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Model United Nations in Arabic to Begin in Morocco in 2016
Thursday 15 October 2015 - morocco world news By Mouhsin El Hallouati
The city of Sidi Slimane in northwestern Morocco hosted a Model United Nations Training of Trainers (MUN TOT) in early October 2015. The event gathered approximately 45 people, including United States Peace Corps Volunteers and Moroccan partners. The MUN TOT’s main aim was to equip trainees with the requisite tools and knowledge to implement Model United Nations classes within their communities and to help them prepare a group of students who will compete in a national, Arabic-language MUN conference to be held in January 2016. The event was the fruit of a Peace Corps Morocco initiative and lasted for three days. The training, which took place in the local dar chabab (youth center), included eleven sessions – all of which were related directly to the concept of MUN and the teaching of MUN.
On the opening day, after the customary introductions and greetings, the participants were introduced to a brief history of the United Nations (UN), its goals, and its missions through an interactive discussion with the organizers. Then, the trainees had the opportunity to discover the functional structure of the UN, its main bodies, and its funding sources. Next, the fundamental tips of teaching – teaching MUN specifically – were presented and discussed in detail. The presentation covered different teaching and facilitation methods, such as PPP (Present, Practice, Produce), ESA (Engage, Study, Achieve), TBL (Task Based Learning), and group work. The presentation further discussed all steps in the process of preparing and presenting a lesson, from lesson planning to delivering a PowerPoint presentation. In addition, tips from teachers, having successfully delivered MUN courses, were brought to the discussion. Finally, the closing session of day one consisted of public speaking and oral presentations. The day was certainly rich in discussions, lessons, and activities that enhanced the trainees’ knowledge.
The second day, the longest of the training, focused on the MUN conference and the diverse aspects of preparation, both in the months before the conference and in the days during the conference itself. The first session provided some advice and tips regarding preparing the students for the event, receiving signed parental permission forms, and contacting insurance companies. Furthermore, it provided recommendations on assigning committees. For instance, assigning small committees to more experienced students and large committees to inexperienced ones.
Similarly, the participants were given strategies on research and writing position papers. The subsequent session’s main focus was proper attire, parliamentary procedure, and winning points at the conference. It explained the role of conference members (chair, vice chair, rapporteur). Afterwards, the trainees were introduced to diplomatic courtesy and language, debates and caucuses, and working papers. As for the third session, it was meant to present the position paper and its format. Ultimately, day two concluded with a mock conference in which participants were randomly assigned states, and a fictitious topic was debated. The day provided the participants with the enormous occasion to acquire deeper knowledge as it examined the heart of MUN closely.
The closing sessions of the Sidi Slimane MUN TOT dealt primarily with the important themes of research and position papers. Concerning research, the different topics comprising the Research binder – such as committees, states, background guides, state policies, and solutions – were defined and discussed. Then, a formula for writing an effective position paper was highlighted in addition to rules and proposed solutions to plagiarism. Lastly, the training ended with a presentation on the art of communication, debating skills, and caucusing strategies. The content of day three went further in detail and enabled the participants to comprehend the principal means to teach MUN.
The Model United Nations Training of Trainers constituted an excellent opportunity which will permit the participants to transmit their passion for global issues and international relations to their pupils back in their communities. Combining both their respective know-hows and the knowledge and skills acquired during the three days of the MUN TOT, these ambitious trainees-turned-trainers intend to share what they have learned with their students in preparation for the nationwide Arabic-language conference in January 2016.
Photo credit: Fouad El Hadaoui
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/10/170450/model-united-nations-in-arabic-to-begin-in-morocco-in-2016/
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Chris Stevens Initiative to Grant Moroccan Students a Life-Changing Cross-Cultural Experience.
Wednesday 7 October 2015 -Youssef Igrouane Meknes
In recognition of the dedication of Ambassador Chris Stevens to serve North Africa and the Middle East, the State Department’s Stevens Initiative aspires to pay a tribute to his legacy by granting youth in the Arab world a life-changing cross-cultural experience.
Moroccans will be the first to inaugurate the preliminary program, which includes 125 Moroccan students from public and private schools across the kingdom. The program aims to effectively promote the tie between Moroccan and American students through collaboration on virtual projects.
Additionally, last week twenty Moroccan students and four teachers visited the US in order to meet American students in person and exchange ideas directly.
The Stevens Initiative honors the memory of Ambassador John Christopher Stevens, a popular diplomat and fluent Arabic speaker, who was the first US ambassador killed while on duty in three decades.
The American lawyer and diplomat was born on April 18, 1960, in Grass Valley, California. His connection to North Africa began when he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco, serving as an English teacher from 1983 through 1985 in the rural areas of the High Atlas Mountains.
His fluent command of Arabic and French and his solid background in North Africa and the Middle East allowed Stevens to join the U.S Foreign Service in 1991. He was eventually promoted to powerful posts in several Arab countries. Amid the uproar of the Libyan Revolution, Stevens was appointed to serve as the 10th United States Ambassador to Libya in May 2012.
In a video posted on YouTube on May 21, 2012, by the US Embassy in Tripoli, Stevens described how honored and proud he felt to serve in Libya. He had a burning desire to create partnerships and to operate projects in conjunction with Libya in order to help Libyans achieve their goals and improve their community. Sadly, his tragic death in September 2012 prevented the achievement of his plans and projects.
On the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attack on the United States, the Benghazi consulate came under attack while Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans were inside. The deadly raid was allegedly made by extremist Muslims who were angered by a film that they felt was offensive to the Islamic religion. The hours-long assault on US facilities, which may have also been targeted as a CIA outpost, left Stevens and the three Americans dead.
Chris Stevens was a very approachable and popular character with everyone. He was renowned for his respectful and friendly communications with different races across the US, Middle East and North Africa. He devoted his life to consolidating the relations between the United States and Arab countries and to improving the status of the Middle East and North Africa. Edited by Esther Bedik
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/10/169725/chris-stevens-initiative-to-grant-moroccan-students-a-life-changing-cross-cultural-experience/
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Morocco Where the Green Glass Grows
Sunday 11 October 2015 - Clay and Ann Smith=Tangier=
Being from a beach town in the U.S., my wife and I would often walk the sandy shore looking for “sea glass.” Sea glass is glass that has been discarded into the sea, and after years of washing ashore and being swept back out again, it becomes smooth and beautiful, much like a gemstone. It is only natural that when we came to live in Morocco that we would seek out the pristine beaches, walk the unspoiled shores and look for sea glass. As we continued our quest here, we were not disappointed.
In the U.S., the majority of the sea glass we find is brown. It is not difficult to determine the source of this brown glass; a lot of beer is consumed there and most of the bottles of beer sold are of that color. However, as we gathered our gems from the Moroccan water’s edge, we began to notice a different trend: all the glass was green. There was an occasional clear piece or even a brown piece, but by and large, the overwhelming color was green.
We asked ourselves, why is all this green glass here and where did it come from? Not having an answer for these questions, we started to look around to see if we could solve the riddle; what are the sources of green glass in Morocco? The only green glass that we could think of was for beer bottles. However, we are under the understanding that drinking alcohol is forbidden in Islam and so we started our search in more mundane places, such as our local souq (market). On our way to the souq, we were now acutely aware of the green glass and our eyes immediately began to see it all over the place! Looking at the sidewalks and roads between our house and our local souq, we noticed that the green glass is practically everywhere! When we reached the souq, the only green glass bottles we could locate were bottles that held mineral spirits, which are often used in cleaning up paint or in mechanical work. However, these bottles were few and far between. The mystery of the green glass remained.
Now, having spent almost 3 years in Morocco, we have had countless opportunities to travel this beautiful kingdom, meet its wonderful people and share its exciting and colorful culture. As we traveled throughout the land, we kept seeing green glass on the ground. From Tangier in the north to Zagora in the south; from Rabat to Figuig, broken green glass was in every city, town and village. It litters streets, sidewalks, dirt roads and parking lots. There is no place that we have seen, including the desert, which did not have this green glass scattered about.
We have ruled out what the glass is not, it is not from the mineral spirit bottles; as there would have to be an astronomical amount of painting and mechanical work going on to even begin to account for the sheer volume of this glass. However, on the day of Eid, the mystery appeared to have been solved. We were walking down a street, on our way to a friend’s house to celebrate the holiday when we saw a man walking with his friends, laughing and having a good time, holding a green bottle in his hand. It was a Heinekin beer! We had never thought about that possibility, as drinking is haram, but it certainly makes sense in hind sight.
From the men smoking cigarettes in every café, to the extensive amount of green glass beer bottles, a person could conclude that in Morocco, the laws of Islam serve only as guidelines. Given this trend of behavior, what can we expect next, not fasting during Ramadan? Not washing before prayer? Not eating halal? Are people allowed to choose which laws (secular and non-secular) are important enough to follow and discard the rest? As always, we leave these questions for others who are more knowledgeable and learned than we.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/10/170099/morocco-where-the-green-glass-grows/
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The Touching Hospitality of a Moroccan Man With a French Journalist
Thursday 8 October 2015 - Karla Dieseldorff New York
There are countless reasons to visit Morocco. The Northwest African Kingdom is filled with paradisiac landscapes, magical cities, splendorous culture, rich history, solemn traditions, and delicious cuisine, among many others.
However, there is one trait that makes Morocco stand out even more and that is its genuine hospitality. Morocco is the land of hospitality par excellence. Its people are notorious for welcoming foreigners and making them feel at home.
Tunis Tribune, a French newspaper posted a video in its official Facebook Page that proves the level of hospitality in the hearts of Moroccan people. The video, which has gone viral on social media and garnered nearly 2.1 million views and hundreds of thousands of ‘shares’ and ‘likes’, is a true testament to the Kingdom’s celebrated hospitality.
Antoine, a French tourist, sets off to Morocco with a video camera on his shoulder. He visits the Atlas region of Moulouya Canyon searching for the impressive sight of “Mines D’Aouli.”
The video unfolds as Antoine encounters a local generous man and in less than 3 minutes, Antoine receives the best example of Moroccan hospitality.
The local welcomes him with a smile, takes him to see the superb view of the “Mines D’Aouli” and when Antoine asks him if tourists can spend the night in town, the Moroccan invites him to sleep at his home.
