Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
October 18, 2008

King inaugurates 'Operation Smile Morocco' center in Casablanca.
Casablanca, Oct.17 (MAP)

King Mohammed VI on Friday inaugurated in Al-Fida neighborhood in Casablanca a $ 396,000 center dubbed " Operation Smile Morocco". The center will take charge of the surgery of children suffering from facial deformities in accordance with an agreement signed in this regard between Health Ministry, the prefecture and the council of Al Fida neighborhood and "Operation Smile" Association.

The agreement is meant to promote partnership between the public sector and civil society in the field of solidarity and sustainable development. Under this agreement, "Operation Smile" Association will conduct medical actions aiming at correcting facial deformities for newborns and providing treatments to children suffering from dental diseases.

Established in 1999, “Operation Smile ” Association in Morocco is a humanitarian organization of medical aid dedicated to improve the health of needy children by correcting their facial malformations. Since its creation, it has performed about 4,500 surgeries across the Kingdom.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/box2/king_inaugurates__mo/view
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Almost 3 million women work in Morocco.
17/10/2008

The rate of women in the Moroccan workforce stood at 27.2% in 2007, which represents about 2.7 million women, the High Commission for Planning (HCP) has revealed. Women represent just over half the population which is nearly 15.5 million. They are concentrated mainly in urban areas with 8.83 million against 6.76 million for the countryside. They represent 27.2% of the active population, 21% of them in urban areas against 32.9% in rural areas. They are more affected by unemployment whatever their level of education. The unemployment rate for women stood at 27.3%. The HCP also found that 76% of women did not graduate and are relegated in sectors and jobs that require the least skills and that are the lowest paid. This is because of women's low educational level. It added that some 38.7% of working women works in the agriculture sector, 31.7% in the industry, and 18.4% in services.
http://www.moroccobusinessnews.com/Content/Article.asp?idr=20&id=460
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Morocco covers most of its needs.
17/10/2008

Morocco covers 100% of its needs in red meat, fish, eggs, fruits and vegetables, said on the agriculture and fisheries Minister has said. "Food security requires us to cover our food needs from our national production, using the resources that we have," stressed Akhannouch, during a meeting on ‘Food Security: domestic consumption and agricultural production'.

Akhannouch also seized this opportunity to present Morocco's Green Plan that aims at developing a high-performance and competitive agriculture, but at the same time preserving the activity, the job and the income of small vulnerable farmers working in difficult conditions. “Food security is placed at the heart of the Green Plan that aims at achieving sustained agricultural development, through the exploitation of the country's resources and potential,” the Moroccan official underlined.

Although highly sensitive to weather conditions, agriculture plays a major economic and social role in Morocco. It employs about 40% of the active population and contributes up to 30% of the GDP. Heartened by the recent precipitations, Akhennouch had said earlier that “the 2008-2009 agricultural campaign is taking place in a generally favourable national and international conjuncture.”

Given the importance of this sector, HM King Mohammed VI had asked the government to keep current agriculture tax scheme till the end of 2013, calling on it to provide assistance and help to small farmers. “We should continue to show solidarity with farmers by providing subsidies for traditional cultivation practices and small-scale food crop farming.”
http://www.moroccobusinessnews.com/Content/Article.asp?idr=18&id=461
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Morocco breaks ground on new zoo gardens.
APA- Rabat (Morocco)

Morocco on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for the construction of new zoological gardens for an estimated cost of 430 million dirham, or US$ 60 million. To be built on a 50-hectare area, the new facility is meant to be a "major entertainment site" in Morocco with a 20-hectare daytime park and 10-hectare night safari.

The daytime gardens will comprise 98 African animal species with 730 specimens in the prospect of the creation of a tropical forest. On the other hand, the night safari will essentially shelter 27 Moroccan animal species with 170 specimens. This amusement park, which complies with international standards, will be equipped with the entire "infrastructural platform" necessary for festive activities and shows in a bid to attract at least one million visitors per year.

The project is expected to yield over 50 million dirham of revenues per year, according to its promoters. A State-owned company is reportedly hired for the construction of the new entertainment facility which replaces the old gardens of Temara city (near Rabat) whose site was leased to a real estate firm in 2006.
http://www.apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article_eng&id_article=77942
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Food security at the heart of Green Morocco plan, minister.
Rabat, Oct. 16 (MAP)

Food security is placed at the heart of the "Green Morocco" plan, a pragmatic and ambitious program aimed at achieving a sustained agricultural development at the national level, through the exploitation of Morocco's resources and potential, said, here Wednesday, Agriculture and fisheries minister, Aziz Akhannouch.

