic society.

The HCP survey, which covered 7,200 households (more than 36,000 people) throughout the country, noted the significant impact of the large-scale anti-poverty INDH in target local communes between 2004 and 2007. The overall rate in Morocco dropped during the same period by 6.3%, standing at 9% as against 15.3%, the survey reported.

Deputy Minister for Economic and General Affairs, Nizar Baraka, underlined the government's interest in developing rural areas and meeting their expectations, recalling, in this regard, that Morocco has increased the budget allotted to rural areas, earmarked over USD 41Mn to the rural development fund and adopted the “Green Morocco plan” that is meant to upgrade agriculture. Morocco has also increased the pace to fulfill INDH-related programs and allotted USD 27.4Mn to boost the capacities of micro-credit associations as regards actions in rural areas, he went on.

Launched in May 18, 2005, the INDH is designed to alleviate poverty, vulnerability, marginalization and social exclusion by providing basic infrastructure to millions from adequate housing and drinking water to health care and education.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/poverty_rate_in_rura/view
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Morocco allocates USD 105Mn to revenue-generating activities over 2005-2007.
Fez, July 7

USD 105Mn have been allocated to the revenue-generating activities over the 2005-2007 period, governor and national coordinator of the National Initiative for Human Development (INDH), Aziz Dades said on Monday. Speaking at the 2nd Seminar on revenue-generating activities, Mr. Dades said 2,018 projects have been carried out from the 2,500 scheduled projects as part of INDH, i.e. 20% of the total number of projects, which currently amounts to more than 12,000. Having benefited 30,000 people, these activities cover the fields of agriculture, handcrafts, fisheries and industry, he said.

The distribution of these projects by sector of activity shows that agriculture has the lion’s share with 1,201 projects, followed by trade and industry (280) and handcraft (260), he pointed out, noting that some USD 37.5Mn have been generated by the contribution of partners, i.e. 36% of the total value of these projects. He explained that the maximum cost of projects within the framework of revenue-generating activities should not exceed USD 35,000 per project, funded by at least 10% by the project holders and by 70% by INDH in the form of grant, the remainder being financed by micro-credits.

On the outcome of revenue-generating activities, the INDH national coordinator noted that the projects over 2005-07 have improved the living standards and strengthened organization and management capacities, job creation, emergence of new ideas, development of new production activities, processing and marketing in various sectors and achieved self-sufficiency in some consumer products in some regions. Mr. Dades called for increasing the number of beneficiaries of revenue-generating activities, promoting creativity and innovation, developing local economy, promoting local products and strengthening mechanisms of cooperation and dialogue between the different actors and partners.

Initiated by the national coordination of the National Initiative for Human Development, the seminar is the second after that of February 2006, which has helped develop the manual of procedures of revenue-generating activities.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/morocco_allocates_us_1/view
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Morocco sees subsidies slowing 2008 inflation to 3.1%.
Wed 9 Jul 2008, RABAT (Reuters)

Moroccan consumer prices are likely to rise 3.1 percent this year, compared with 3.8 percent in 2007, as subsidies on fuel and basic foods offset soaring world commodity prices, the High Planning Commission (HCP) said. Year-on-year inflation was 5.4 percent in May. Finance Minister Salaheddine Mezouar last month forecast annual inflation of 2.7-2.9 percent, up from an initial estimate of 2.0 percent. The HCP said inflation would be below the rate in many developing countries because of the state subsidies, which would cost more than 40 billion dirhams this year, way ahead of the 15 billion dirhams foreseen in the 2008 finance law.

Morocco imports all of its petroleum needs and around half its grain. The subsidies shield the North African kingdom from high imported fuel and commodity prices and allow the 14 percent of Moroccans who live in poverty to feed themselves. The IMF said last month the cost of the subsidies could double as a share of GDP this year to reach about 5 percent, more than the government spends on investment. "This raises questions over the ability of the state to continue absorbing imported inflation at a time when the imperatives of human development still require large financial resources ...", the HCP said on Wednesday.

The state-run body forecast economic growth of 6.2 percent in 2008, in line with a recent government forecast, with non-farm growth slowing to 5.2 percent from 6.2 percent in 2007.
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21835062~menuPK:34457~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html ##########################################################

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