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Morocco Week in Review
November 3, 2012
Morocco to boost youth infrastructure
By Siham Ali 2012-11-01
The Moroccan government promises to improve the situation for young people both in terms of infrastructure and employment.
Morocco is in the midst of designing a brand new strategy to help young people meet their hopes and aspirations. A new participative approach is being employed for the very first time, with regional forums held to identify the aspirations of young people, Youth and Sport Minister Mohamed Ouzzine told MPs on Monday (October 29th).
He stressed the need to speed up the introduction of youth-focused measures in all areas. Future actions will be based on the proposals from Moroccan young people, the minister added. The strategy will be formulated by the end of the year. The youth sector is central to the government's concerns, Ouzzine said.
Last year, the government made great strides in implementing the 2010-2016 National Integrated Youth Strategy. The support network was enhanced with the establishment of 120 youth clubs, 19 child protection centres, 100 youth centres, 125 women's homes and four new holiday camp centres.
Next year will see the continuation of this strategy, most notably with the extension of the holiday camp network. Their capacity will increase to accommodate more than 300,000 young people, and there will also be greater financial support for youth associations. A consultative committee on youth and the voluntary sector will also kick off. It will be responsible for monitoring and assessing issues concerning youth protection and increasing voluntary sector activities.
Youth job creation is one of the top-priority areas for government action. The goal is to reduce unemployment to 8% by 2016.
Economy and Finance Minister Nizar Baraka explained that the government is looking to create wealth by bringing about economic growth in terms of employment by being more selective in choosing investments which will create wealth and employment. It aims to boost small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and micro-enterprises, encourage self-employment and develop the social economy.
Through the Moukawalati self-employment programme, some 2,960 projects were financed or self-financed between 2009 and the end of June 2012. This is still below the target level. In 2013, help is planned for all those benefiting from the programme to achieve their targets.
The government intends to maintain its investment efforts to create even more jobs, Baraka said. He stressed the need to widen employment prospects by introducing measures to make it easier for young people to get onto the job market, targeting the long-term unemployed and opening up new avenues for employment in private education and in civil society through voluntary organisations.
Based on these objectives, new tools will be created to set up the "Moubadara" (initiative) programme, aimed at producing more jobs of social value within the voluntary sector. Another programme, "Taatir" (training), aims to help people with no professional experience or those in need of technical training in specific fields. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2012/11/01/feature-02
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Sexual harassment, as defined globally, is an unwelcome sexual advance, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of sexual nature. This offensive behavior takes place in every corner of the world, but in varying degrees. In Morocco, it is unfortunately spreading rapidly, affecting the victims of the harassment in different ways, depending on its degree. And even though men are also sexually harassed by women who have leverage over them, women are the ones affected by this conduct the most.
On a daily basis, Moroccan women are sexually harassed either by their male classmates, colleagues, superiors, or simply by strangers in the street, who give themselves the right to deprive the opposite sex from enjoying their everyday activities in peace. Not a day goes by where women do not endure all kinds of perverted behaviors from men, such as unwanted sexual looks or gestures, hearing sexual remarks on their appearance, being aggressively asked on dates despite repeated rejections, being touched undesirably or even being raped in some serious cases.
For such perverse conduct to become a phenomenon in Morocco, it should be dealt with seriously by Moroccan society. From the harasser’s point of view, the sole reason behind their heinous behavior is the woman. On the one hand, they claim that when women wear attractive clothes, they have no other option but to sexually harass them. They may be right that some women do wear indecent outfits thus inviting men to have all types of fantasies which they would want to turn into reality. However, if it is the case, then all women in all parts of the world wearing the same clothes should undergo the same harassment, which is certainly not the case.
Also, when encountering a woman whose clothes are provocative, why do men choose to stare at her instead of resisting the temptation, lowering their gaze or looking the other way? The answer to these questions is that their sexual instinct is stronger than their will to overcome this behavior which turns them from human beings to animals, since the latter are the ones who follow their instincts blindly, not caring about social standards or human relationships because they don’t have any. This is contrary to other men who are to ignore such instincts.
On the other hand, harassers also argue that women enjoy being sexually harassed for it proves, they say, that their attempt to draw men’s attention has succeeded and they are looking to be desired by them. Yet, if women took pleasure in sexual harassment, it wouldn’t be frowned upon by the society and there wouldn’t be numerous attempts to fight it. On the contrary, we would be encouraging it, or simply not bringing it up as a subject worthy of our discussion!
Sexual harassment leaves considerable marks on its victims varying from hating the place where the person was harassed to abhorring the harasser’s gender to even avoiding any healthy sexual relationships for they all remind the victim of the atrocious event they had experienced. Consequently, these victims are obliged to undergo psychological treatment in order to overcome this trauma and be able to move on with their lives with minimal scarring.
In Morocco, a lawsuit against a harasser will never go to court without concrete proof, which is next to impossible since sexual harassment usually happens in private, thus, leaving all harassers to wander the streets freely.
The problem of sexual harassment starts from an early age, thus avoiding taboos and educating our children are the most important tools we should use to fight it. We have to teach our children to respect the others’ freedom and never step on it under any circumstance. They need to learn how to admire the other and show their admiration respectfully without imposing themselves and being offensive. They need to be aware of how important it is to always put ourselves in the other’s shoes so that we never do something that we don’t like to be done to us. And of course, we must instill self-admiration in our daughters so that they never seek it from men by wearing clothing that conveys this message, and we must educate our sons to lower their gaze and respect women regardless of what clothes they are wearing.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Morocco World News’ editorial policy
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2012/11/63383/sexual-harassment-in-morocco-a-daily-dose-of-pain-that-can-be-avoided/
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A definition of sexual harassment may differ linguistically and culturally from one setting to another. However, most of the definitions would direct us to an unwelcome sexual advance and an unnecessary physical contact that may create unpleasant climate for its victims. In schools, the challenge is greater and so is the impact. A non-safe climate for our students can paralyze their vitality and enthusiasm to learn and progress in their personal growth.
Our legislative regulations should identify sexual harassment and create a procedural criterion to address its occurrences. Policies should be modified to ensure the creation and maintenance of good conduct in our educational setting. Sexual harassment is a severe act that may cause serious damage and harm to individuals and may deny them an effective access to learning and impair their ability to succeed and advance in their life.
In today’s time, a simple hug meant to show support or affection may be misinterpreted. Educators and students are at risk and should be cautious and aware of all the possible consequences of their acts. In the chapter of “Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Policies and Tips for Interacting with Students” in Al-Hadi School Student-Parent Handbook of 2010/2011, the School Board of Educators explains the policies and procedures that express the school’s concern of sexual harassment. The board uses the term sexual abuse and defines it as any contact or interaction between a child and an adult in which the child is being used for sexual stimulation of the adult or another person……….
Read more here: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2012/10/63132/sexual-harassment-are-our-children-safe/
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Education assistance pays off in Morocco
By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 31/10/12
More rural families are able to keep their kids in school thanks to a successful aid programme in Morocco .
Morocco first introduced the Tayssir programme to encourage underprivileged families to send their children to school four years ago. Since then, the project has awarded grants to all children in primary or secondary school, at all levels, provided they meet attendance criteria.