Speaking at a meeting themed "Food Security: domestic consumption and agricultural production," Akhannouch said that "food security requires that we should cover our needs in commodities from national production given the resources we have." In this respect, the minister stated that Morocco covers 100% of its needs in red meat, fish, eggs, fruits and vegetables, while needs in milk and cereals are covered by 88% and 70% respectively.

The main goal of Green Morocco Plan is to increase the contribution of agriculture to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), he said, adding that this is based on two key levers. The first is investment in projects related to the production chain and productive sectors with high added value, while the second is investment in solidarity agriculture, improving productivity and looking for alternative crops. http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/food_security_at_the/view
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US congresswoman proposes resolution to commend Moroccan initiative to celebrate National Women Day.
Washington, Oct. 13 (MAP)

Congresswoman Barbara Lee has tabled before the US House of Representatives a draft resolution that commends the Moroccan initiative to celebrate the "National Day of Women" on October 10. Presented to the press during a roundtable held Friday in Washington on the occasion of the National Women Day, the draft resolution recalls the speech delivered by King Mohammed VI before the Parliament in October 2003 and in which the sovereign had "underlined the fundamental reforms that are necessary to promote the legal status of women."

The draft, submitted recently to the Committee of Foreign Affairs, highlights the progress made by Morocco, including the promotion of women's representation in parliament and the adoption of a Family Code "which consolidates the rights of children and women, strengthens the measures to fight violence against women and ensures their involvement in the political system. "

"Morocco is the first Muslim country to appoint Mourchidates (women religious scholars)," says the document, adding that, “in September 2007, 34 women were elected to the Moroccan 325 seat house of representatives within the framework of free, fair and transparent elections that have effectively strengthened the democratic reforms in Morocco.” The draft also stresses that seven women are part of the current government.

Initiated by the Moroccan embassy in the United States in partnership with the Georgetown University and the American NGO "Vital Voices", the roundtable on "political emancipation of Moroccan women" highlighted the progress made by Moroccan women to initiate a reflection on the challenges facing this segment of society and efforts to promote their rights through dynamic approaches.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/us_congresswoman_pro/view
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Morocco Infrastructure Report 2008
© companiesandmarkets.com 2008-10-17
Morocco Infrastructure Report 2008 - a new market research report on http://www.companiesandmarkets.com

In late 2007, the government announced plans to build a new MAD20bn high-speed rail link between the northern city of Tangier and the business capital Casablanca. Once completed, the new line will cut the journey time between the two cities to two hours and 10 minutes, compared with the current time of almost six hours. The link will be designed, built, operated and maintained by French firm Alstom and should be operational by 2013. The government is also considering another high-speed link, connecting Casablanca with Marrakech, Morocco’s main tourist city, by 2015.

This railway expansion is part of a wider ranging plan by the state to invest in Morocco’s physical infrastructure. The new government, which came into power in October 2007, has put forward plans for an accelerated road building programme; rural road building will increase from a current rate of 1,500km a year to 2,000km annually over the next five years. The administration also plans to build more motorways, including a Mediterranean highway by 2011. This will undoubtedly improve the quality of road links within the country, but international road travel will remain difficult; the road border with Algeria has been closed for more than 10 years due to ongoing tensions between the two countries regarding the status of Western Sahara.

Significant investment is also going into the country’s power infrastructure, as it seeks to build a more reliable supply that can reach rural areas of the country and cope with rising demand generated by the country’s strong economic growth. Construction got underway in March 2008 for a US$632mn combined thermo-solar cycle power plant, which will have a capacity of 472MW. The facility is planned to cover up to 9% of Morocco’s electricity output. The plant is expected to be open in late 2009. An even more ambitious venture is for a thermal power plant that will cover over a quarter of the country’s total electricity needs. This plant will have a capacity of 1,320MW and will cost approximately US$2.7bn to build. Another avenue that the government is exploring in more depth is nuclear power. The French and Moroccan governments agreed in October 2007 to co-operate on civilian nuclear technology.