The French tourist could not believe the man had just invited a ‘stranger’ to spend the night in their home with his wife and two daughters, so he offers him money or something in return for his generosity.
The best and most moving part of the video comes when the Moroccan tells him, “No money, nothing! You sleep, you eat, you go on, and we wish each other a good journey.”
The French man is astonished by the man’s kindness and asks him why does he do it? The local answers, “Because, you’re a tourist, you stay in my house like my brother.”
The touching video has received thousands of comments from those who have experienced the warmth of Moroccan hospitality. People from all over the world, of every religious background have shared their encounters with Moroccans who they call “adorable people with the joy to live and always with a smile.”
Morocco’s hospitality teaches a lesson to the world in humility and generosity.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/10/169829/the-touching-hospitality-of-a-moroccan-man-with-a-french-journalist/
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Herb Jam With a Mediterranean Pedigree
OCT. 9, 2015 By DAVID TANIS
The cookbook author Paula Wolfert has always been a trailblazer, searching for unusual recipes throughout the Mediterranean, and introducing her readers to authentic renditions of regional cooking.
Her first and still-influential book, “Couscous and Other Good Food From Morocco,” published in 1973, influenced a generation of cooks yearning to expand its horizons. This fascinating recipe for a mixture of long-cooked greens, which she learned while living in Morocco, appeared in “The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen: Recipes for the Passionate Cook,” from 2003. Ms. Wolfert calls this traditional savory spread made of wild-foraged leaves an herb jam. The term refers to the somewhat time-consuming cooking-down process. It is a jam in the sense that stewed onions are sometimes called marmalade.
The acclaimed chef Russell Moore of Camino restaurant in Oakland, Calif., a great fan of Ms. Wolfert and this recipe, has adapted and incorporated herb jam into his menu on a daily basis. It is prominently featured in the just-released cookbook “This Is Camino,” which Mr. Moore and his wife and partner, Allison Hopelain,
Herb jam appeals to Mr. Moore for more than its undeniable deliciousness. He favors a zero-waste kitchen model, making this preparation perfect. Instead of wild greens, it uses greens, like the outer leaves of lettuce, that would otherwise be discarded. A wilted chard leaf, a limp bunch of parsley or even a few carrot tops are likely to be included.
Making herb jam helps him balance the books, he says, by generating income that allows him to spend on the organic produce in which he passionately believes. He has little patience for restaurants that use organic “when possible.” Don’t start to rationalize with him; you won’t win the argument.
Photo
Credit Karsten Moran for The New York Times
Mr. Moore does a lot of things other chefs don’t. For one thing, nearly everything on Camino’s menu is cooked over fire and glowing coals in a giant hearth that is the focal point of the restaurant. He is a master of the flames, and he was so well before live-fire cooking became trendy. A lot of his rustic fare is slowly cooked in earthenware pots and cazuelas.
For my adaptation of his adaptation of Ms. Wolfert’s original recipe, I used kale, broccoli rabe, chard, parsley, mint, marjoram, dill, cilantro and scallions. The greens are steamed first, then sautéed and nursed to tenderness.
The result is marvelous, truly. The flavor of herb jam is deep and haunting, sparked with cumin and hot pepper, drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice. Spread it on toasted pita bread, with this warning: It is highly addictive.
Recipes: Moroccan Herb Jam | More Moroccan Recipes
Correction: October 10, 2015
An earlier version of this article misidentified the book in which this recipe originally appeared. It is “The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen: Recipes for the Passionate Cook,” not “Couscous and Other Good Food From Morocco.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/14/dining/paula-wolfert-morocco-herb-jam.html?_r=0
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Women Make up 10% Of Morocco’s Entrepreneurs
Sunday 11 October 2015 - morocco world news Rabat
According to the President of the Association of Women Entrepreneurs in Morocco (AFEM), Asmâa Morine Azzouzi, women make up only 10 percent of Morocco’s entrepreneurs, according to Maghreb Arab Press (MAP).
On the occasion of National Women’s Day, the AFEM organized a conference on Thursday in Casablanca to address “Women’s Entrepreneurship, From Survival to Pleasure”. Speaking at the conference, AFEM President Azzouzi said even though women are encouraged by institutional incentives to start their own business, the majority of entrepreneurs are men.
Female entrepreneurs who attended the event stressed that although women’s entrepreneurship foments growth and is regarded as a source of job creation and wealth, the percentage of women starting their own business is low. According to the same source, speakers at the conference pointed out the difficulties in women’s entrepreneurship as it relates to the informal sector better known as “under the table” or “working for cash.”
The conference revealed that more than 50 percent of women operating in the informal sector undergo inhumane and undignified working conditions. Speakers raised awareness about and urged the establishment of a social security system to protect female workers in the informal sector. The subject of gender equality in Morocco’s social development was also discussed at the National Women’s Day event. Although Morocco is making strides in the promotion of human rights, women’s equality in the workplace is still low.
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The Cultural Representation of the Evil Eye in Morocco
Sunday 11 October 2015 - Mohammed Maarouf El Jadida
It is a historical chestnut that mankind has sought the aid of mysterious forces to resist evil. The symbol of the evil eye existed thousands of years ago and traversed many cultures in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe; even monotheistic religions have represented their own evil eye symbols.
In the Moroccan popular culture of Islam, the evil eye is an evil force that tracks people’s steps due either to the other’s ill will, envy, act of magic (sihr), jinn invocation, or a misfortune that occurs unforeseen. Social agents believe that the evil eye may affect their health, work, family, and luck. This theory of causation seems to be a shared cultural worldview since traditional healers and patients in shrines and in other cure-contexts find it socially convenient in their healing discourse to shift the blame off the self, and relieve the “I” from accountability for his/her own deeds.
By attributing their failures, social problems and misfortunes to the evil eye ( al-‘ain), people feel they are no longer liable to their own doings, and place responsibility on the other. By their belief in the power of the evil eye, they struggle to resist the frustrations of everyday life. This belief releases them from any sense of guilt or responsibility towards their social disappointments. At times, unable to act and change their social conditions, social agents, especially those at the bottom of social space, regard themselves as puppets in the hands of Fate, and see the world regulated by mystic powers that steer the wheel of their fortune.
As a matter fact, most Moroccans, if not all, dread the evil eye. It is a genetic part of their religious behaviour. To prevent its being cast upon them, they delve into augury. They evolve good and ill omens to divine the coming events. The trembling of the eye/eyelashes (trefrif dyal al-‘ain/al-‘hajeb) is interpreted as an auspice. If the right eye involuntarily winks, it means that a good event is coming; if it is the left eye, it means a bad event. The itching of the hand is also interpreted as an auspice. If the right hand itches, it is a signal that the person will receive money; if the left hand itches, it is a signal that the person will spend money (sometimes it is the reverse depending on the person’s habit which hand he stretches to take or deliver money with).
The faces of other people are also regarded as auspices. It is said that there are people whose faces are ill omened. If a person sets eyes upon one of them while starting his day, it is believed that s/he will be harmed. Women are also interpreted as auspices in the common man’s augury. There is a proverb that says: “gsas u la nsas u la hartat ula wartat ula shed hetta nji” (hair-locks, golden coins, cultivating, inheriting or keep this till I come back). Through this proverb the reader may notice the aleatory aspect of life the common man is submitted to. It shows that for him prosperity is a question of luck more than of work. One may be rich by inheritance, by a good harvest during a rainy season, by storing gold until its price might rise, by owning a deposit left by someone who deceased whilst travelling (especially in the past when people used to travel miles and miles on pilgrimage to Mecca and leave their wealth with trustful people). One can also be rich if one’s luck brings one a good wife, a wife whose hair lock is auspicious (gustha mazyana).
This is a gender-biased view representing the female as responsible by nature for the male’s failure and success. In fact, this symbolism is extended into rituals the average Moroccan regularly performs to protect himself from the cast of the evil eye. Some may sprinkle their houses with henna-soil from Ben Yeffu (a shrine situated on Doukkala plains near Tnin al-Gharbiya) to ward off evil spells. Some hang dried scorpions or hand-emblems at the threshold of their dwellings to chase away bad luck. Others weekly fumigate their houses with incense including alum (shebba) and gum-ammoniac ( fasukh) to chase away the evil spirits. As a consequence, jinns, the evil eye, magic and other cultural symbols carry through the ideological task of averting people’s gaze towards imagined scapegoats held responsible for their own social frustrations.
People become engaged in mutual mistrust and symbolic infighting detached from the political activities that influence their economic and social interests. The following example illustrates how the mechanism of mistrust, symbolic infighting and reciprocal incrimination work among social agents. An exchange between a fortune-teller (shuwafa) and some clients will be analyzed to shed light on how the diviner makes meaning of the notion of mistrust in her maraboutic parlance. As for clients, these are our research assistants. The focus will be then on how the evil eye is represented in the shuwafa’s stereotypical discourse. This exchange includes the following social actors: Khalid and Fatima, film assistants, and the Buffi fortune-teller. This is a spontaneous exchange filmed during the moussem in August 2002 when I joined a film crew from France 5 channel as a scientific consultant. First the shuwafa refused to speak to our assistant interviewers because she was averse to being filmed without being well paid. Afterwards, she made up her mind and started revealing Khalid’s secrets.
– Shuwafa: Let’s read your omen (ndarbu lik al-fal)! Don’t give me this 25 dirhams! You are filming me!
– Khalid: The man is not filming; people who film are coming later!
– Fatima: This is simply the family!
– Sh: [addressing Khalid] shut up! Are you human or not! The man is filming me! He filmed other people and gave them money! You laugh at me by giving me some coins, while he is filming!
Khalid promised to give her more money. She started her work.
– Sh: If you are coming with faith (niya) you can realize your wishes . . . the plane exists [you will get aboard], the car exists [you will drive], the job exists [you will find a job], and prosperity and bliss exist [you will make money] (tayyara kaina, tomobila kaina, al-khedma kaina, al-khair u ttisir kain)!
Follow your work! You get angry easily and your head aches you! They are following you! Allah may lead them to the right path! Answer me!
You don’t have luck with people! “You milk milk onto people but they milk tar onto you” (nta thleb ‘lihum al-hlib u huma yhelbu ‘lik al getran)! You are a shrif (of noble lineage) from your mother and father’s line, “a pure one” (mkhanter), “a charitable person” (weld bab Allah [literally, son of the door of Allah])!