Education Minister Mohamed El Ouafa said October 22nd that the government aims to clamp down on school drop-out rates, not only through the Tayssir programme, but also by introducing additional social measures. These range from new school and residential construction to handing out satchels and offering more school transport.
"Education must be given a boost by dealing with the socioeconomic and geographical obstacles which get in the way of school attendance among children in rural areas and from needy families," the minister said.
The number of beneficiaries in the Tayssir programme rose from 88,000 pupils in 2008 to 670,000 for the 2011-12 academic year, according to education ministry figures. The numbers are expected to reach 783,000 students this year.
School drop-out rates have reduced by 57% and there has been a 37% improvement in pupils returning to school, according to the department running the programme at the education ministry.
These rates show an even greater improvement where the mother receives direct aid from the state. Each family receives between 80 and 100 dirhams for each child attending primary school, and 140 dirhams for each child in secondary school.
The sum may seem small, according to sociologist Samira Kassimi, but "in rural areas where poverty levels are very high, the amount given for three or four children in a family can support the household's everyday living"
"That aid encourages parents to make less use of their children for various tasks and to encourage them to attend school," she said.
Kassimi said efforts need to be made to roll out the programme to all underprivileged families and to increase funding for the programme. The project's budget rose from 54 million dirhams in 2008 to 620 million dirhams in 2012.
Salima Chaouni said that her sister's life has changed since she started benefiting from the Tayssir programme two years ago.
"She gets 500 dirhams a month because she's got four children. This help has given her financial stability. Her husband was thinking of taking the eldest one out of school to help her, but now he's dropped that idea and is encouraging him to go to college," she said.
Siham El Ouardi, a mother of three, hopes she will soon be able to benefit from the Tayssir programme. She and her husband are seasonal agricultural workers. She has no regular financial income, so she struggles to send her children to school on a regular basis. Her eldest son helps her from time to time, selling plastic bags.
"Sometimes he has to miss school. If they help me, he'll be able to concentrate on his schooling," El Ouardi said.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2012/10/31/feature-04
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Auburn gets grant from Morocco to combat boars
By: Drew Taylor | Opelika-Auburn News October 30, 2012
In America, people think of the farm when they think of pigs. However, in Morocco, feral hogs are considered a nuisance that actually destroy agriculture. “People don’t realize that fruits and vegetables are the number one export out of Morocco,” said Steve Ditchkoff, William R. and Fay Ireland Endowed Distinguished Professor in Wildlife Sciences at Auburn University.
Recently, Ditchkoff and his department were awarded an $86,000 grant from the Moroccan government to help control the population of hogs in numerous Moroccan villages and towns. The money will be used to implement a pilot program in one or two villages in the country, where they will train villagers, as well as assemble educational materials to use.
In June, Ditchkoff was part of a global agricultural summit in the African country, where he presented a plan to control boar sounders, which are composed of 20 or more hogs. A few days afterward, Ditchkoff received a call from the Moroccan government to help implement this program in the country. “From the talk I gave at the summit, they became very interested in a pig patrol strategy that we developed here,” Ditchkoff said.
Part of the plan, Ditchkoff said, is to track where female boars will generally congregate, mainly because they are the ones that will breed in their respective territories, leaving more boars to follow in their footsteps within 18 months. From there, the objective is to ensure the group is trapped at the same time without losing any in the process.
“This approach is more strategic in that it is designed to make sure that you don’t leave any behind,” he said. “It’s not so much about how many you get rid of, but how many you leave behind in any particular area.”
Ditchkoff said there are several reasons for the rapid increase of boars in their native country, from irrigation to food availability to the religious beliefs of Morocco. “It is a Muslim country, so no one is hunting them for consumption purposes,” he said.
Ditchkoff will be flying to Morocco this weekend to go over preliminary preparations for the trip. A presentation on the program is available online at www.wildpigconference.com. http://www2.oanow.com/news/2012/oct/30/auburn-gets-grant-morocco-combat-boars-ar-4857565/
http://www2.alabamas13.com/news/2012/oct/31/au-prof-study-wild-pig-problem-morocco-ar-4862843/
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We applied for Cooperative status back in May, and now, five months later, I can confidently say that I’ve been initiated into the high realm of Moroccan bureaucracy. It’s everything they promised it would be, long, unclear and unexplained, and hopelessly rooted in the ’50s.
The application has gone through 4 different offices and now comfortably resides somewhere at the top level. Each of us seven founding members is waiting to receive a visit from local authorities to check on us, to see if we are serious about creating a cooperative or something. And there seems to be nothing we can do to speed up the process, so far only three people have been called on (they come to your house).
Luckily we have a good advisor at the Chambre D’artisanat (Chamber of Handicrafts) who strongly advised us to create a non-profit instead of a cooperative. They can both function in similar ways, we can have our training center and restaurant, except that in the cooperative the profit is divided up between the members, whereas in a non-profit it’s not. It’s a lot easier to create a non-profit, and when I think about it, it’s more aligned with what we are planning to do. We are planning to train local women in Moroccan cooking, making Moroccan sweets and Western baked goods. The women are from marginalized situations, from the 10 we have as a starting group 3 of them are raising kids on their own, 3 are illiterate, none have finished high school, almost all are in abject poverty. The locale we are planning to rent will be set up both as a training center and restaurant (it makes me so happy to type those words, I’m so excited about this project).
So we had our first general assembly a few days ago at the Chambre D’artisanat. The great thing is that Moroccan cooking and pastry-making is considered a traditional handicraft. Yeah! This is exciting for several reasons. There is a lot of government importance place on the traditional handicrafts like woodworking, leather goods, weaving, etc. Morocco really has a lot of fine craftsmen and the government knows that this is one of the national treasures. It’s exciting to be a part of that. Plus any cooperative or non-profit that is created in the handicraft field is automatically exempt from taxes. For our meeting, they let us use their super swanky facilities, check out the main door.
We had a good meeting. We talked about how a non-profit is different than a business. How we hope that it will enrich all of their lives not just financially but in several ways. Those who are illiterate will receive classes from the get-go to learn how to read. Those who know how to read will build on that, a few of the women have shown interest in learning English. We will invite people with cooking expertise to come give workshops and demonstrations. We will have trainings in hygiene and provide the women with all that they need in terms of medical tests, uniforms and cleaning products to be thoroughly in compliance with hygiene standards (if you’ve seen some of the local restaurants and the staff who work in them, you’ll appreciate this point. No soap in the bathroom, is all I’m going to say). We also talked about having high ideals and long-term goals such as: using local products and ingredients and eventually sourcing organic ingredients, supporting other local craftsment e.g. when we buy the furniture for the restaurant it will all be locally made, going back to old methods of cooking (which are invariably healthier). I told the women not to be scared of the immensity of the project, that the responsibility will be shouldered by all of us. (Uh, I think I was speaking mostly to myself as I kept repeating those words several times during the meeting).