In BMI’s Morocco 2008 Infrastructure Report, we forecast that the construction sector – and by extension infrastructure sector – will register annual real growth of 5.42%
http://www.pr-inside.com/morocco-infrastructure-report-r866186.htm
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Morocco September inflation eases to 3.9 percent yr/yr.
Fri 17 Oct 2008, RABAT (Reuters)

Moroccan consumer price inflation eased to 3.9 percent year-on-year in September from 4.8 percent in August and 5.1 percent in July, official figures showed on Friday. Food costs, inflated by soaring world commodity prices, rose 6.5 percent year-on-year in September, but slower than rates of 8.3 percent in August and 9.1 percent in July, the High Planning Commission said.

Food prices are the main component of Morocco's inflation gauge. On a monthly basis, consumer prices were up 0.5 percent in September versus August as food prices grew 1.1 percent, the Commission added. In June, the government said it forecast annual inflation of 2.7-2.9 percent, up from an initial estimate of 2.0 percent.
http://africa.reuters.com/business/news/usnJOE49G0KR.html
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Morocco to bring up the share of renewable energies from 4 to 10%.
Rabat, Oct. 15 (MAP)

Minister of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment, Amina Benkhadra, said that her department adopted an action plan to increase the percentage of renewable energies in the national energy output from 4 to 10% by 2012. Speaking before the house of advisors, Benkhadra stated that renewable energies and their use are among the most important axes of the national energy policy, adding that the Centre de développement des énergies renouvelables (CDER) is collaborating with various universities and research centers, to achieve an optimal exploitation of renewable energy sources.

The CDER concluded conventions with these institutions to develop the use of renewable energies, such as solar energy namely in the field of air-conditioning. The Minister explained that the new national energy policy seeks, inter alia, to guarantee the supply of energy resources through diversifying sources. She recalled also that Morocco resorts to importation to meet 96% of its energy needs and that the financial burden of energy purchases amounted, last year, to some MAD 53 bln.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/morocco_to_bring_up/view
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First Moroccan Business Angels network launched.
Casablanca, Oct. 14 (MAP)

The first Moroccan network of Business Angels, an organization that seeks to promote entrepreneurialism and to match private investors with pre-screened investment opportunities in start-up, early stage and developing businesses, was launched here last week in the presence of several economic operators and professional associations, banks and investment funds.

The creation of this network aims to promote innovative businesses through the help of Business Angels in providing funding, expertise and networking. Created by Chairman of "Interface Conseils Investissements", Hassan Bernoussi, this independent network is open for all the people interested in investment in starting businesses. Business Angels, considered to be pioneer in creating businesses, particularly in Europe and the USA, serve entrepreneurs with advice, training, and support, as well as a means to source capital for ventures.

The Moroccan Business Angels network, which vows to assist businesses through expertise sharing in management and business networking, aspires to gather several private investors who are willing to share their skills and means to back the creation of businesses in Morocco. http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/first_moroccan_busin/view
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WB Vice-President commends good performance of Moroccan economy.
Washington, Oct. 14 (MAP)

Vice President of the World Bank in charge of MENA region, Daniela Gressan, commended the good performances and resilience of Moroccan economy face to exogenous shocks, notably the financial crisis ravaging world economy. At a meeting, here Monday, with the Moroccan delegation to the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Gressan also voiced the Bank's readiness to support the efforts of Morocco, particularly in the field of reforms.

For his part, Minister for Economic and General Affairs, Nizar Baraka, who is leading the Moroccan delegation to these meetings, gave a brief overview of the macroeconomic situation in Morocco, putting emphasis on the fact that despite a difficult international context, Morocco has achieved good economic performances through structural and sectoral reforms.

On the fringes of the WB-IMF meetings, Nizar Baraka held working sessions with other officials from the World Bank that tackled economic governance, challenges of climate change and compensation and welfare systems. The minister explained that the main projects and reforms initiated in Morocco have to do with the themes addressed. These meetings were also an occasion to exchange points of view on the approaches to be adopted in dealing with the issues debated, part of cooperation with the World Bank.

The Moroccan delegation also took part Sunday in the meeting of the Development committee and made a statement, on behalf of
Economy and Finance minister, Salaheddine Mezouar, chairman of the Group made up of Afghanistan, Algeria, Ghana, Iran, Morocco, Pakistan and Tunisia-, emphasizing the difficult international environment, characterized by the combination of the adverse effects of two major crises namely, a financial crisis that led to the collapse of major financial institutions, and a food crisis that had negative impact on many developing countries.