You keep your door open to every caller. [Then addressing Fatima] he is the son of a generous family! He gives a lot of charity!
In the meantime, the shuwafa was counting the beads of a rosary and had an egg in her hand.
– Sh: [addressing Fatima] He has the “bountiful jinns” (l-jwad)! So from time to time “he flares up” (kay tqandesh)? [Then addressing Khalid] Do not go till you take our relics (baruk) and our “antidote” (tbatil) against the evil eye and “people” (al-bashar)! The majduba speaks to you! Answer me!
Then she gave him a string to wear around his neck against al-‘ain, some incense and some zhar (rosemary) to fumigate and perfume with. Before folding the incense in a piece of paper, she blew saliva on to it (a stereotypical way of transmitting baraka).
– Sh: We have given you rue (al-harmel) and cypress dried leaves (al-‘ar‘ar) to evoke l-jwad and “Allah makes it easier for you in everything, to get a job, trade, and progeny” (Allah isakhkher lik fi khedma/fi bi‘ u shra/fi terrika/fi kulshi)! Put some incense in the censer and burn it to fumigate the house and children with it!
– Ft [addressing Khalid ]: have faith and sleep with the snake! (dir niya u bat m‘a al-‘ayya)
The shuwafa appears to recognize Khalid’s social status. She designates him as an immigrant. She tells him: “you will get aboard, you will drive, you will find a job, and you will make money.” She imagines Khalid as the stereotype of the rich immigrant who comes back with an expensive car and a lot of money to the poor family. That is one of the reasons she charges him much more than she usually does with her regular clients. She puts in front of her a table full of big beads (luban), rosaries and eggs. She also wears a green dress. In Moroccan popular culture, the heavenly green color is a sign of fertility and peace (saints are also covered with cloth of the same color) and the table (mida) is a sign of fortune telling.
The word “mida” may be associated with the word “maaiidah” mentioned in the Qur’an. Allah says in surat al-Maaiidah [the Feast], aya: 112: “when the disciples said: ‘O Jesus, son of Mary, could your Lord send down for us a table (maaiidatan) laid with food?” The word “table” mentioned in the Qur’an stands for food and prosperity. It also stands for creating miracles. The disciples are asking Jesus to show his God’s miracle of sending them food from nowhere. The meaning of the table in the Qur’an may be nearer to the meaning of table in popular culture in which it stands for fortune telling, a “miraculous” work in which the fortune teller is thought to be able to see the future, especially the prosperous side of it.
The healing tradition goes that shuwafas are chosen by jinns to do the work of fortune telling. The typical fortune-teller is someone who usually gets possessed at an earlier age. S/he follows the maraboutic tradition. S/he has dreams signalling to him/her that s/he is chosen for this task. S/he tours saints to collect the baraka given to him/her by the bountiful (l-jwad ). Such pilgrimage may last for months or years; it is a long trial imbued with rituals and sacrifices the fortune-teller has to perform in order to gain the saints’ support in his/her work.
Some fortune-tellers maintain that jinns “prosecute them in mythical courts” (dakhlu m‘ahum fi shra‘) like in the court of Ben Yeffu and Chamharouch, and by the end the shuwafas surrender to their fate. They do what the jinns dictate. Other shuwafas accept the deal without legal proceedings. But all of them claim to follow a mystic trajectory, a road of trials before starting the work. Their jin- masters take them from saint to saint and from ritual to ritual, setting up conditions for them if they want to acquire baraka.
The shuwafa in the exchange above uses rosaries and eggs in her work. What do these items have to do with fortune telling and the evil eye (al-‘ain), the concept under study? The rosary is used by shuwafas to count (bash kay hasbu) for the client. The process of counting with a rosary seems to be like a reckoning process in which the fortune-teller discovers the client’s omen. It is another method of magical reckoning (lifting the khatt). The fortune-teller counts the client’s name and his/her mother’s name by means of a rosary and speaks about the client’s future. The egg here is a symbol of fortune. The foetus not yet born in the egg seems to be in the hands of Fate. He may die in the egg or he may break the shell and get out safe. But there is a strong likelihood that the egg stands for the eye in popular culture. It is an icon of the eye because its oval shape resembles that of the eye.
The egg is used in curing eye-sicknesses like ttarsha (the reddening of the eye). Most fqihs (traditional curers) I have encountered during my fieldwork use the egg in the curing process. They write Qur’anic words on the egg, wave it round the eye and claim to bury it afterwards (I spied a fqih eating the eggs furtively). This is an iconic cure in that what happens to the egg will happen to the sickness. The egg will decay in few days and so will the sickness.
Furthermore, the shuwafa’s speech is full of stock-in-trade expressions customarily used by fortune-tellers. It revolves round the incrimination of the other. She does not specify which other-ed stereotype it is. She rather speaks in general terms. It is the ill will of people or the evil eye. She uses expressions like “they are following you! You don’t have luck with people! You milk milk onto them but they milk tar on to you!” Such statements insinuate that social solidarity, trust and confidence are getting in decline in society. People run the risk of being daily chased by others.
The shuwafa does not commit herself to standards of accuracy. General statements like these release her work from any liability to falsehood, and at the same time do not reveal anything special about the client. They rather reveal how Moroccans maintain and represent their social relations. The frustrated social agent who cannot fight against his handicap keeps gazing at the others desiring what they have. The gaze is institutionalized among the masses to the extent that it becomes a form of gossip. People may keep track of each other’s comings and goings, gloating over their ruins and envying their success. The collective will is annihilated to cede the way to social relations of mistrust and mutual incrimination.
The statements above include a proverb the shuwafa uses to justify the truth that people are untrustworthy and that the client should be alert to placing confidence in them. The proverb says: “You milk milk onto people but they milk tar on to you.” The opposition, milk vs. tar evokes people’s ingratitude. It refers to the fact that people commonly do not acknowledge the sacrifices the “I” does for them. So, the good-doer should not expect people to be indebted to him. As an organizing law of social existence, the proverb represents people’s ingratitude as natural. People should not be startled at each other’s lack of gratitude. Thanklessness seems to be the social norm of survival.
How can we then localize modern politics and capitalism within a cultural bed laden with cultural schemata of mutual incrimination and symbolic infighting? Look at what is happening! Every day, we witness how our politicians transfer and deploy schemata of symbolic infighting into their work!
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/2015/10/170105/the-cultural-representation-of-the-evil-eye-in-morocco/
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Ten Million People Are Illiterate in Morocco
Tuesday 13 October 2015 - Amjad Hemidach Fez
On the occasion of the National Day of Illiteracy Eradication, the National Agency for Literacy called for strengthening efforts to fight illiteracy and help illiterate people integrate into society.
The aim of the agency is to put an end to illiteracy in Morocco by 2024. Illiteracy is rampant in the country, reaching 28 percent in youth older than 10 years old and 38 percent among those who are older than 15 years old.
In order to achieve its objectives, the agency needs to help one million Moroccans achieve literacy every year. The Agency needs to collaborate with partners to cater to the budget of MAD 1,000 annually for each illiterate individual, which means MAD 1 billion in the next ten years, according to Rajae Mohammed Said, the head of the Agency’s communication section. According to Mohammed Said, the number of people benefiting from the illiteracy eradication campaign has increased by 20.9 percent between 2013/2014 and 2014/2015.
The agency also tries to help those who overcame illiteracy to integrate into society by involving them in vocational programs learning professional skills.
The head of the Agency stated that the effort are still not enough, and the agency has made a road map that will be ratified in November to coordinate their plans. Mohammed Said noted that all Ministries are concerned and should be partners to stop illiteracy by allocating a special budget for the mission. She also declared that illiteracy eradication needs a holistic approach and rigorous collaboration by all stakeholders.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/10/170247/ten-million-people-are-illiterate-in-morocco/
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Illiteracy Rate in Morocco Decreases to 32 Percent
Thursday 15 October 2015 - Amjad Hemidach Fez
The Moroccan High Commissioner for Planning Ahmed Lahlimi revealed on Tuesday statistics from the 2014 census, which show that illiteracy dropped to 32 percent, compared to 42 percent ten years ago. Illiteracy rate in Morocco is more common in adults over 50 years old at 61.1 percent, but drops to 3.7 percent for children who are less than 15 years old. According to the same source, illiteracy rate decreased by 18.7 percent in 2014, and the number of illiterate people decreased to 8.6 million people in comparison to 10.2 million in 2004.
In rural areas illiteracy is still high at 41.7 percent, in comparison to 22.2 percent in urban areas. The illiteracy rate among women (41.9 per cent) is higher than that of young men, 22.1 percent, respectively. The results show that illiteracy in rural areas dropped proportionately, although it still exists at a high percentage in comparison to urban areas. In rural areas, illiteracy dropped by 21.2, percent while in urban areas it dropped by 6.9 percent. Men represent 17.5 percent of the drop, while women represent 14.6 percent. The southern regions of Morocco have the lowest rate of illiteracy. For example, Laâyoune- the Sakia el Hamra region has a rate of 20.3 percent and Dakhla-Oued Ed Dahab has 23.9 percent. Béni Mellal-Khénifra, however, has the highest rate of illiteracy at 38.7 percent illiteracy.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/10/170473/illiteracy-rate-in-morocco-decreases-to-32-percent/
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Did you know that the simple act of going to the toilet could be eco-friendly? In schools scattered throughout a few oases in Morocco, it could even do wonders for the environment. That's thanks to the efforts of an NGO that has installed the new dry toilets which convert human waste into natural fertilizer.
Two years ago, Microbiona, a Moroccan NGO dedicated to microbial biotechnology and the protection of natural resources, began installing dry toilets in a high school in the province of Errachidia. Barely three months ago, the NGO fitted the same toilets in two schools in Tagounite and Asrir, in Zagora province. All these schools are located in desert oases scattered throughout the region of Drâa-Tafilalet.
Dry toilets - also called composting toilets - are already widely used in northern Europe. They don't use water to clear away waste. Instead, they put human waste to good use by turning it into natural fertilizer.
"Human waste becomes a gardening tool"
Mohammed Yacoubi Khebiza is a professor at the University of Marrakech. He's in charge of a research group studying the effects of climate change on Morocco and how the country can adapt. He personally oversaw the fitting of dry toilets in the oases schools.