For me, this project is immensely personal and exciting. It’s creative: dreaming anything up from scratch is. I need this level of creativity in my life, and Morocco needs it. And if I can use my creativity compassionately then it’s perfect. There are also challenges for me here to be faced, such as delegating tasks. There are a lot of people who want to volunteer with this project and I need to organize them into teams, an advertising team, a crew to work on the space, etc. I’ve had some freakouts about this project, I get scared that it will be too much or that I won’t be able to give it as much as it needs to be a success (not unlike those dreams I used to have when I was pregnant. I think freaking out about things means they are real to me). Honestly switching from the idea of a cooperative to a non-profit was a huge relief, it feels right. It doesn’t feel so much like I am trying to open a restaurant (people in the restaurant business keep telling me how hard it is, I believe them) , rather that I am helping set up a training infra-structure for marginalized women that will sell food as a way to support itself.
When I talk about the project, it strikes a chord with a lot of people. At this point in history, it’s time for women to shine. To learn, to grow, to speak, to be heard, to live in safety, to believe in our power. To nurture our spiritual bond with the Creator, ar-Rahman ar-Raheem, the Compassionate, the Bestower of all bounty.
http://www.moroccoboard.com/viewpoint/361-nora-fitzgerald/5737-starting-women-cooperative-project-in-morocco
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I swear the five-pound bag of organic carrots seemed like a good idea at the time. But day after dreary day of shredding them to top pedestrian salads, mainly to use up the rest of the fading greens in my yard, has left me wanting. Fortunately, the library recently scored a copy of Jeff Koehler‘s new book “ Morocco,” and I suddenly have a new favorite recipe.
While not specifically a vegetarian book (there are plenty of meat and fish offerings), a section dedicated to the exotic, at least by the standards of American palates, salads of the country has me reexamining the way I handle everything from butternut squash to zucchini. In many cases, ‘exotic’ simply translates to spices we’re familiar with, like cinnamon and cumin, but in atypical settings. Other times it means adding a splash of rose or orange blossom water…………….
Read more: http://foodies.blogs.starnewsonline.com/29549/cook-the-books-morocco-by-jeff-koehler/
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Internet Helps Morocco's Hip-Hop Scene Flourish. Rappers such as Si Simo rage against perceived corruption of police and state
From Rima Maktabi CNN October 19, 2012 CASABLANCA, Morocco (CNN)
In the poor suburbs of Casablanca, Morocco's largest city, home-grown hip-hop artists blare from radios, clubs and street corners around the clock.
Unlike the majority of their commercial American counterparts, these rappers don't talk much about women, partying and luxury lifestyles; but poverty, illiteracy, crime, and the high cost of living.
According to a recent report from the World Bank, nearly half of young Moroccans are either unemployed or out of school.
For 28-year-old rapper Mohammed Hoummas, who goes by the stage name Si Simo, the situation reflects a growing inequality between Morocco's rich and poor. Indeed, his most popular song, "Kilimini" speaks directly of the wealth gap in Moroccan society.
"They have croissant for breakfast while we eat bread dipped in cheap oil. They dine on grilled meat while we fight over an ounce of meat like worms," he sings.
"Why did I write 'Kilimini?' Look around where I live and you'll understand why I wrote it. To say it simply: Here in Morocco the people who have power, they can do what they want, say what they want, and no one will judge them or say anything to them," he said.
As a child Si Simo listened to Bob Marley and was inspired to write his own music. He says he couldn't afford to buy a guitar so his words became his instrument, and he started rapping at 15.
"I expressed my feelings about things I lived through, the things that hurt me, the life experiences that marked me," he said.
Internet penetration in Morocco has increased from just 15% of the population in 2007, to 49% in 2011, according to Internet World Statistics.
As such, the country's rap and hip-hop scene has exploded in popularity in urban centers -- where internet access is highest -- as home-grown artists take advantage of the ability to share and distribute their productions more widely.
National festivals such as Casablanca's Casa Music Festival and capital city Rabat's Mawazine increasingly showcase the talents of both domestic and international musicians, including the likes of Busta Rhymes and Kanye West.
Now a stalwart on the scene, Si Simo gained fame with the rap group Fez City Clan, making enough money from concerts and touring to move out of his run-down neighbourhood in Casablanca.
He still returns regularly, and is regarded as a local success story and inspiration. "I listen to rap and fusion music, but mostly rap, and especially Si Simo because he's from this neighborhood," said a local man. "I'm 19 and I'm a rapper. I think hip-hop is a way to express ourselves. I think it can change a lot of things," said another.
But that change can come at a price.
In February of last year, as the Arab Spring swept across the region, pro-reform protests erupted across Morocco.
The government reacted swiftly. Morocco's king, Mohammed VI, announced several reforms, including new parliamentary elections, civic and social equality for women, and recognition of the indigenous Berber language as an official state language along with Arabic.
But for many, especially among Morocco's disenchanted young, it wasn't enough.
Rapper Mouad Belghouat, better known as "Al Haqed" ("The Enraged One"), became a figurehead for the pro-reform February 20 Movement when he was arrested in March 2011 for his song "Kilab Al Dawla" or "Dogs of the State," in which he criticizes the police for brutality and corruption. "You are paid to protect the citizens, not to steal their money," read the lyrics. "Did your commander order you to take money from the poor?"
The song asks the police to arrest the wealthy businessmen who, he says, have divided the country up for themselves.
A Casablanca court sentenced Belghouat to one year in prison for hurting the image of the police.
The conviction drew widespread criticism from Belghouat's supporters on both his website and on social media outlets, as well as condemnation from Human Rights Watch, among others.
For Ali Chabani, a Moroccan sociology professor, the discontentment expressed in the lyrics of Morocco's growing band of hip hop artists is an inevitable product of the country's lack of social unity:
"The youth started suffering from unemployment, they started feeling marginalized and found it difficult to afford a dignified life or to establish themselves in society and so began to feel excluded," he said.
Follow the Inside the Middle East team on Twitter: Presenter Rima Maktabi: @rimamaktabi, producer Jon Jensen: @jonjensen, producer Schams Elwazer: @SchamsCNN, writer George Webster: @George_Web and digital producer Mairi Mackay: @mairicnn.
http://www.theskanner.com/article/Internet-Helps-Moroccos-HipHop-Scene-Flourish-2012-10-19
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Aicha Sasbou, who has worked for 30 years as a traditional birth attendant in this remote region of the Atlas Mountains, clearly remembers her first delivery. She was called along with her aunt to help her own sister. Her job: hold the candle and provide light for the delivery, since there was no electricity. But once the baby arrived, Sasbou forgot her duties in her excitement and shifted the light to see the baby instead of aiding her aunt in cutting the umbilical cord.
Since then, Sasbou has helped deliver around 25 babies in the homes of two of Zawiya Ahansal's villages, including those of two of her daughters. She's had no formal training, but with each delivery her skills have grown.
When a woman is in labor in one of these poor, Berber-speaking towns, Sasbou instructs her to squat and hold on to a handle hanging from the ceiling. She massages the pregnant woman's belly with olive oil and feeds her the oil to speed up the labor.
Morocco has made great strides in improving maternal health in recent years, decreasing its maternal mortality ratio by over 60 percent since 1990. But women such as Sasbou, in remote parts of the country, can only do so much when a woman runs into serious trouble and access to life-saving care is a two-hour walk away, on a rough mountainous path sometimes blocked by snow.
"Seventy percent of mothers who die do so on the way to the hospital," said Dr. Abdelghani Drhimeur, head of communications at the Ministry of Health in Rabat. "It takes one hour to hemorrhage and die or even less."