To mitigate the effects of this crisis, the statement insisted that the proposals for improving prudential regulations, accounting principles and transparency practices that have already been announced, should be carried out at the international level with the participation of all member countries of the Bank.

Regarding the food crisis, the statement stressed the urgency to address the vulnerability of developing countries particularly the poorest ones, through financial assistance and support for efforts to ensure long-term food security, which requires notably the adoption of a different approach to agriculture.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/wb_vice-president_co/view
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King inaugurates National Library in Rabat.
Rabat, Oct. 15 (MAP)

King Mohammed VI inaugurated, here Wednesday, the National Library of the Kingdom of Morocco. Built over an area of 20,832 sqm at a cost of about $ 36 mln, the National Library is meant to preserve the national cultural heritage documents, to disseminate knowledge and to promote scientific research. This National edifice is endowed with various facilities using state-of-the-art technologies, such as a 300-seat auditorium, an exhibition gallery, a reading space, as well as spaces devoted to manuscripts and rare books. Other spaces open to the public are devoted to magazines, posters, stamps, postal cards, digital documents, microforms, and printed papers in addition to a multimedia space.

The national library, which is also entrusted with elaborating the national bibliography and acquiring national and foreign documents, will provide bibliographic information by making use of new technologies in order to facilitate access to other national and foreign libraries and promote distance documentation. The new building provides adapted services to people with special needs like the visually impaired or people with physical disabilities. During the dedication ceremony, King Mohammed VI decorated a number of renowned men of letters, artists, actors, painters and singers with royal wissams
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/king_inaugurates_nat/view
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Morocco to eradicate illiteracy by 2015.
Rabat, Oct. 13 (MAP)

Morocco, which is celebrating this Monday the National Literacy Day, aspires to reduce illiteracy rates to 20% by 2010 and to totally eradicate the phenomenon by 2015. To that end, the country adopted a national strategy to generalize fundamental education that spans over 9 years, and elaborated a large-scale literacy program which benefited more than 3.6 million persons during the last 6 years.

According to official figures, the number of beneficiaries from these literacy programs increased fourfold over the past nine years going up from 181,000 in 1998 to 709,155 in 2007, results that bring Morocco closer to the UN recommendations on the issue of struggle against illiteracy.

In 2008, the number of beneficiaries amounted to 651.000, out of whom 83.3% are women and 49.5% live in rural areas. Morocco's efforts to fight illiteracy were recognized by the UNESCO which awarded the kingdom various prizes, including "Confucius Prize" for illiteracy in 2006, and "the Malcolm Adiseshiah International Literacy Prize" in 2001.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/morocco_to_eradicate/view
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Conference calls for setting up a Philosophy House in Fez.
Fez, Oct. 17 (MAP)

Participants at the first international conference of contemporary thought, held recently in Fez (north of Morocco), on "Reason and Religion in Modernity: Dialogue and Violence," called for setting up a philosophy house in the city. "We sincerely hope that Fez, considered as the core of the Mediterranean basin, will host a philosophy house "Bayt Al Hikma" (Wisdom House) as a setting for disseminating values of dialogue and tolerance among cultures, civilizations and religions," the final statement of the conference said.

Participants recommended the creation of a summer philosophy university in the city, as well as an international institute for philosophy like other Mediterranean countries in order to "motivate renaissance of contemporary thought." They also stressed the need to encourage the teaching of philosophy in the countries of the southern shore of the Mediterranean, considering its role in establishing democracy and freedom, along with the values of tolerance and dialogue.

The three-day conference, which brought together a panel of thinkers and philosophers from several countries, addressed a number of themes, including “tolerance, dialogue of thought and faith”, “scientific creativity and religious regulation: which relationship?”, “modernism and obstacles to dialogue between Islam and the West.”

Fez has been proclaimed, last March, the Mediterranean capital of philosophy in 2008 by a panel of researchers who took part in the 7th international meeting “Philosophy Spring.” By the end of the year, another Mediterranean city will be proclaimed capital of philosophy for 2009. http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/culture/conference_calls_for/view
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Russian director shoots documentary on Moroccan nomads.
Zagora, Oct 17 (MAP)

Russian producer and director Sergey Yastrzhembskiy started shooting a documentary, on Thursday in the southern city of Zagora, on the life of the last nomads in the Moroccan South-East. Dubbed "Journey among Blue Men", this documentary, produced by Huntessential Fish Fantastic, is the first of a series of documentaries on the communities living away from globalisation.