In each school, we fitted eight toilets: four for the girls and four for the boys. Each toilet has three holes: one for urine in the middle, and two others for excrement. Liquid waste and solid waste can therefore be separated, which is very important.
Dry toilets in Tagounite fitted by the NGO Microbiona that separate liquid and solid waste.
You can only use one of the two holes meant for excrement at a time. At the bottom of the other hole, meanwhile, waste is drying out. Once you're done, instead of flushing the toilet, you simply have to pour soil in the hole so that the excrement dries out quicker.
"We save money because we don't have to buy chemical fertilizer"
Once the solid waste is dry - a process that takes around one month - we are left with manure that we can spread on the ground. In spite of what you might think, it doesn't smell bad at all. This fertilizer can be used for the gardens that we've planted in the schools next to the new toilets. There are palm trees, olive trees, and vegetables - including turnips, tomatoes and carrots - that are grown there for the schoolchildren. Drought problems meant that the previous gardens had been abandoned a long time ago, but thanks to the fertilizer, they’re growing well!
As for liquid waste, the urine ends up in a reservoir where it decants. The process separates out any impurities from the 'rich' urine. Impurities are harmful, so they're burnt off. But 'rich' urine - also called 'supernatant' because it stays at the top of the reservoir - is salvaged. It goes straight into a network of pipes that are directly connected to the garden's drip irrigation system. The system consumes very little water. Urine, just like excrement, is a natural fertilizer.
Dry toilets therefore recycle human waste, turning it into a useful gardening tool. This process also saves money because there's no longer any need to buy chemical fertilizer. That goes a long way in a region
"There’s no risk of soil contamination"
There's also no collective system for treating wastewater in the entire region. Instead of being treated, the water sits in septic tanks. The wastewater then seeps into the soil and contaminates the water table.
In contrast, our dry toilet reservoirs are completely watertight. That means that there's no risk of soil contamination. That was confirmed by students from my university who carried out tests on our toilets. Likewise with the manure, there's no risk of contamination because human waste can no longer harbour diseases once it's completely dried out. So in terms of health, too, our dry toilets are beneficial.
"This introduces the concept of sustainable development to the oases"
We chose to fit these toilets in schools because that's where lots of people congregate. Almost every family has a child being taught there. That makes it easier for us to get our message across to a large number of people. At the school in Asrir, where 400 pupils study, we've also put in place a system for sorting out trash and collecting rainwater. The school has now been labelled an 'eco-school'. We're seeing to it that the other schools earn the same distinction.
As well as fitting dry toilets in schools, we also try to encourage residents to install them in their own homes. After carrying out workshops and going door-to-door, our work has already started to pay off because some holiday homes have been equipped. People aren't reluctant to use these toilets because the same system had already been used in the oases in the past. But those toilets weren't watertight, so over the years the waste seeped into the soil and contaminated it.
In each locality, the cost of the project is about 30,000 euros. Sixty percent of that goes towards building the toilets, installing the equipment and planting the organic gardens. The rest goes towards raising awareness amongst the local population. Fortunately, our project has been subsidised. Yet it still costs around 200 euros just to fit dry toilets in your own home in Morocco [Editor's note: The minimum wage in Morocco is fixed at 236 euros monthly].
This initiative was uncovered by our team for France 24’s “Observers vs Climate Change” project. If you know of an initiative near where you live that’s been set up to fight climate change, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team at obsduclimat@france24.com
Post written with France 24 journalist Chloé Lauvergnier (@clauvergnier).
http://observers.france24.com/en/20151013-morocco-oasis-toilet-waste-fertilizer
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Morocco’s agriculture-focused ‘Green Plan’ must benefit all, says UN rights expert
14 October 2015
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Hilal Elver, has commended Morocco’s achievements in reducing extreme poverty and eliminating hunger through crucial economic and social reforms, while also urging the authorities to reach all regions, paying particular attention to those living in remote areas and vulnerable groups.
“Morocco has a number of well-intended and comprehensive programmes, including the National Initiative for Human Development, which has the potential to ensure food and nutrition security for everyone, and while much progress has been made disparities in implementation across regions and gaps in necessary infrastructure have hindered its full dissemination,” Ms. Elver said press release wrapping up her eight-day mission to the country.
She also stressed that Morocco’s ‘Green Plan,’ which was developed to boost the agriculture sector, should be implemented equally across all regions through effective consultation with local populations and improved coordination services.
“Infrastructure should also be improved in remote areas to ensure easy access to markets, and to attract investment to rural areas, while projects that target women and young farmers should be encouraged further,” she added.
The Special Rapporteur noted that desertification and increasing potential for drought caused by climate change will have a considerable impact on agriculture over the coming years.
As such, she recommended complying with the adaptation policies outlined in the Green Plan and undertaking measures to ensure that large scale farming and intensive agriculture do not drain resources such as fresh water and lead to land degradation.
“The dual pillars of the Plan (modernity and solidarity) should be developed in a balanced manner so as to ensure full support for small holder farmers,” added Ms. Elver.
The Special Rapporteur also urged the authorities to include agroecology in future projects in order to protect biodiversity, environmental resources, maintaining social equality, and climate friendly agriculture.
Ms. Elver noted that Morocco has been benefitting from several important reforms, particularly the adoption of a new Constitution in 2011.
“The development of a national framework law on the right to food would complement the reforms and ensure food and nutrition security while ratification of the Optional Protocol on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights should be considered a priority,” added the expert.
During her mission, Ms. Elver met with representatives of relevant Government departments, international organizations, development agencies, academia and civil society groups.
She also visited a number of projects in Midelt, Agadir and Dhakla, in Western Sahara.
Independent experts or special rapporteurs are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52263
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Over 100,000 Underage Girls Are Married in Morocco
Wednesday 14 October 2015 - morocco world news Rabat
The number Moroccan underage girls that are married reached more than 100,000 as of September 2014, according to the most recent data released by High Commission for Planning. The result of the Sixth General Census of Population and Housing (RGPH 2014), which took place 1 to 20 September 2014, concluded that 102,197 minor girls were married as of September 2014, according to the High Commission for Planning.
According to the same source, 57,656 of those child marriages took place rural areas, while 44,541 minors were married in urban areas. The phenomenon of underage marriage remains deeply rooted in Moroccan culture. A previous field research conducted by Morocco’s Ytto Foundation in December 2014 in the Midelt province, revealed that among 138 marriages in the area, 52 percent of brides were underage girls.
The report noted that 83 percent of women interviewed in Midelt province said they were married before the age of 18, and 91 percent of them said they were without legal documents.“In some cases, young girls get married at the age of 12, 13 and 14. Those girls are experiencing symptoms of illness for being obliged to bear psychological and physical burdens which don’t match their age,” the report concluded.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/10/170369/over-100000-underage-girls-are-married-in-morocco/
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Jews Practice Their Religion Freely in Morocco, Anti-Semitism Rising
Friday 16 October 2015 - Aziz Allilou Rabat
A new report published by the US department of State said that Moroccan Jews face no hindrance in practicing their religion in Moroccoand leave in safety throughout the country. The report on “International Religious Freedom Report for 2014” stresses that Jews practice their religion freely across Morocco, in coherence with the Moroccan constitution, which guarantees the freedom of thought and practice of one’s religious affairs.
Moroccan law also allows Jewish private schools to teach Judaism. There is also a “separate set of laws and courts with authority over personal status matters for Jews, covering issues such as marriage, inheritance, and other family matters,” according to the same report.
Morocco hosts an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 Jews, approximately 2,500 of whom reside in Casablanca. The Rabat and Marrakech Jewish communities each have approximately 100 members, according to the source.
Although the small minority of Jews living in Morocco is considered as Moroccan and does not suffer any form of persecution, the Israeli- Palestinian conflict has an impact on the way some Moroccan Muslims view their fellow Moroccan Jews, causing an increase in cases of anti-Semitism, according to the US department of state.
The report notes that there were reports of public anti-Semitism. On July 11, 2004, a man attacked Rabbi Moshe Ohayon, who was walking to his synagogue in Casablanca, allegedly in response to the conflict in Gaza. The attack occurred during the Israeli deadly air offensive on Gaza in July 2014, which caused an outrage around the world. The same individual threw stones at another Jewish citizen, a few days later. In November, he was sentenced to 10 months in prison, over anti-Semitism charges.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/10/170496/jews-practice-their-religion-freely-in-morocco-anti-semitism-rising-2/
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Moroccans, what happened to our values?
Wednesday 5 February 2014 - Aziz Daouda Rabat
Two weeks ago, some warlike behavior in Marrakech, simply because the traffic increased as a result of the 25th edition of the marathon, pushed me to ask myself a thousand of questions about what we have become, what is the image and feeling that our society reflects to us.
I must say that I was leaving a good seminar about philosophy where a very large audience was peacefully there to think about the brave lesson provided. What a paradox compared to what I was going to experience the next day when I left the city.
Horns that ruin your eardrums, insults that make you look down, shouting that reveals to you the primary reality of some people, eyebrows frowning that exasperate you, closed faces.
Where is our century-old joviality, our joy to live in community of respect, tolerance and acceptance for each other? Why have we become so angry, so quarrelsome, so aggressive and so violent?
Being so mean, is it a fate that we cannot avoid anymore or a common genetic background? Something immutable? And here is a minister who is insulted inside the parliament. The Prime Minister is blocked, mishandled, the interior minister heckled… that makes me dizzy.
Citizens are assaulted, robbed mercilessly and are scarred for life because of the cruelty of others. Reckless drivers kill on any street corner and everywhere on the roads from the more dangerous to the more sophisticated, from the more eccentric to the more urbanized.
Young man handle their teachers, break their schools, vandalize public properties without indulgence for what is supposed to have been designed to benefit them: stadiums, youth centers, public areas, buses, etc.
Are we still able to control ourselves, to manage ordinary situations, without shouting, without arguments, without offensive remarks? Are we able to stay patient a few seconds without honking, just waiting as normally as possible once the traffic light goes to green?
Can we no longer drive over the emergency lanes around highways that are meant for emergency vehicles and the police? Do we lack that much of education that we are not able to manage our conflicts without using violence, threats, or aggression?
Are we still able to just let a girl or a lady go to her business without harassment, inappropriate words or demonstrating bestial behavior? Where is our exemplary education, our veneration of respect, our taste for beauty, our genius for aesthetics, our nice and pleasant nature?