These types of barriers have created a wide maternal health gap between city and certain rural women that Mostafa Lamqaddam, Peace Corps' health program manager in Rabat, said could curb the country's swift progress on maternal health. "The [maternal mortality] rate may stabilize. Probably the system will hit a limit."
Rural, Urban Disparity
In Morocco, 112 women die per 100,000 live births, according to a 2011 report by the Ministry of Health and the United Nations Population Fund. But the maternal mortality rate in urban areas in 2010 was 73 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared 148 deaths in rural areas.
Fertility rates also diverge. In 2009, the average number of births per woman in Morocco was 2.2; but in rural areas it was 2.7 compared to 1.84 in urban areas, according to the 2011 report..................
Read more here: http://allafrica.com/stories/201209261307.html?page=2
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A COMMUNITY director from Dursley is soon to set off on a trip to Morocco to help give homeless children a better future. On Boxing Day, Ben Ward will be going to a small town called Taroudant for ten days to hold circus workshops for some of the hundreds of youngsters on the streets there.
In partnership with The Street Children Project and run by The Moroccan Children’s Trust, Ben hopes youths often stigmatised and isolated from their communities will benefit."Learning circus skills is not only great fun, but it is a big confidence booster and a way to break down barriers," said Ben."Everyone has the chance to master something new whilst also having fun and being able to enjoy being a child."I am delighted to be able to get involved in the project and help raise much needed funds for the orphanage." Giving Ben a hand will be Sean Ford, a member of Circus Bezerkus.
Ben, 37, and his wife, Jane Manning, founded the Dursley-based community organisation World Jungle, a not-for-profit company in 2000. Together, and with a team of volunteers, they try to improve people’s lives through various activities including circus workshops, Zumba, dance classes and even bushcraft and survival-skills groups.
To raise funds for the equipment needed, World Jungle is hosting two music and dance nights, called The Coco Club, at Lister Hall on Friday, November 9 and Saturday, December 15.
They are also urging local businesses to donate prizes for a raffle.
If you would like to donate to the Moroccan Street Children Project or contribute to the raffle, contact World Jungle on 01453 545202 or 078788 65297 or email ben@worldjungle.org.uk
http://www.gazetteseries.co.uk/news/9996524.Community_director_to_help_homeless_children_in_Morocco/?ref=rss
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Morocco Sets Out 2013 Budget Targeting Deficit of 4.8%.
By Aida Alami - Oct 24, 2012
Morocco’s Finance Minister Nizar Baraka introduced a 2013 budget that set spending at 298 billion dirhams ($34.7 billion) and targeted a deficit of about 5 percent, as the North African country looks to stave off unrest that has rocked other Arab nations.
Revenue for 2013 was projected at 283 billion dirhams under the budget put to parliament today. The government will continue spending heavily on energy and staple subsidies, estimating expenditure to be between 45.9 billion and 49.3 billion dirhams. In 2012, the total spending on subsidies may total 53 billion dirhams. Economic growth was forecast at 4.5 percent in 2013.
“The restoration of a balanced budget is possible by optimizing the costs and improving the revenue,” Baraka told parliament.
Last year, the country’s budget deficit widened as the government boosted spending in an attempt to curtail economic challenges that helped spark uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world. The nation faces growing problems after a drought hit its harvest and amid concerns about the economic fallout from the euro-region crisis. Europe is Morocco’s biggest export market and the source of almost two-thirds of its tourists.
“Moroccan authorities are finding it more challenging to reduce the vulnerabilities created by the twin deficits in the context of a difficult external environment while maintaining Morocco’s traditional political and social stability,” ratings agency Standard & Poor’s said on Oct. 11 as it revised its outlook for the country’s debt to negative from stable.
Coalition parties that won last November’s elections, led by the Islamist Justice and Development party, raised taxes on alcohol in April for the first time since 2010 by 12 percent for beer and 43 percent on other alcoholic beverages. In June 2011, Morocco raised fuel prices by about 20 percent to cut spending on subsidies.
The 2013 budget was based on an oil price of $105 a barrel.
To contact the reporter on this story: Aida Alami in Cairo at aalami2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tarek El-Tablawy at teltablawy@bloomberg.net
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-24/morocco-sets-out-2013-budget-targeting-deficit-of-4-8-.html
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With riots and demonstrations still unfolding in some countries in the arab world , it appears that the Arab Spring has morphed into Grim Winter. Thousand Syrians have been killed by an Assad regime willing to apply murderous policies against dissidents. Even the post-conflict situation in Libya – heralded as the emergence of an open government – remains uncertain.
How these roiling conditions in the Middle East return to a form of equilibrium is unknown. But one nation in the region anticipating the percolation of discontent, has attempted to charge in front of reform. On July 1 2011 Morocco voted for constitutional change proposed by its King Mohammed VI. These amendments guarantee the full equality of women and the rights of minorities, including Jews. Moreover, these reforms criminalized torture, established the independence of the judiciary and invested executive authority in the head of a party that wins the most seats in parliament……….
Read the rest here: http://www.eurasiareview.com/28102012-is-morocco-on-the-path-to-democracy%E2%80%8F-oped/
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Samuel Aranda for The New York Times Morocco’s King Mohammed is often credited with deft handling of the unrest wrought by the Arab Spring. But, despite elections and a new constitution, critics level that little seems to have changed.
CAIRO — Observers of the Arab Spring were enthralled by the dramatic changes that swept through our region, toppling several strong-arm secular governments. But it’s been equally interesting to watch what’s going on in those countries whose regimes have survived.
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI is a case in point. He is often credited with having deftly dealt with the Arab Spring: In early 2011, as a protest movement like those in other Arab countries took to the streets, he blunted demands for greater freedom by offering a new constitution and early elections. But a year later, with the new constitution and a government led by an Islamist party for the first time, not much seems to have changed.
The government led by the Justice and Development Party, known as P.J.D., its French acronym, is hemmed in by unelected royal advisers who form a shadow government with much of the real power. A crackdown on dissidents continues, notably on musicians like the rapper El Haqed, who has been imprisoned for writing lyrics insulting the police, and members of the February 20 movement, which has continued to hold regular protests.
Despite claims by the government that it has carried out human rights reforms, the United Nations has found that torture is still widely used. Local journalists are cowed into towing the line. If not, they’re exiled to the Internet, which has limited reach. Correspondents for foreign press agencies who displease the palace have had their accreditation withdrawn.
The claims of protesters who in 2011 rejected the new constitution as merely cosmetic appear to have been vindicated.
Could the mass protests of 2011 make a comeback?
Perhaps, although in the last few months it has been protests rooted in economic issues rather than political demands — sometimes turning into riots — that have made the headlines. In backwater towns like Taza in the north and Sidi Ifni in the south, and in the slums of major cities like Tangiers, protesters have clashed with police repeatedly in the last year over jobs and the cost of living.
It’s not clear how long economic concerns will remain separate from political issues, particularly as Morocco is highly exposed to the vagaries of the global economy. The financial crisis hobbling the European Union, its chief trading partner, affects both exports and remittances from migrant workers. Moreover, Morocco is a net importer of wheat and energy and therefore extremely sensitive to fluctuations in international petroleum and commodity prices — both of which are expected to surge in 2013.