The documentary, whose shooting will run till October 25, focuses on the various aspects of the daily life of nomads, the relationship between nomads and oasis people, in addition to their movements in time and space. Based on the fact that the nomadic lifestyle is disappearing, the director is trying to highlight the reasons and factors which pushed the nomads to give up their nomadic lifestyle and embrace the sedentary life.

The documentary, which will take place in the southern provinces of Zagora and Errachidia, will also try to outline the differences between each tribe and each nomadic community, as well as the inter-tribal relations both in the past and today. For the chief-operator Karavaev Elisbar, this documentary also tries to shed light on the cultural aspects of each tribe: costumes, popular arts, languages, idioms and spiritual traditions. http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/culture/russian_director_sho/view
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Fez to host International Forum on Civilisations and cultural diversity.
Fez, Oct. 14 (MAP)

Fez will host an international forum on "alliance of civilisations and cultures: from strategy to action" next November 15 to 17. Initiated by "la Fondation Esprit de Fes" in cooperation with other Moroccan and foreign associations, the Forum will bring together participants from about 100 countries who will debate the promotion of values of dialogue, peace and understanding between peoples.

According to the organizers, this event, which comes after the success of the first edition held in November 2007, is meant to highlight reciprocal interactions and influences between civilisations, cultures, religions, spiritual and humanist traditions at a time conflicts associated with a sense of identity belonging are escalating.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/culture/fez_to_host_internat/view
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8th Marrakech Film Festival to raise curtains on November 14.
Rabat

The 8th Marrakech international Film festival (FIFM) will raise curtains on November 14 through 22 with special tribute to British, Russian, Egyptian and Moroccan cinemas. Under the theme "40 years of the British cinema", the festival will screen 40 movies tracing the history of the British cinema that has managed to keep its flavor amidst globalized competition.

Cinema lovers will also discover Russian cinema through seven works of prominent Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky, as part of "Andrei Konchalovsky's Russia" special. The festival will screen eleven Egyptian movies in a second tribute to the late film director Youssef Chahin, as part of "Best of Youssef Chahine" special. The festival had already paid tribute to the Egyptian legend in 2004.

Under the theme “50 years of Moroccan cinema”, the festival will pay tribute to the godfather of Moroccan Cinema, Mohamed Osfour. The International Film Festival of Marrakech started in 2001 as one of the big events devoted to the 7th art in Morocco, a shooting site of many international productions.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/culture/8th_marrakech_film_f_1/view
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American Barry Levinson to chair Jury at 2008 FIFM.
Rabat, Oct.17 (MAP)

The four-time Oscar winning American screenwriter, film director, actor, and producer Barry Levinson is to chair the Jury at the 8th Marrakech Film Festival (FIFM) which will take place November 14-22, FIFM foundation announced Thursday. The famed director has worked with stars like, Robert Redford, Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Pitt and Forest Whitaker, noted a FIFM communiqué.

This year's jury is to include Sebastian Koch(German actor), Joaquim de Almeida (Portuguese actor), Hugh Hudson (Biritish director, screenwriter, and producer), Caterina Murino (Italian actress), Agusti Villaronga (Spanish director and writer), Natacha Regnier (French actress), Ghita El Khayat (Moroccan writer), and Mariama Barry (Guinean-Senegalese writer), the same source added.

The competing movies at the festival will vie for four prizes, namely the Golden Star, the Jury's prize, best female performance, and best male performance. This year's festival is to pay a special tribute to British, Russian, Egyptian and Moroccan cinemas. The festival will thus screen 40 movies tracing the history of the British cinema, will enable cinema lovers to discover Russian cinema through seven works of prominent Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky, and will pay tribute to the late Egyptian film director Youssef Chahin, by screening eleven of his best movies.

Under the theme "50 years of Moroccan cinema", the festival will also pay tribute to the godfather of Moroccan Cinema, Mohamed Osfour. The International Film Festival of Marrakech started in 2001 as one of the big events devoted to the 7th art in Morocco, a shooting site of many international productions.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/culture/american_barry_levin/view
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Fez to host 2008 'Guardian/Observer Travel Awards'.
London, Oct. 9 (MAP)

Fez will host the 2008 prestigious "Guardian/Observer Travel Awards" slated for October 10-13, the representation of the Moroccan National Office of Tourism (ONMT) in London said on Thursday. The choice of Fez will reinforce Morocco's status as a favourite destination for British tourism actors, the same source added.