What happened to our traditional values? Are we just crazy?
Some of us have already given up, others are feeling nostalgic without any hope for the future. Others are outraged and are looking far from this changing society, this society that has forgotten the basic rules of living in community.
What happened to our ideals, our taste for progress, our aspiration for a bright future? Have we been absorbed by hate and intolerance? The selfishness and foolishness, the anger and stupidity?
And what if our politicians decide to talk without insults? What if our school comes back to the colors, its beautiful colors, those of yesterday?
And if our children of this school were received properly and learn in joy, in their mother tongue? If our pupils began to master the required standards in the sciences, technologies, languages, and history of their cities, their icons, their past in colleges and high schools and used them to look for a better future?
If our universities were no more fiefs of obscurantism and criminality?
If our mosques spoke to us?
If parents found the respect and recognition of their offspring?
If officials rediscovered the public service as well as citizenship?
If nurses, doctors, teachers rediscovered their true humanist and generous mission?
If our media became more objective?
If our justice became more fair?
If our streets became clean?
If our cities became peaceful?
If our neighborhoods turn into excellent living spaces?
If we all together get to love our forests, our rivers, our mountains, our sun, our beaches, and our country?
If the rich and the powerful started to respect the rules of the road and the rest of the laws?
If no more child, girl, woman was raped?
If no more bag, jewel, or phone was robbed?
If we get a little less ripped off or hosed all the time?
If our prisons became schools of life and reintegration?
If we finally, each of us, took the responsibility to be Moroccan and belong to this blessed land?
Then, and only then, could we and would we be the most beautiful country in the world. And maybe the sport would recover again, too.
But that is another story.
Translated by Nahla Landolsi. Edited by Matthew Osborn
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2014/02/121798/moroccans-what-happened-to-our-values/
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Moroccan Christians Live in Safety… But Face Harassment
Friday 16 October 2015 - Aziz Allilou Rabat
A new report published by the US department of state said that 8,000 Moroccans are Christians. 99 percent of Moroccan population is Sunni Muslims. Groups together constituting less than 1 percent of the population include Christians, Jews, Shia Muslims, and Bahais, according to the 2014 International Religious Freedom Report, issued on Wednesday by US Department of State. The report says that though most Moroccan Christians live in safety throughout the country, they face official harassment and pressure to convert from non-Christian family and friends.
According to the report, some Moroccan Christians “reported that the government did not respond to continued societal harassment,” adding that “fears of societal harassment led many Moroccan Christians to abstain from attending worship services in approved places.”
In February, a court of appeals in Fez dismissed a charge against Mohammed El Baldi, a Moroccan convert to Christianity, on the grounds of lack of evidence.
El Baldi had been arrested in 2013 for proselytizing to minors in Taounate and sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison and a fine of 5000 dirhams ($554).
According to the report, while the Moroccan law permits Sunni Muslims of the Maliki school of Islam to proselytize, it prohibits efforts to convert Sunni Muslims to other religions.
Because religious freedom in Morocco is guaranteed by law, any act of preventing or impeding a person from worship or attending worship services of any religion can be punished by six months to three years of imprisonment and a fine of 115 to 575 dirhams ($14 to $68).
Although the Moroccan constitution guarantees religious freedom, proselytizing is punished by law, and is considered an act that shakes the faith of Muslims.
In accordance with Article 220 of the Moroccan Penal Code, a person that engages in the act of proselytizing may face “six months to three years prison and a fine of 100 to 500 Dirhams” for using the “means of seduction in order to convert” a Muslim “to another religion, either by exploiting his/her weakness or his/her needs, or using for these purposes education, health, asylums and orphanage institutions.”
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/10/170502/moroccan-christians-live-in-safety-but-face-harassment/
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Women Head 1.2 Million Families In Morocco
Thursday 15 October 2015 - Amjad Hemidach Fez
Statistics from 2014 have revealed that women in Morocco are the heads of 1.2 million families. Of these women, 56 percent are widows and 14 percent are divorced. The statistics were announced in a seminar led by Ahmed Lahlimi Alami, Morocco’s High Commissioner for Planning (HCP). Lahlimi said that, although in France results of statistics are typically available after two years of research, the High Commission for Planning made a great effort to release the results within a year.
Lahlimi revealed that 826,000 women who were head of their families “chose” not to work, and that 301,000 “chose” to work. Of those who expressed the wish to work, 42,000 are currently unemployed. He also said that 125,000 women live alone.
The statistics also show that there is a large number of elderly people in Morocco: approximately 3.2 million, a number that is expected to increase in the coming years.
The number of people with special needs, 80 percent of whom do not work, stands at about 1.3 million.
Less than 5 percent of Moroccan homes are in slums, according to Lahlimi, and the number of houses with more than three rooms has increased, which means that Moroccans are enjoying more space.
The use of technology such as mobile phones and the Internet was also reviewed in the statistics. 95 percent of Moroccan families have at least one mobile phone, 25 percent own a computer, 20 percent have an Internet connection, and 18 percent have a means of transportation.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/10/170378/women-head-1-2-million-families-in-morocco/
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Nearly 5% of Moroccans Live on Less Than $1.25 a Day
Thursday 15 October 2015 - Larbi Arbaoui Taroudant
Nearly five percent people still live on less than $1.25 a day in Morocco, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said. According to the 2015 FAO report entitled “the State of Food Insecurity in the World,” published on October 13, rural areas are the most affected by poverty.
Morocco has made remarkably rapid progress in reducing hunger, being among the countries that have achieved the international hunger targets, but the kingdom has still to work in order to eradicate severe food insecurity, according to the same source.
At the international level, the report said that nearly a billion people worldwide still live on less than $1.25 a day, stressing that a smart combination of social assistance and measures to boost farm output is key to reducing that figure.“Poverty and malnutrition remain unconscionably high in many parts of the world, and rural people who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods find it particularly hard to break the cycle of poverty,” the FAO report concludes. The report highlighted the importance of social assistance-based programs that have yielded good results in countries such as Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Mexico and South Africa.
“Social protection directly contributes to the reduction of poverty, hunger and malnutrition by promoting income security and access to better nutrition, health care and education,” the report said.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/10/170384/nearly-5-of-moroccans-live-on-less-than-1-25-a-day/
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Morocco: Government pledges about €100 million to support disabled children
October 15, 2015
The Moroccan Government pledged a €100 million package to support disabled children through grants and scholarships. The move, part of the government’s policy to reduce social disparities, was announced by Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane who threw the Government’s full support behind the first Forum for people with disabilities held in Casablanca earlier this week.
Addressing the forum as keynote speaker, Benkirane promised grants and scholarships to Moroccan disabled children to enable them find their place in the society and promote their initiatives. The Prime Minister however acknowledged the government’s failure to ensure that 7% of civil service posts are allocated for disabled people as initially pledged. This is due, he said, to economic slowdown and difficulties to identify these people and define their disabilities.
The Forum, organized by the Moroccan Hope Association under the umbrella of the Ministry of employment and Social Welfare, seeks to promote disabled people’s access to employment.
This first edition was attended by many employers and more than 2,500 disabled persons from across Morocco who were seeking to land a stable job or an internship.
The main aim of the forum was to break down some preconceived ideas about disabled people and foster their integration in the job market. It was also meant to educate recruiters and civil society about the importance of employing people with disabilities in the public and private sectors.
http://northafricapost.com/9547-morocco-government-pledges-about-e100-million-to-support-disabled-children.html
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Morocco Urges US Businesses to Believe in African Potential at Second US-Morocco Trade and Investment Forum in Atlanta
WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - October 15, 2015)
More than 100 business leaders and government representatives from the US and Morocco convened at Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta on Tuesday for the second annual US-Morocco Trade and Investment Forum, where Morocco's Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises Mamoune Bouhdoud made the case for US investment in Africa, and for using Morocco as a platform to do so. Organized by the Moroccan Embassy in Washington, the conference builds on the success of the US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement that went into effect in 2006, as well as the US-Morocco Strategic Dialogue launched in 2012.
"Our Kingdom has been developing its economy and its infrastructures… and it is now ready to become a gate for investors who believe in the African potential," said the Minister in keynote remarks, noting that six out of the ten fastest-growing economies are in Africa, and that the continent's average annual growth rate has remained steadily above 5% for years. By 2050, he added, "the African economy is to be multiplied by ten." He emphasized that "Morocco is betting on industrialization," and "has been taking numerous structural measures and putting in place various sectorial strategies to improve its business environment."
"This strategy," he said, "is paying off. In the automotive industry for instance, in 2014, for the first time of its history, Morocco has been exporting more automobiles than its prime natural resource, phosphate; and we are receiving a number of foreign investors' projects never seen before."
His Excellency Rachad Bouhlal, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to the US, also spoke at Tuesday's forum, as did other key leaders from Morocco's private and public sector. From the US side, attendees included the Honorable Dwight L. Bush, US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco; Mr. Marcus Jadotte, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Analysis; Mr. Chris Carr, Georgia Commissioner of Economic Development; Mr. Gary W. Black, Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture; Mr. Curt Fergusson, President of Coca-Cola's Middle East & North Africa Business Unit; Mr. Ahmet Bozer, EVP and President of Coca-Cola International; and others.
"This is a really important occasion because one of the hallmarks of our bilateral relationship with Morocco is investment," said Ambassador Bush in media interviews. "The Moroccans have been exemplary partners with us as we pursue these investment opportunities."
In the past ten years, Morocco has gained traction with investors around the world thanks to its geographic location, growing economy, political stability, and world-class infrastructure. In 2013, Morocco became the second biggest destination for foreign direct investment in Africa, and is itself the second largest African investor on the continent. In 2014, CNN named Casablanca a "finance hub of the future," and The Wall Street Journal reported that Morocco is among the top ten frontier markets-and the only one in the Maghreb-most favored by foreign corporations, according to its Frontiers/FSG Frontier Markets Sentiment Index. Morocco also consistently gains favorable ratings from Fitch Ratings, the World Bank, and other rankings of good places to do business.
"In every session, I heard first-hand accounts from business leaders confirming what we've long known: Morocco's reforms and economic openness are a strong draw for businesses, making it the perfect gateway to Africa, Europe and the Middle East," said former U S Ambassador to Morocco Edward M. Gabriel.