King Mohammed’s plan may be to rely on his personal connections to other Arab monarchs from much wealthier countries to face the oncoming storm. His recent trip to the Gulf — he visited Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — will yield at least $2.5 billion in aid, and promises to kickstart infrastructure investment in Morocco.
The wealthy Gulf monarchies made clear their interest in aiding the much-poorer and more populated Morocco in 2011, when they offered to include it along with Jordan in the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional organization. At the time, the idea was widely mocked by Moroccans, who as well as being some 4,000 kilometers from the nearest Gulf country, have a widely different (and notably less conservative) culture.
The idea, at its core, was that absolute monarchs should stick together against the region’s revolutionary upheaval: real democratization in Morocco could create a dangerous precedent. The Gulf countries are now putting their money where their mouth is.
But will this be enough to guarantee that economic and political grievances don’t resurface? Probably not. In addition to the problems with the Constitution and the weak elected assembly, the debate over the monarchy has increasingly shifted toward the king’s personal fortune and his role in the economy.
In this regard, the Gulf model — where ruling families buy the support of mostly small populations — cannot work in Morocco. The protests over the last two years have not simply been about poverty, but also about the unfair distribution of resources.
It’s increasingly clear that Moroccans, like other Arabs in the region, are interested in becoming citizens rather than subjects.
http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/31/moroccos-citizen-subjects/
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Anas Benhima spent over a decade building a new life in Spain: an education, friends, and a career. Then he left it all and returned home to Morocco. “I saw my friends losing their jobs,” he says. “And I knew that eventually the same thing could happen to me.”
Mr. Benhima, like an increasing number of Moroccan migrants, is giving up on his northern neighbor. For years Spain beckoned as a land of opportunity, but that image is now shattered by an economic crisis that has pushed unemployment there to nearly 25 percent……….
Read more here: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/1022/Spain-loses-title-as-Moroccans-land-of-opportunity
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Morocco Boosts Middle Class Housing
By Hassan Benmehdi, 30 October 2012 Casablanca
Morocco's incentives to increase middle class housing don't go far enough, some developers say. Following a programme for social housing for Moroccans on limited incomes, a similar programme is now being planned for the middle class.
The Moroccan government plans a series of incentives to encourage new housing aimed at the middle classes, according to Housing Minister Nabil Benabdallah.
"Around 20,000 units will be aimed at the middle classes every year, with prices ranging from 600,000 to 800,000 dirhams for a surface area of between 100 and 150m². However, the project will not be fully up and running until 2014," the minister said last Monday (October 22nd) at a Rabat press conference………..
Read more here: http://allafrica.com/stories/201210310755.html
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Villagers in Morocco Drive Out Prostitutes.
By SUZANNE DALEY Published: October 29, 2012 AIN LEUH, Morocco
For years, this mountain village with its crumbling whitewashed walls was known locally as the place to go for sex. Women — some dressed in tight jogging suits, some in dressing gowns — dallied in the tiled doorways off the main square, offering a Moroccan version of Amsterdam’s red-light district.
But no more. A band of men here, known as the Islamists, took matters into their own hands last fall.
The men deny that they were on a religious campaign, or that they are fanatics. They were tired, they said, of living side by side with drunken, brawling clients, tired of having their daughters propositioned as they headed home from school, tired of being embarrassed about where they lived. “It reached a point after Ramadan,” said Mohammed Aberbach, 41, who helped organize the campaign to drive the prostitutes out of town, “that men were actually waiting in lines. It was crazy.”
These days the side streets are quiet. The doors, painted green and yellow, are mostly shut, though a few prostitutes remain, now trying to sell candy instead of sex. In the square, the pace has slowed, fresh chickens and slabs of meat hang for sale on hooks, and villagers take their time over displays of vegetables. Nearby, women are bent over looms making traditional Berber rugs.
The changes in Ain Leuh are being held up by some in Morocco as another triumph of the Arab Spring — testament to what can happen when ordinary citizens stand up for change and make life better for themselves.
For others, however, the events of the past year show how the more fundamentalist Islamists, though continuing to be shut out of power in countries like Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco, nonetheless manage to promote their conservative agendas — often taking the law into their own hands, and in this case threatening the prostitutes and their customers and driving away the only industry in these parts.
“The economy is in free fall here,” said Ali Adnane, who works for a rural development agency. “The girls rented. They had cash. They bought things. Some people here are really happy about the changes. But some people are not.”
Morocco has avoided much of the violence that has gripped Arab countries in the last few years. In the face of mounting protests, Morocco’s king, Mohammed VI, offered to curb his own powers and in 2011 pledged a variety of reforms. Since then, the country has adopted a new Constitution and elected a new government, led by a moderate Islamist party.
The new prime minister, Abdelilah Benkirane, who has refused many of the perks of his office, has a flair for mingling with the average man. But many remain frustrated over the pace of change in a country plagued by high unemployment and corruption. Ain Leuh is hardly the only village to have seen the emergence of a local committee, known as a comité, pushing for reforms of various sorts.
Exactly what happened in this village of 5,000 in the Middle Atlas Mountains, about a two-hour drive from Rabat, the capital, is in dispute. Mr. Aberbach says the Islamists never did anything illegal. The campaign, he said, largely involved demonstrations in the main square. No one threatened anybody or used violence or stood at the entrances to the village demanding identification from men who wanted to enter.
“That would be against the law,” said Mr. Aberbach, a friendly man who owns several shops here and has big plans for the future of Ain Leuh.
But others, including Haddou Zaydi, a member of the town council, say all those things, and more, took place. Sometimes, he said, the Islamists used padlocks to imprison the prostitutes in their houses after a customer had gone in. Then, they called the police.
In the past, many here say, the prostitutes would pay off the police to look the other way. Now, though, the authorities, still getting the feel for a newly elected government led by a moderate Islamist party, the Justice and Development Party, let the Islamists have their way.
Mourad Boufala, 32, who runs a cigarette and candy shop in the main square, said he was not in favor of prostitution. But he was offended by the Islamists’ methods. “The way they did it was really rough,” he said. “They hit girls and scared them. And the problem is that they offered them no alternatives.”
Mr. Boufala worries that the country is adrift, easily prey to self-appointed militias like the Islamists. “No one is governing,” Mr. Boufala said. “The militias exist like they are the authorities.”
Repeated phone calls to local police officials were not returned.
Curiously, few people here see the campaign against the prostitutes as particularly religious. Mr. Aberbach and several other members of the Islamists frame the campaign in moral terms — and business ones. They say the name “Islamists” was attached to them because they are members of various Islamic parties, including the governing one.
They say that they consider the prostitutes victims of criminal gangs that brought drugs and human trafficking to their village. And they are determined to end the corruption that allowed such crimes to flourish in their streets. “What we did is related to the Arab Spring because it brought the culture of speaking out,” Mr. Aberbach said.
“We could have tourism,” he added. “But we have no good roads or hotels or restaurants here. There are beautiful things around here. Waterfalls, a lot of things. But who is going to come to a village known for prostitution? It got to the point where if you were a woman you could not say you were from here.”
For the prostitutes who remain, the last year has brought hard times. “I won’t even make 10 cents today,” said Khadija, 34, who has tried to earn a living selling cigarettes, candy bars and small toys displayed on a round table outside her door. “My neighbors are feeding me.” “They are watching us all the time,” she added, referring to the Islamists.