A special coverage will be dedicated to Morocco and Fez in particular during this event and a special issue will be published within the framework of the Guardian/Observer's tourism supplement called "escape". Pictures and comments on the event will be published on-line enabling the hosting country to display before decision-makers in tourism its different tourist products.

The event is among the most prestigious Travel Awards in UK as it enables the Guardian/Observer readers to decide on awards to be granted to tourist activities in the UK. More than 120 delegates, including tourism experts, top 20 advertisers of Guardian and Observer groups, air carriers, offices of Tourism in Britain, chiefs of the two newspapers’ commercial and editorial teams, will attend the Guardian/Observer Travel Awards. The Guardian and the Observer are among the most prestigious papers in the UK with a readership of respectively 1.1 ml and 1.3 ml.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/culture/fez_to_host_2008__gu/view
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Ourzazate, stage to German movie 'Pope Joan'.
Ouarzazate, Oct. 7 (MAP)

German director Soenke Wortman on Saturday started shooting his movie "Pope Joan" in the southern city of Ourzazate. Adapted from a novel by Donna Cross, the film tells the story of a 9th century woman of English extraction born in the German city of Ingelheim disguises herself as a man and rises through the Vatican ranks. "Pope Joan" will bring together German actress Johanna Wokalek and Australian actor David Wenham, who will play the roles of Joan and Gerold respectively. Produced by Constantin Film, the movie production will run till November 10
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/culture/ourzazate_stage_to/view
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Student recognizes problems facing Moroccans during her study abroad.
Sarah Friedman. 10/16/08

I love living in Morocco. My host family treats me like a daughter and enthusiastically helps me learn Arabic; the food is always delicious and every Friday we eat couscous, one my favorite dishes; I go to school in a beautiful building that, though inconspicuous on the outside, could house the royal family. There is no visible racism, which is remarkable in such a diverse society of Arabs, Berbers and sub-Saharan African immigrants. And, far from what I expected, Moroccans love Jews and are always happy to tell you how Muslims and Jews used to live like family -just don't mention Israel.

For a tourist, it can be easy to overlook the myriad problems average Moroccans face daily. Even living in a modest medina dwelling with a family of eight children-six of whom, though adults, still rely fully on their parents-and a retired schoolteacher father and a mother who married at 13 and can barely read, I sometimes forget the reality of Moroccan daily life.

A few statistics: 90 percent of children drop out of school before 11th grade. About 47 percent of the population is illiterate. The citizen to doctor ratio is 1900 to 1. Only 60 percent of rural areas have access to potable water. Fifteen percent of the 34 million Moroccans live under the poverty line and minimum wage is 1800 dirhams-about $224-per month. In almost every city or town I have visited-Rabat, Fes, Meknes, Casablanca, Khouribga, Boujaad and even the tourist haven that is Marrakesh-poverty and lack of healthcare are incredibly conspicuous.

Sometimes walking down the streets of the Rabat medina-the walled old city, where I live-makes me want to run back to my sheltered home in Scarsdale ,and leave only to go to my sheltered home in Gambier. The medina contrasts completely with the grand colonial architecture and landscaping of the government buildings and main commercial centers in the capital. Every day I pass a mother sitting on the ground, one arm holding her weak baby girl and the other extended to whoever can spare a few dirhams. There are several blind beggars who walk the streets singing religious songs, hoping to elicit empathy from their fellow Muslims, unable to do anything else. There are many people with horribly infected legs and feet blown up to ten times their normal size; the infection has never been treated, despite the nominally free/reduced-price public healthcare system, which sometimes costs whatever bribe you are asked to pay. Some are missing one or both legs. A man with no arms, just a 4-inch stub from one shoulder, sells water bottles to cars stopped in traffic. A student at Mohammad V University here told me that Moroccan law does not include the Qur'anic injunction to cut off the hand of a thief because then the country would be full of unproductive citizens, which made me wonder if people missing arms and legs are perceived as drains on society, despite their suffering and powerlessness to improve their situation.