The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP) is a non-profit organization whose principal mission is to inform opinion makers, government officials, and interested publics in the United States about political and social developments in Morocco and the role being played by the Kingdom of Morocco in broader strategic developments in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East.
This material is distributed by the Moroccan American Center for Policy on behalf of the Government of Morocco. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.
http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/morocco-urges-us-businesses-believe-african-potential-second-us-morocco-trade-investment-2064287.htm
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Small and Medium Enterprises Adopt Sustainable Business Practices in Morocco
October 14, 2015 /3BL Media/
The World Environment Center (WEC) announced today the successful completion of a U.S. Department of State funded project to expand the sustainable development commitments of Moroccan businesses by Improving operating costs, reducing materials, energy and water consumptions, and minimizing solid waste, wastewater and e air emissions. WEC has partnered with the Casablanca-based firm RIO (Reduce-Invent-Optimize) to implement the local activities and provide advanced technical expertise for the project. The partnership is the fifth of its kind between the State Department and WEC which, together, span seven countries.
Through the WEC and RIO partnership with the Moroccan food-processing and textile associations, FENAGRI (Fédération Nationale de l'Agroalimentaire) and AMITH (Association Marocaine des Industries du Textile et de l'Habillement), the technical team selected 15 small and medium-sized local member companies to provide technical assistance in Cleaner Production and Energy Efficiency, strengthening their environmental capabilities as they grow. Significant results to date include:
In addition to environmental and economic objectives, the project also aimed at educating students on the technical aspects of industrial sustainable development by working directly with students from the University Mohammed V’s Engineering School EMI (École Mohammedia d'Ingénieurs).
Ms. Meriem Berrada Elmandjra, President of RIO, emphasized that “the partnership between RIO and WEC was successful due in large part to the turnkey approach of the project and the hands-on technical assistance to the companies for a period of three years. The activities of the project which included technical assistance to the beneficiaries, capacity building, training of engineering students, and information dissemination resulted in the inclusion of sustainability practices into the core businesses of the pilot companies and provided an opportunity for future engineers to integrate tangible and measurable solutions into their education. The results achieved to date prove that the project was very successful”.
The participating businesses applied action plans based on WEC´s Greening the Supply Chain methodology as well as RIO’s substantial experience in energy efficiency which resulted in enhanced operational efficiency and the adoption of environmentally sustainable practices.
“WEC and our partners believe that the best sustainable outcomes occur when we apply creative and practical business solutions to address environmental and operational issues,” stated Dr. Terry F. Yosie, WEC’s President and CEO. “We’re pleased to continue this approach in Morocco and in several other countries as an example of small businesses leading sustainable development efforts through innovative environmental and economic improvements.”
The main measures implemented by companies are related to chemicals, water, electricity and fuels (process improvements, water management system, reductions in compressed air leaks, insulation), which resulted in direct reductions (10% on average) but also on indirect benefits like the reduction of solid waste, wastewater and CO2 emissions (600 ton reduced / year).
Throughout the project period, the total amount invested by the companies amounts to $ 88,000 resulting in savings of $ 140,000. These investments represent 23% of the total potential that was identified during the diagnostic phase, and that companies will continue to invest in the near future.
About World Environment Center
WEC is an independent, global non-profit, non-advocacy organization that advances sustainable development through the business practices and operations of its member companies and in partnership with governments, multi-lateral organizations, non-governmental organizations, universities and other stakeholders. WEC’s mission is to promote business and societal value by advancing solutions to sustainable development-related problems. It manages projects for companies across their global operations, builds executive-level learning and competency in applying sustainable development across a number of business sectors, and recognizes performance excellence through an annual awards program. WEC is headquartered in Washington, DC, with regional offices in China, El Salvador and Germany.
About RIO
Based in Casablanca and established in 2006, RIO (Reduce Invent Optimize) is a Moroccan company specialized in environmental studies and project achievements, saving water and energy. It is involved in the industry, tertiary buildings, farms and transport. RIO supports its customers upstream of their projects through eco-design benefits and downstream through the implementation of simplified or depth diagnosis, measuring purposes, assistance in implementation of the reduction action plans energy costs and monitoring of savings over the long term.
RIO has participated in many national and international projects in the energy sector, and is one of the first companies to implement performance contracting (ESCO) projects in Morocco.
- See more at: http://www.justmeans.com/press-release/small-and-medium-enterprises-adopt-sustainable-business-practices-in-morocco#sthash.ccYM99uC.dpuf
http://www.justmeans.com/press-release/small-and-medium-enterprises-adopt-sustainable-business-practices-in-morocco
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Name: Youssef and Amanda Mouttaki
When: December 2004
Where: Marrakesh, Morocco
Relationship Status: Married
(As told to Brittany Jones-Cooper)
When I was 19, my dad told me and my 16-year-old sister that he wanted to take us on one last trip before we were grown up and out of the house.
After much back and forth, we decided on Morocco because it was exotic, yet offered a familiarity that we were comfortable with. My sister brought along a friend, and the four of us headed off to Northern Africa.
We started the trip in Fez, and visited Casablanca before heading to Marrakesh. It was the day before New Year’s Eve, and while touring the city, my sister met a guy in the souk who spoke English, which was uncommon at that time in Morocco. Like your typical teen who’s on vacation in another country, she told him where we were staying and suggested he stop by later that day.
Read the love story here: https://www.yahoo.com/travel/it-was-love-at-first-1279026973769782.html
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Hunt for Morocco local post stamps.
October 16, 2015 By Henry Gitner and Rick Miller
Morocco, a kingdom in the Maghreb region of North Africa, has coasts on both the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It was part of the Carthaginian Empire from the sixth century B.C. until Roman victory in the Punic Wars. It remained part of the Roman Empire until the empire’s collapse in the fifth century.
The indigenous population of Morocco is Berber but with a strong Arabic overlay since the Muslim conquest in the seventh century.
In the 19th century, Morocco was an independent sultanate, but both France and Spain began encroaching on its territory.
Spain invaded and established a protectorate in 1859. The Spanish Protectorate comprised that area of the country along the straits of Gibraltar.
French postal presence began with French post offices in the sultanate in 1891. The French Protectorate was established in 1912 and controlled most of the interior and the Atlantic Coast.
The 2015 Scott Classic Specialized Catalogue of Stamps and Covers 1840-1940 lists and values stamps of the sultanate, the Spanish Protectorate and the French Protectorate, but does not list most local post stamps.
A number of local courier and delivery systems issued stamps. A few of them include Fez to Meknes, Fez to Sefrou, Mogador to Marrakech, Mazagan and Marrakech, Tangier and Larache, Tetouan to Al Ksar, Al Ksar to Ouazzane, Mogador to Agadir, Tangier to Tetouan, and many others. There is strong demand for all Morocco local post stamps. Many of the stamps are quite colorful and feature exotic beasts such as camels and lions in the designs.
If you want to get serious about collecting these stamps, you will probably want to acquire the French-language Yvert et Tellier catalog for Morocco local post stamps.
Many sets of these locals sell for $50 or more, and some of the scarcer stamps can sell for up to $80. We are not recommending that you go out and buy these stamps at retail, unless you intend to specialize in collecting them. But if you come across some inexpensively priced in dealer stocks or accumulations, it is probably worth a gamble to buy them.
http://www.linns.com/en/insights/international-stamps-and-postal-history/2015/10/hunt-for-morocco-local-post-stamps.html
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Cross-Cultural Communication Problems among Moroccan EFL Students
Friday 9 October 2015 - Mohamed Benhima Fez
While knowledge of language rules is important in every ESL/EFL context, these language rules remain useless if they do not conform to social norms. Highlighting the importance of the social aspect of language, Hymes (1972) pointed out “There are rules of use without which rules of usage will be useless.” Knowing the rules of language remains just one aspect of language knowledge; however, this knowledge is described as useless since it cannot help one to express oneself in real communication. Being aware of the importance of the social aspect of language, the Moroccan Baccalaureate curriculum aims to develop students’ sociolinguistic competence under the purview of the so-called Competency Based Approach.
In the same vein, the Moroccan English Language Guidelines for Secondary Schools (2007) state that “It is necessary to further focus on the learners developing the ability to use social/communicative functions accurately (correctly) and appropriately (in the right contexts)” (p.32). However, since the winds do not blow as the vessels wish, many Baccalaureate students cannot communicate appropriately in simple cross-cultural situations due to a myriad of reasons. In this respect, the question of sociolinguistic competence arises regarding the types of problems students may encounter in cross-cultural situations.
The sociolinguistic aspect of language in syllabuses can be seen in the form of speech acts: “What to teach can be described in sociolinguistic terms as a set of speech acts or language functions” (Corder 1973, p. 140). Being aware of this sociolinguistic aspect of foreign languages, English Language Guidelines for Secondary Schools (2007) state that “It is necessary to further focus on the learners developing the ability to use social/communicative functions accurately (correctly) and appropriately (in the right contexts)” (p.32). It further specifies language functions by asserting that “Social/communicative functions involve expressing one’s thoughts, intentions or feelings, expressing agreement and disagreement, apologizing, complaining, asking for information, etc.” (p. 32).
Moroccan EFL learners should be able to express themselves in social and cross-cultural situations, such as in the case of condoling, congratulating, and thanking. Failure to express oneself in such situations can result from pragmatic transfer or pragmatic failure in the target culture. The former occurs in the case of “using the rules of speaking associated with one’s own language and speech community when speaking a second language or interacting with members of another community” (Richards & Schmidt 1992, p. 494). The latter takes place when “one does not know what to say to whom, for example, which questions are appropriate to ask a guest” (Richards & Schmidt 1992, p. 495). While pragmatic transfer is peculiar to foreign language learners in cross-cultural situations, pragmatic failure is related also to native speakers. In some situations which are characterized by formulaic expressions, such as condoling, congratulating, or even greeting, Moroccans sometimes may not know the linguistic and paralinguistic conventions to follow. For instance, greeting in Morocco is sometimes accompanied by cheek kissing and exchanging salutations. The number of kisses between two individuals is not agreed upon. Generally, it ranges from two to four, and normally does not exceed six at maximum. In such situations, failure to agree on the number of kisses or exchange the suitable salutations may cause embarrassing situations.