Up the street, Arbia Oulaaskri, 64, said her family has been living in terror since the Islamists’ campaign began. Her house is luxurious compared with others in the village. Her living room easily seats 30, and more than 50 tea glasses are arranged on various coffee tables. She says she was never involved in prostitution and obtained her money from her family and from her daughters who live abroad and send her checks. But, she said, the Islamists carrying chains arrived at her doorstep night after night, telling her to leave.
Her son, wearing a gold lamé jacket, exhibits a room nearby that shows signs of a fire and says the Islamists did that, too. But, Mrs. Oulaaskri says, the authorities would not listen. She is facing charges related to running a house of prostitution. “We filed a lot of complaints,” Mrs. Oulaaskri said, “but no one followed up.”
Aida Alami contributed reporting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/30/world/africa/moroccan-villages-war-on-prostitution-draws-critics.html?pagewanted=all
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Morocco signs renewables agreement with Desertec Foundation
Thursday, October 25th, 2012 By Alex Blackburne
The Moroccan Agency for the Development of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ADEREE) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Desertec Foundation, in order to collaborate on renewable energy and energy efficiency………...
Read more here http://blueandgreentomorrow.com/2012/10/25/morocco-signs-renewables-agreement-with-desertec-foundation/
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King Mohammed reacted swiftly to the Arab Spring and the local demonstrations it inspired, introducing reforms that have produced a coalition government with an Islamist prime minister. But has Morocco’s balance of power changed?
by Wendy Kristianasen
“Morocco isn’t a democracy, but the Arab Spring has brought some real progress. All this is a revolution for the country,” said Mustafa Ramid, justice minister in the coalition government, headed for the first time by an Islamist prime minister, Abdelilah Benkirane, and his Justice and Development Party, PJD. Until then, Ramid had been a leading dissenter within the party, demanding political reform as a condition of the PJD running for election. For him, the changes were an unhoped-for advance.
Thousands took to the streets of Rabat, Casablanca, Tangiers and Marrakesh on 20 February 2011, as they had elsewhere in the Arab world. They demanded a new constitution, a change in government and an end to corruption, and they started a movement that took its name from the date of their demonstration. Mohammed VI shrewdly responded with a well-judged speech on primetime television on 9 March offering reforms. Then, on 17 June, he announced a new constitution, under which he has to name a prime minister from the largest party, with the authority to dissolve parliament. He also made Berber an official language beside Arabic. On 1 July a referendum on the draft constitution was approved by 98.5% of voters, with a turnout officially reported at almost 73%. On 25 November the PJD won early parliamentary elections, with 107 out of 395 seats............
Read more here: http://mondediplo.com/2012/11/04morocco
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For some time now the Moroccan health system has been subject to criticism. High cost for health care has become one of the main concerns of Moroccan citizens. Officials are now trying their best to reduce in a significatif way costs by the end of the year.
The main problem according to the health minister Houcine El Ouardi is that the number of health specialist per head of population remains very low since there are only 6 doctors for 10000 people. Being “ one of the 57 countries suffering from a shortage of medically trained human ressources3 in addition to the lack of equipment doesn’t allow Morocco’s evolution in the domain as the minister says. The first thing that can be done to solve this issue is establish a policy of local management and reorganization of some part of the system proposes Deputy Mohammed Laassel. Members of the public have also pointed out the ethical defaults being held by care givers. Whether it is by abandoning their main post in the public sector to work more hours in the private domain or by being the main actors of corruption, they loose the confidence that the patients had put in them. To fight corruption in public health services necessary measures will soon be put in place promises the minister.
Informing the patients “of their duties and rights” Is the first step that has been implemented. In order to improve governance facilities are being set in place: easing booking ways by a simple phone call or through the internet or developing new systems for following up complaints are some examples.
In addition, the government is discussing with major pharmacies and companies deals that would allow patients to get their medical treatment at a low price.
http://www.northafricapost.com/1160-morocco-health-sector-under-strict-scrutiny.html
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Surfing in southern Morocco: 'You could find the wave of your life' - video
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/video/2012/oct/30/surfing-southern-morocco-video
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Pharmaceuticals sector increasing access to medication.
Global Arab Network - - Maha Karim Sunday, 28 October 2012
Morocco’s pharmaceuticals sector is negotiating a tricky balancing act at the moment, in a bid to widen access while taking into consideration worries from manufacturers and pharmacists over cost-recovery. Local production plays a significant role in satisfying domestic demand, but the market has long struggled with concerns over the prices of brand-name products, which has prompted the government to increase generic distribution and try to lower end-user prices, Global Arab Network reports according to OBG.
The pharmaceuticals sector in Morocco is the second largest on the African continent, following South Africa. It is made up of 40 industrial units, 50 distributors, and more than 11,500 pharmacies. Local production supplies 70% of domestic demand and the country exports 10% of its production, particularly to neighbouring African nations. Still, domestic consumption is rather low, with annual spending per citizen totalling about Dh400-450 (€36-40), compared to €61 in Algeria and €98 globally.
“Consumption is €24 per person per year in Morocco and in Tunisia it is €41, a difference of 70%,” Patrice Fuster, the general manager of Sanofi Aventis, told OBG.
Part of the reason for the limited per capita consumption can be attributed to pricing, which has been a persistent concern for retail customers. In 2009, a parliamentary study found that prices for branded drugs were between 30% and 189% higher than in Tunisia and 20% to 70% more expensive than in France. Although price reductions have been imposed since then, cost remains a source of concern, particularly as the country is currently looking to boost access to medicine.
As a result, the government is hoping to conclude another round of price reductions by the end of December 2012, which if successful will serve to bring prices of all drugs down by 30 to 60%. Negotiations are currently being carried out between industry associations, pharmaceutical firms and the government to reach a compromise on how best to achieve these price reductions.
In this vein, the government has recently concluded agreements with the country’s three main pharmaceutical organisations: the Moroccan Association of Generic Medicine Producers (Association Marocaine du Médicament Générique, AMMG), the Moroccan Association of Pharmaceutical Producers (Association Marocaine de l'Industrie Pharmaceutique, AMIP), and Health Innovation Morocco (Maroc Innovation Santé, MIS), an organisation for subsidiaries of international pharmaceutical firms, which help reduce the prices on certain medicines.
However, while price reductions may spur higher consumption, private operators in both the manufacturing and distribution segments have expressed concern over their ability to recoup costs if effective compensation measures are not put in place. Pharmacists, for example, have been particularly vocal in their worries over the potential negative impacts of price reductions. From some 2500 in the 1996, there are more than 11,500 pharmacies today in Morocco. However, the current annual average turnover per pharmacy does not exceed Dh700,000 (€63,000), down from Dh2m (€180,000) in 1996.
There may be other challenges as well. “The industry has come up with proposals for reform to change the pricing structure, but for these to have any effect, other changes are necessary, for instance in how the distribution channels are organised,” Eric Reurts, the general manager of Novo Nordisk, told OBG. In the meantime, pharmacies have expressed their interest in taking part in the Medical Assistance Programme for the Economically Disadvantaged (Regime d’Assistance Médicale aux Economiquement Démunis, RAMED) through PPPs. First introduced in the Tadla-Azilal region in 2008, RAMED is expected to extend coverage to a total of 8.5m people over the next few years. The programme will help drive sales as the government looks to extend access to new medicines to participants of the RAMED programme.