European tourists flock by the busload to the wonders of Morocco: tanneries drying and dyeing hides using methods unchanged since the 13th century, the spectacular Hassan II Mosque built by 10,000 craftsmen and 3,000 workers in only six years, a forest in Azrou full of freely roaming Barbary apes, a blue-painted city of impossibly steep and winding stairs, Chefchaouen. But Morocco would be even more amazing, more deserving of wonder, if average citizens had a high enough standard of living to enjoy their own country as I do.
http://media.www.kenyoncollegian.com/media/storage/paper821/news/2008/10/16/Features/Notes.From.Abroad.Morocco-3491717.shtml
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Dental nursers endure two days of rain to complete Morocco mountain climb.
13 October 2008

TWO dental nurses were shocked to face days of non-stop rain during a charity mountain climb in Morocco. Sara Cook and Debbie Jackson's trek up Mount Toubkal, the largest peak in the usually dry North African country, was extended by a day when the torrential wet weather left them unable to leave their hostel for 24 hours.

Their group leader was forced to warn the 11 climbers that they might not make it to the top of the 12,000ft mountain. Sara said: "We were all determined we would finish it. I think everyone thought that if we had come this far we had to get to the top. "It was very emotional when we did."

Sara and Debbie, both 35, work at the Laura Mitchell Dental Clinic, in Great Albion Street, Halifax, and have raised more than £1,500 for charity Dentaid, which provides basic oral health for the world's poor. Sara said: "Everyone kept saying that it never rains in Morocco but it did – constantly. We couldn't believe it. "It was still a fantastic experience and we are so pleased with how much money we have raised."
http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/Dental-nursers-endure-two-days.4583783.jp
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Morocco offers financial incentives to parties fielding female candidates.
By Imane Belhaj for 2008-10-17

As part of a government effort to boost legislative representation for Moroccan women, political parties with the most female candidates in the 2009 local elections will receive financial incentives. To drive up women's participation in Moroccan politics, the interior minister announced earlier this month that the government will offer financial incentives to the parties that successfully field the most female candidates in the local elections on June 12th, 2009. The additional funds – the sum of which has not been disclosed – will be awarded upon announcement of the election results. This could lead to a rush by parties to identify and nominate qualified candidates.

The decision is part of Morocco's broader effort to motivate parties to improve women's representation in local administrations, corresponding with the women's movement's goal of occupying one third of the available seats. Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa held a meeting on Friday (October 9th) with the Movement for One-Third of Elected Seats for Women for Equality, which brings together 1,000 Moroccan women's associations fighting to bring Moroccan women's rights in line with international conventions. During the meeting, Benmoussa highlighted the importance of women's participation in managing local affairs, noting that his ministry is formulating a strategy to ensure greater rights for women in this regard.

"Since its inception in 2005, the movement has been struggling to realise three main demands," said Khadija Rebbah, President of the Casablanca branch of the Moroccan Women's Democratic Association: "the implementation of a roll-based voting system, the adoption of a quota for women in electoral law and a demonstrated commitment by parties to nominate women." Rebbah said roll-based voting is one way Morocco will improve women's participation, but it has yet to materialise. "We are thus very optimistic about the minister's promise to allocate financial incentives to parties whose female candidates win in the elections," she concluded.

Miloda Hazeb of the National Democratic Party is less convinced of the potential benefit of the financial awards. She told Magharebia that while it is a positive step, it does not provide parties with adequate determination or conviction to nominate women. "What we really need," she said, "is a higher power to push parties to abide by an honour code, or a legal rule stipulating the nomination of women." Hazeb said it is high time Morocco overcame the gender gap through a temporary affirmative action initiative. This legal discrimination would serve as a transitional phase until equal opportunity is achieved and legally enforced.

Anticipating resistance to the suggestion, Rebbah said critics "have no idea what is taking place in the international arena... democratic states that wish to engage women in [politics] are constantly enforcing quota systems or endorsing just voting modes and offering incentives to parties that nominate women".

The "One-Third" movement has already met with the ministers of social development and interior, and will continue to work with political parties in the coming days to articulate their agenda. Building on the victory of the 2002 elections, which produced the second-highest number of elected women in the Arab world, the movement aims to serve as a role model for other countries considering electoral quotas for women.

The next major meeting will take place between the women's coalition and a committee soon to be formed between the ministries of justice and the interior and the five leading Moroccan political parties. This committee will be tasked with assessing all available means of enhancing women's representation in local councils.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2008/10/17/feature-01 
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