In this regard, it is hypothesized that cases of pragmatic transfer and pragmatic failure are more likely to be found in students’ linguistic performance in situations of cross-cultural communication due to the interference of the mother tongue norms.
This paper aims to answer the following main questions:
In order to answer the above questions, a discourse completion test (DCT) of students’ sociolinguistic competence is employed as the main method of data collection in the current study. DCT can be defined as a questionnaire containing very briefly described situations designed to elicit a particular speech act. It contains short descriptions of a particular situation intended to reveal the pattern of the speech act being studied. Participants are asked to read each situation and respond to a prompt in writing. This type of test is very effective in inter-language pragmatic research. According to Kasper and Dahl (1991), DCT, along with role play, serves as one of the major data collection instruments in pragmatic research. In our context, DCT will help investigate the sociolinguistic competence of Moroccan EFL learners with a special focus on the major cross-cultural communication problems.
The participants were 30 second year Baccalaureate students and 30 native speakers of English in Fes. Native speakers were used as a control group, whereas Moroccan EFL learners were taken as an experimental group. Purposive sampling was the technique used in choosing the participants of the current study. This type of sampling is said to be the most common one when the research question that is being addressed is specific to the characteristics of the particular group of interest, which is subsequently examined in detail. In short, the profiles of each group will be presented in the tables below.
5.1 Moroccan EFL learners
30 DCTs in Moroccan Arabic and English were distributed to 30 second year Baccalaureate students following their studies in three high schools in Fez. The three schools involved are Ibn Tachafin High School, Ibn Maatir High School, and Ibn Rochd High School. DCTs were distributed to ten students in each school. In general, the background information of the Moroccan respondents is displayed in the table below:
Figure 1: Background information of Moroccan EFL learners (NNS)
As can be seen above, all students are second year Baccalaureate students. However, they have different majors.
5.2 Native speakers of English
In another vein, 30 native speakers continuing their studies at the Arabic Language Institute in Fez (ALIF) were asked to fill in the same English version of the DCT that was handed to the Moroccan EFL learners. Before being given the discourse completion tests, the respondents were asked whether or not they are native speakers of English. In general, the profiles of native speakers of English can be displayed below:
Figure 2: Background information of English native speakers (NS)
As can be seen above, the American and British respondents differ significantly in terms of the educational lvel, majors and nationality. Americans have different levels of education ranging from a BA degree to a Master degree. Similarly, their majors vary from political science to strategic communications. It is worth emphasizing that these degrees and majors are not found in the Arabic Language Institute in Fez (ALIF) which specializes in teaching Americans Arabic (either Standard Arabic or Moroccan Arabic) and teaching Moroccans English. The native respondents got these degrees from their home countries. With respect to nationality, it should be noted that the factor of nationality is not adequate in knowing whether they are native speakers or not. Some of them have Moroccan American parents; thus, they have Moroccan American nationalities. Others have Danish nationalities; still they are native speakers of English. In a word, nationality is not crucial to be considered a English native speaker; thus, it was not taken into account.
The data under analysis was collected by means of a Moroccan Arabic and English written discourse completion test consisting of 4 sections. Each section includes two situations. The total number of situations is eight. While the responses provided by native English speakers are taken as the baseline or standard data for comparison, the responses provided by Moroccan EFL learners are analyzed and crosschecked in order to determine the extent to which Moroccan EFL learners can communicate in cross-cultural communication situations. In general, only the responses that constitute total communication breakdowns are analyzed in this article regardless of the type of the situation.
To begin with, when Moroccan EFL students were asked to give a piece of advice to their sick friend who refuses to see a doctor, one of them provided the following response:
Respondent 26 (NNS): “Drink ze3tar [Thyme] or l?alba [Fenugreek]” [modified data]
The example cited above reveals that there is a serious case of sociopragmatic transfer in the learner’s behavior in the target language. The reasons behind this sociopragmatic violation, so to speak, lie in that such piece of advice is given only in Moroccan Arabic. Thus, transferring this social knowledge from Moroccan Arabic to English gives rise to negative sociopragmatic transfer. For example, advising someone who is sick to drink thyme or fenugreek is typically Moroccan, given that Moroccans are very convinced of the effectiveness of so-called alternative medicine in healing common sicknesses such as the flu and fevers. The reason behind this pragmatic transfer is rooted in the influence of Moroccan cultural norms, which are reflected in language. Another reason behind such communication failure can be traceable mainly to the lack of the linguistic and pragmatic resources in English.
Furthermore, what is quite interesting is that intra-cultural pragmatic failure can occur even in the mother tongue due to intra-cultural and intra-lingual differences. An illustration of this fact can be found in the following response about giving an advice in Moroccan Arabic to a friend who has failed the Baccalaureate exam:
Respondent 16 (NS of Moroccan Arabic): “/nta lli xrajti 3la rask byeedek ditiha flalla o malli o tqarqib sttalli o lxroj m3a lbnat iwa l3am jay tssenna/”
Not every MA native speaker can produce or understand such an expression. Thus, failure to deduce the meaning of such a ritualized formula is more likely to result in sociopragmatic failure even among native speakers of MA. This indicates that in the different regional and social dialects of Moroccan Arabic, politeness is expressed differently.
Last but not least, when Moroccan EFL students and English native speakers have to request their university teacher to repeat a question they haven’t heard well, they provided the following answer:
Respondent 1 (NNS) “Sorry, teacher, but I am not hear [sic] you so please reply the question.”
Respondent 11 (NS): “Can you please repeat the question! I couldn’t hear it.”
A contrastive analysis of the pragmatic data elicited from Moroccan EFL learners and the data generated from native speakers reveals that there are cases of pragmatic errors in the request made by the Moroccan EFL learner. One of the gravest errors is due to linguistic overgeneralization. More specifically, this type of errors can be traceable to L2 lexical overgeneralization. In the example above, it is due to the similarities that exist between “repeat” and “reply” in English that this error is more likely to occur. The teacher could interpret the student’s request to repeat the question as a request to reply to the question; thus, this instance of pragmalinguistic failure amounts to creating miscommunication.
In some situations, students remain silent. That is, they do not know what to say at all due to total lack of linguistic resources needed to express oneself in some situations. This act is the extreme type of cross-cultural pragmatic failure, which leads to a total communication breakdown.
The findings of the current study would have been more detailed if there had not been some limitations. One of these limitations relates to some administrative constraints that immensely affected the quantity of the data and the quality of the findings. Moreover, with respect to data analysis, different statistical tests could have been run on the data derived from English native speakers and Moroccan EFL learners in order to make the pragmatic differences between Moroccan EFL learners and native speakers more clear. Last but not least, the current study could not give a holistic view to detect all the areas of cross-cultural communication problems where pragmatic transfer and pragmatic failure are more likely to occur, as the latter is a huge area that needs further investigation.
In this regard, further research to investigate Moroccan EFL learners’ pragmatic performance in the creation of other speech acts is strongly called for in order to help teachers and learners understand the peculiarities that characterize the development of interlanguage pragmatics. Furthermore, it is recommended that contrastive analysis be used by Moroccan EFL teachers in order to solve some predictable communication problems by detecting the areas where pragmatic transfer and pragmatic failure are more likely to occur.
The main objective of the current study was to investigate some cases of cross-cultural communication problems among Moroccan EFL learners taking second year Baccalaureate students in Fez as a case study. In this regard, a Discourse Completion Test in both English and Moroccan Arabic was used as the main method of data collection given its attested efficiency in pragmatic inter-language research. The gathered data has yielded some illuminating results with regards to the kinds of cross-cultural communication problems which can be summarized in three main problems, namely pragmatic interference, pragmatic/linguistic over-generalization and pragmatic failure.
Bibliography
Benbarka, L., “Pragmatic Transfer in EFL Moroccan Learners’ Apologies,” Unpublished DESA Dissertation, Faculty of Education, Mohamed V, Souissi, Rabat, 2002.
Corder, S.P., Introducing Applied Linguistics, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1973.
Færch, C., & Kasper, G., Strategies in Interlanguage Communication, London: Longman, 1983.
Hymes, D., “Models of the Interaction of Language and Social Life,” J. Gumperz and D. Hymes, editors, Directions in Sociolinguistics, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 35–71, 1972.
Kasper, G. and Dahl, M., Research Methods in Interlanguage Pragmatics: Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 13, 215-247, 1992.
Latif, H., “A Sociopragmatic Study of EFL Moroccan Learners’ Requests,” Unpublished DESA Dissertation, Faculty of Education, Mohamed V, Souissi, Rabat, 2001.
M.E.N., Moroccan English Guidelines for Secondary Schools: Common Core, First Year and Second Year Baccalaureate, www.men.gov.ma, 2007.
Richards J.C. & Schmidt R., The Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, London: Longman Group UK Limited, 2001.
Thomas, J., Cross-Cultural Pragmatic Failure, Applied Linguistics, 4 (2), 91-112, 1983
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/10/169750/cross-cultural-communication-problems-among-moroccan-efl-students/
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Morocco: A battle royale
By Nadia Rabbaa in Casablanca Tuesday, 06 October 2015
Three Moroccan banks – one part-owned by a royal holding company – have led an expansion charge into sub-Saharan Africa. Now, they have changed tack, seeking slower growth and consolidation.
To give them valuable experience and seize opportunities beyond the domestic market, the government of an Asian country with a medium-sized economy decided in 1999 on a 'going out' policy for the country's corporations.
China's banks and construction firms are now active on every continent, and the former medium-sized economy has become the world's second largest.
Given the difference in scale, Morocco's ambitions are somewhat more modest. But its own version of that 'going out' policy can be seen in the encouragement with which King Mohammed VI tours sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with a gaggle of Moroccan businessmen in tow.
"Africa must trust in Africa," thundered Mohammed VI on a trip to Côte d'Ivoire's capital, Abidjan in 2014, speaking both to North African businesses still chary of the trip over the Sahara and prospective clients south of the desert.
Two banks in particular have crossed swords over the prize of emerging demand for banking services in SSA.
Publically-listed Attijariwafa Bank (#7), is owned by a holding company, the Société Nationale d'Investissement, controlled by the royal family.
The second is the private-sector owned Banque Marocaine du Commerce Extérieur (BMCE, #13), which decided in March to rename itself BMCE Bank of Africa. BMCE is the majority shareholder of the Bank of Africa (#37) and is refocusing its activities on the continent.