Yet in spite of the challenging balance that must be struck between ensuring a profitable business environment and guaranteeing affordable access to medication – a hurdle that countries around the world face – Morocco has nonetheless emerged as one of the most attractive destinations for pharmaceutical investment over the past year.
A number of pharmaceutical firms have set up operations recently. In October 2011, Jordan-based Hikma Pharmaceuticals acquired 63.9% of Morocco’s Promopharm for $111.2m and has plans to introduce more than 20 Hikma products to the market. Then, in early 2012, in a bid to acquire the rest of Promopharm, Hikma brought its share in the firm to 94.12%.
Another new entrant is India-based Ranbaxy, a major global producer of generics. Indeed, the production of generic medicine is a rapidly growing industry, with a market share of around 30%. The firm invested some Dh20m (€1.76m) to open its first unit in Casablanca, making it the third on the continent, following South Africa and Nigeria.
The short-term and medium-term outlook for the sector is impacted in part by the challenging negotiations over pricing and access, but ultimately, the fundamentals of the Moroccan market, including a sizable population, skilled labour pool and reliable infrastructure, will help ensure that domestic production, whether in brand-name or generic products, continue to grow. (OBG).
http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/2012102812740/Science-Health/morocco-pharmaceuticals-sector-increasing-access-to-medication.html
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King Mohammed VI sent a letter in support of film professionals attending the "Assises du Cinema" conference in Rabat between October 16th and 18th. The king underlined the importance of implementing a participative process for creators and professionals to ensure a flourishing film industry……………
Read more here: http://allafrica.com/stories/201210241127.html
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"A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world." -John Le Carre
After the desert we headed through the winding Atlas Moutains to Ouarzazate. Though Ouarzazate is known as the “Moroccan Hollywood” because it has been the location for many big-budget movies and TV shows (Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, Game of Thrones, Black Hawk Down) we went there for another reason: women’s education.
We spent the night in Association Tishka, a dormitory for women going to vocational school and college in Ouarzazate. After dropping our stuff off and walking around the city a bit, we sat down to a meal with the girls. At first, it was a little awkward: the language barrier and the fact that we were split up between different tables made the situation feel a little forced. However, my fellow American student at the table spoke excellent French and we were able to have an enlightening discussion about education, women’s issues and their hope for the future. The main issue, they said, is poverty. Though education (through college) is free, students have to buy supplies and books, which can be too much for poor families. In addition, students in rural areas sometimes have to walk an hour or more to get to school, which can be dangerous and take away from time they could be working at home. They also pointed out that unemployment is high in Morocco and they are worried about getting jobs…..
Read more here: http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/travel/blogs/175137031.html
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A couple of days ago I got back from the Netherlands, but it seems like a lifetime ago.
The culture shock I experienced first going to Europe, and then returning to Morocco, was overwhelming. English was everywhere. I was surrounded by a good deal of wealth. Women weren’t wearing headscarves. Women weren’t wearing jellabas. Women, in fact, were wearing very little in comparison to what I’ve seen for the past couple of months. (And this was in a place at least thirty or so degrees cooler than Rabat.) I could go running by myself and not get harassed. I could go to a bar and stay out late without worrying my host mother. I could simply wander around the city and not stick out, not be stared at.
I want to convey to you how nice it was in the Netherlands after being in Morocco for almost two months, because most students at Whitman, and in general most white people living in the Pacific Northwest, don’t experience that tingling sensation at the back of your neck when you know that people are staring at you. All. The. Time. You don’t know where to look. You automatically look down at your feet, but then you wonder if this makes you seem weak, so you look up in front of you. But this allows you to see people staring at you from the periphery of your vision, and you become even more self-conscious of the attention that you’re attracting.
You can tell when a man is about to call out to you. It’s actually quite amusing to observe. First his eyes lock onto you: target spotted. The obvious next step would be to choose what to say, but this in itself is complicated for the typical Moroccan male. White people in Morocco come from all over Europe, so first he must decide which language to use. Do you look Spanish or French? English or Italian? Apparently my ethnicity is ambiguous, because I have gotten salutations in a plethora of languages. Ciao, bella. Ça va? Hola! Speak English? Parles français? If you watch him at this point, you’ll notice a hint of frustration on his face, as if he was thinking, “Why, oh why, is Moroccan Arabic not universally understood? It would make this so much easier!”
I’ve thus been relatively anti-social on the street. Aside from people I see day-to-day, I avoid eye contact and walk fast on my way to class to avoid unwanted interactions.
Here’s the thing about living as an American in Morocco: I will never seem Moroccan. I will never blend in. I knew this coming into the program, but I didn’t comprehend it. So despite my best intentions, there will forever be Moroccan quirks which I’ll never understand. And, despite their best intentions, most of the Moroccans I meet won’t be able to understand me. To illustrate, I once started talking to a local calligrapher in the old medina. He asked me why I was in Morocco, and I tried to explain that I want to study Moroccan society. ”But why,” he pressed, “did you come here when you could have learned all that on the internet?” I said that I additionally wanted to experience something new, something different from life in America, but he refused to accept this answer.
Ultimately, the concept of studying abroad in a place like Morocco is a paradox. I come to learn and to understand what it’s like to be Moroccan, but the fact that I can afford to spend a semester abroad in another country inherently alienates myself from the typical Moroccan. There was an invisible barrier constructed the minute I got off the plane in Rabat in September.
Life in Morocco has not been hard, but it’s not been any cake walk, either. The time I spent in Amsterdam, and the ease I felt while I was there, proved this. And honestly, I’m glad I’m not there for the entire semester. Not only would it be ridiculously expensive, but I wouldn’t be able to appreciate my life back in America. The different lifestyle that I’ve observed here has held up a mirror to the one to which I’m accustomed. And I think, especially as a student of sociology, this is something that cannot be overvalued.
http://whitmanpioneer.com/opinion/pioneer-blogs/offcampusblogs/leah-siegel-off-campus/2012/10/24/the-paradox-of-studying-abroad-in-morocco/
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To Fight Against the End of Summer, the Moroccan National Tourist Office Started the "Movement for More Summer"
RABAT, Morocco, October 23, 2012
“Did you witness a movement that spread across European capital cities? Did you relate to this unprecedented protest against the approaching rainy autumn? Are you now dying to know the origins of the Movement for More Summer? It was born in the streets, relayed by the Internet and raced across social networks with dazzling speed, generating reactions and sharing of experience by over 20 000 Internet users, notably on Facebook and Twitter. ….
http://www.wallstreet-online.de/nachricht/5029079-to-fight-against-the-end-of-summer-the-moroccan-national-tourist-office-started-the-movement-for-more-summer
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Students in Morocco feel neglected
LAWRENCE SERETSE Correspondent
*Poor French language curriculum
*DPSM ignored the matter
*Insufficient allowances
Batswana students studying in Morocco have expressed dissatisfaction with the education system and the insufficient allowances given to them. The students are on scholarships from the government of Morocco. Seven of them (names withheld) have said the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) sent them to study in the North African country without doing research on how the education system there operates…..
Read more here http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?sid=1&aid=360&dir=2012/October/Thursday25
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Moroccan Middle Class Faces New Tax Burden
By Siham Ali, 29 October 2012 Rabat
The draft 2013 Finance Act includes a new solidarity tax. The opposition views the proposal as an attack on the middle class.
Morocco's 2013 Finance Act is not yet law, but one provision is already sparking widespread criticism from opposition legislators.
Their main complaint about the draft law presented in parliament on Wednesday (October 24th) is a new solidarity tax on those with monthly earnings of 25,000 dirhams (2,250 euros) or more.
The tax hike on the highest earners aims to boost to the Social Cohesion Fund of 2012, which covers the new RAMED medical assistance programme for citizens with special needs and finances education initiatives.
A proportional rate of 3% will apply to those with annual incomes between 300,000 and 600,000 dirhams per year. Higher earners will be subject to a 5% rate.
But according to the leader of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) in the House of Councillors, Hakim Benchemmas, the move will hit the middle class the hardest. It will also fail to fulfil the government's commitments, he said.
Chaoui Belassel, the Constitutional Union party leader in the Chamber of Representatives, agrees, arguing that the measure aims to support the needy at the expense of the middle class.
Many workers also disapprove of the proposal and hope that the opposition will be able to amend it.
The government's increase to fuel prices has already had an effect on other items, critics of the new tax measure say. Ahmed Sellami, who works for a company, feels that the proposed solidarity tax will be yet another burden for many households.
"I earn 30,000 dirhams. I have to support my parents and my two unemployed brothers, as well as my small family. I pay school fees for my three children and I have to pay off my loans. That leaves me unable to save anything," he told Magharebia.
Driss Azami El Idrissi, the minister delegate responsible for the budget, has insisted that everyone must pull together in the current economic situation. Businesses, he explained, will also contribute to the Social Cohesion Fund.
Under the draft Finance Act, the Fund would be strengthened by taxing companies with net profits exceeding 20 million dirhams. Beginning January 1st, 2013, the rate would be up to 1% on net profits of 20 - 100 million dirhams and 1.5% for net profits in excess of 100 million dirhams.
In addition, the Fund would be boosted by an increase in the domestic consumption tax on cigarettes to 4.5% exclusive of VAT.
Opposition legislators say they plan to propose amendments to the draft measure.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201210300379.html
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Morocco: HM the King Inaugurates Traditional Arts Academy of Casablanca.
31 October 2012 Casablanca
HM King Mohammed VI inaugurated, on Wednesday, the Traditional Arts Academy of Casablanca, a new gesture in favor of the craft industry which plays a pivotal role in safeguarding the Moroccan identity.
One of the four components of the Hassan II Mosque Foundation, the new Academy mirrors the Sovereign's insight into the overhauling of the craft industry and its trade associations.
HM the King is continuously underlining the importance to lay the bases for the recognition of handicrafts as shows its royal message dated September 2001 to participants in Fez in a forum on the elaboration of an official report on the national craft industry.
The facility, meant to provide training for executives and research in the field of traditional arts, will enable young apprentices to have access to new technologies and modern management methods.
On this occasion, Islamic Affairs Minister and chairman of the Hassan II Mosque Foundation of Casablanca, Ahmed Toufiq, gave before the monarch a presentation on the mission and goals of the Academy, as well as its future prospects for the apprentices.
The new facility, carried out in conformity with the royal instructions, will offer training for master craftsmen to acquire professional know-how and expertize in handicraft, art and production, Toufiq said, adding that the Academy will also provide technical assistance and counseling.
Totaling 107 million dirhams, the Academy is unique for its creativity and authenticity, he added.
Afterwards, HM the King visited the Academy's workshops (carved wood, tiles, plaster, calligraphy, tannery, weaving and jewelry) and the Hassan II Mosque's museum.
The museum includes mainly a hall, areas for craft samples used in the mosque's construction as zellige (terracotta tile work), and a screening area to show the different stages of the mosque's building
http://allafrica.com/stories/201211010865.html
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A memorable culinary trip to Morocco.
By Clay Fong Thursday, November 1,2012
Stepping out of a nondescript 28th Street parking lot into Tangier Moroccan Cuisine is a transformative experience. Once inside, one removes one’s shoes and absorbs the warm ambiance of a dining room packed with richly colored rugs and comfy cushions. Faced with sitting at a standard table setup or amongst the low cushions and tapestries, friend Amy and I took the more leisurely, and presumably more authentic, seating route.
The menu here spotlights starters like hearts of palm and the vegetable- or chicken-stuffed pies known as bastillas. Soups include lentil and split pea, while salads feature items like cucumber or eggplant. Lamb and chicken here are halal, and these ingredients figure prominently in entree kebobs, couscous and gluten-free tagines, North African stews. Small fries under 10 can indulge in a $7.95 kabob plate.
Amy started with a $7 glass of Moroccan red wine, while I selected traditional hot and sweet $2.49 mint tea, poured from up high to facilitate cooling and effervescence. Our first course consisted of $4.95 lentil and harira soups. Both of these satisfyingly warm and hearty options were earthy, pulse-based affairs with lively but not overwhelming spicing. A slight edge went to the harira, a classic Berber preparation, for possessing a more complex, full-bodied flavor.
Amy strongly lobbied for the $12.95 chicken bastilla. I’m hard-pressed to think of a dish that so compellingly blends sweet and savory. This poultry pie consisted of a plump disc of flaky yet crisp filo, liberally dusted with powdered sugar and a whisper of cinnamon.
Tender minced chicken filled this pastry, and this ingredient’s fine flavor and subtle saltiness complemented the crunchy sweetness of the exterior envelope. Amy felt she could make a meal out of this specialty alone.
The $14.95 chicken couscous was perhaps the best example of this dish I’ve tasted. Featuring a moist and tender chicken leg accompanied by perfectly cooked sweet carrot, cabbage and zucchini, the flavor profile was closer to that of a risotto. Each individual couscous grain was richly infused with the taste of vegetable, poultry and sublime spicing.
The theme of sweet marrying savory also played out in our $17.95 lamb tagine with apricot and apple. The word tagine refers both to the stew-like dish as well as the heavy earthen cooking vessel in which it is prepared.
Tangier uses an authentic red tagine cooker with a heavy peaked lid — ideal for retaining heat. The heady, broth-like sauce was an optimum match for the accompanying side of basmati rice, and the fruity sweetness complemented the lamb’s meaty depth.
We ended with a not-too-sweet $3.95 baklava, subtly aromatic with rosewater. I washed this down with more mint tea, while Amy pursued a more therapeutic closing with a $7 shot of arak, a bracing fennel and fig spirit similar to Ouzo.
Dinner at Tangier was the best meal I’ve reviewed this year. My impression was less that of going to a restaurant for than it was visiting the home of an attentive Moroccan friend who patiently took the time to explain each dish. While prices aren’t inexpensive, the quality of the experience makes this more than just a meal. Tangier is a hidden gem, deserving of a spot in the top echelon of Boulder restaurants.
Tangier Moroccan Cuisine is located at 3070 28th St. in Boulder. Call 303-443-3676 or visit www.tangiermoroccancuisine.com/ .
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