The two Moroccan banks have different regional strengths. North and Central Africa remain the preferred territory for Attijariwafa, and BMCE is gaining ground in Anglophone East Africa.
West Africa is an area of intense competition. In Côte d'Ivoire, for example, a third Moroccan group – Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP, #9) – is pushing both aside. Some countries are seeing the impact of the Moroccan competition more than most.
In Mali, the three Moroccan banks have subsidiaries: Attijariwafa is present via the Banque Internationale pour le Mali; the BCP via Banque Atlantique; and BMCE via Bank of Africa Mali (#179) and the Banque de Développement du Mali (#184), also controlled by BMCE. The three banks control more than half of the branch network in the country and manage two-thirds of bank assets.
In the most enticing of Francophone markets, the rapidly growing Côte d'Ivoire, banks owned by the three Moroccan musketeers have cornered a quarter of the market.
Morocco's banks are in competition for clients, but they often seem to be acting in unison.
Abdou Diop, president of the South-South commission of the Confédération Générale des Entreprises du Maroc, argues the issue of competition between the three banks south of the Sahara is not clear cut: "They manage their interests so as not to step on each other's toes. They are working in three different niches and are focused on different geographies." He adds that the growth potential is large as the banks have different strategic approaches. "Attijariwafa is more based on retail banking. BMCE enters a market as a minority shareholder and builds up slowly until it is the majority partner. BCP buys a bank and then develops it."
Managing risks
Morocco's central bank, the Bank Al Maghrib (BAM), is also influencing the overseas expansion of Moroccan banks. It has imposed limits on foreign exposure to avoid upsetting the balance of the national banking system. "We look at the competition in an indirect way to see if it implies too much risk taking," says Hiba Zahoui, deputy director of the banking supervision unit in the BAM.
She adds: "The more a group is spread over multiple jurisdictions, the more complex and long-winded the harmonisation of procedures will be."
Indeed, since the governance crisis in West Africa's Ecobank (#14) in early 2014, the BAM has been more active in the supervision of Moroccan-owned bank subsidiaries and has formed working groups focused on each bank that operates elsewhere in Africa. African operations outside of Morocco now represent about a quarter of the profits that Attijariwafa, BMCE and BCP make.
Morocco's banks have entered an era of consolidation in Africa. Attijariwafa co-chief executive Ismail Douiri tells The Africa Report that further expansion is not a priority because, "we are in a period where the driving focus is the acceleration of growth where we are currently present." He says the bank will finish up some expansion projects that have already begun, such as in Benin and Chad. BCP officials also plan to limit their African growth.
Nevertheless, Morocco's banks are looking at bustling Anglophone markets with envy. Has BMCE stolen a march on Attijariwafa because of its activities in East Africa, picking up the codes and language of global business? Douiri does not see it as a problem: "Our executives speak English. And there are greater similarities between, say, Benin and western Nigeria than between Benin and Tunisia."
Other banks are less sure about the transition to the Anglophone market. A senior executive at one Moroccan institution, says: "We have begun thinking about Anglophone countries, but it will be more difficult as all our procedures are in French. But it's not insurmountable."
The key question then is what about Nigeria? "Nigeria is on our radar," explains Attijariwafa's Douiri. "You can't have an Africa strategy without looking at the Nigerian market." But while he sees potential in Nigeria's low banking penetration rate, he argues that the corporate sector is overbanked. "Yes, we will go in, but it is all a matter of how," Douiri concludes. Entering this Nigerian market has also been on BMCE's agenda, although this seems now to have stalled.
Competition is set to increase in terms of the products Moroccan banks offer, with insurance products foremost on the list. Attijariwafa's insurance arm Wafa Assurance might be a leader at home, but it has mostly struggled abroad. Out ahead is Finance Com, the holding company that owns BMCE. In June it created an Africa-focused joint venture with Saham Assurance.
While Moroccan banks are bringing more competition to Africa's markets, are they changing business practice in Africa? One Senegalese businessman who requests anonymity says: "I don't know why Attijariwafa keeps putting Moroccan expats in charge of local branches, especially here where there is real banking know-how. There have been strikes and waves of departures, like at the CBAO Attijariwafa in Dakar." Douiri says that the company does not have a policy preference for employing Moroccans in its African operations.
However, many Moroccan banks expanded internationally without the skills necessary to navigate other cultures. They are learning on the job now. For example, Attijariwafa's Douiri explains: "We had no idea that intra-African migration was so large." To meet the needs of African migrants, the bank has put in place a payments platform that links Gabon and Mali. The Moroccan push is probably not neo-imperialist, but more learning is certainly required.
http://www.theafricareport.com/North-Africa/morocco-a-battle-royale.html
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Morocco Named One of Most Improved in Africa by Governance Index
Morocco Is One of Only Six to Improve in All Four Measurement Categories
/EINPresswire.com/ -- WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - October 06, 2015)
Morocco was named "one of the most improved countries in Africa since 2011" by the 2015 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), and "one of only six countries to show improvement in all four IIAG categories." Released yesterday by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, the annual evaluation of governance in Africa aims to provide a statistical analysis of how well African governments, the private sector and other institutions deliver their goods and services to the public. First created in 2007, the index is intended to help guide policy and strengthen governance across the continent.
Among the four measurement categories of Safety & Rule of Law, Participation & Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity, and Human Development, the report also noted that Morocco "is the biggest improver in Sustainable Economic Opportunity, an achievement that stands out even more by its difference from the continental trend."
The release of this year's IIAG report comes just weeks after Moroccans voted in historic regional and local elections last month. The elections represented an important step forward in the country's democratization process, and were the first regional and local elections held since the country adopted a new constitution in 2011. The government has also taken aggressive measures to promote renewable energy and was recently lauded by the Union for Concerned Scientists for its efforts ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Paris this December.
Morocco placed 16th overall among 54 African countries, scoring 57.6 out of 100. This is an improvement of 3.4 points since 2011, and the sixth largest gain on the continent. Morocco's impressive score of 69.8 in Sustainable Economic Opportunity was the highest in North Africa and the third highest on the continent.
"Morocco has been on an irreversible path of democratization for more than a decade under King Mohammed VI's leadership, and the momentum accelerated in 2011 with the adoption of a new constitution and sweeping reforms," said former US Ambassador to Morocco Edward M. Gabriel. "The IIAG finding that Morocco's governance has improved since then is highly encouraging, and a sign that Morocco has stayed the course."
The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP) is a non-profit organization whose principal mission is to inform opinion makers, government officials, and interested publics in the United States about political and social developments in Morocco and the role being played by the Kingdom of Morocco in broader strategic developments in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East.
This material is distributed by the Moroccan American Center for Policy on behalf of the Government of Morocco. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.
http://www.einnews.com/pr_news/290142014/morocco-named-one-of-most-improved-in-africa-by-governance-index
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Morocco’s Health Ministry to Decrease Medical Equipment Prices
Wednesday 7 October 2015 Yasyn Mouhir
Rabat
The Health Minister Houcine El Ouardi announced on Monday October 5, 2015 during a press conference in Rabat that prices of expensive medical devices will decline “before the end of 2015".
The press conference following the presentation of the draft of the National Health Service and the priorities of health department in 2016. El Ouardi said that this drop will primarily concern the price of about 1,000 expensive medical devices.
The Minister explained that the adjustment will begin with a reduction of prices for third generation medical devices, which could mean a reduction from 28,000 and 32,000 MAD for a machine to 10,700 MAD. He highlighted that the price of the equipment exceeded the purchase power of citizens. El Ouardi stressed the need to encourage national laboratories to develop a treatment of “viral hepatitis C”. It is believed that this treatment will provide more than 625,000 Moroccan patients with low price medication with the possibility of benefiting from full coverage for the medicine.
On the other hand, the Minister addressed the law that will implement health coverage for students starting in the current academic session (2015-2016). This law falls within the implementation of the government program for 2012-2016, which also planned on covering liberal profession and self-employed workers so as to achieve universal health coverage. The Minister said that the Health Ministry allocated 1 billion MAD for the promotion and development of medical equipment of affiliated public health institutions in remote areas.
Edited by Miriam El Ofir
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/10/169776/moroccos-health-ministry-to-decrease-medical-equipment-prices/
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Morocco: Lalla Salma Foundation raises millions for cancer: Picasso, Chagall and king's Mercedes at auction
07 October,
(ANSAmed) - RABAT, OCTOBER 7
As part of its 10th anniversary, the Lalla Salma Foundation organized an auction and gala event to raise money for the fight against cancer that raked in millions. The princess, wife of King Mohammad VI, brought together friends and high-level figures in the country to the Badii building in Marrakech with the aim of being a hospital in Béni Mellal in the area. The amount of money - a total of 150 million dirhams (almost 14 million euros) - raised has made it possible to plan the building of another cancer center in the southern city of Laaayoune. The items auctioned off included a 1970 Mercedes Cabriolet from the royal collection, which was sold for almost two million euros to the billionaire businessman Othman Benjelloun, head of the Finance.com holding company for banks and insurance companies. The highlights of the auction were a Picasso and a Chagall, which went for around 3 million euros each. Invitees included Agriculture Minister Aziz Akhannouch, an entrepreneur who Forbes has reported is worth 1.5 billion dollars, as well as Industry Minister Moulay Hafid Elalamy, the 38th richest man in Africa whose business activities range from insurance to healthcare and real estate. There was also Bernadette Chirac, wife of former French president Jacques Chirac, and Sheikha Fatima, one of the most influential women in the UAE. (ANSAmed).
http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2015/10/07/morocco-lalla-salma-foundation-raises-millions-for-cancer_2f7b410a-3540-488b-b474-e70b0344c313.html
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Tangier Metropolis Program - HM the King Launches, Inaugurates INDH Projects.
Maghreb Arabe Presse (Rabat) Tangier
HM King Mohammed VI launched and dedicated, here Wednesday, large-scale projects, part of the National Initiative for Human Development (INDH), that are aimed at developing youth skills, fighting crime and school dropout, and promoting the working conditions of street vendors. HM the King inaugurated a center for youth training and skills-building at Ard Dawla district and a socio-economic and sports complex in the Mesnana neighborhood, as well as launched the construction works of an indoor sports hall in M'Ghogha Lakbira neighborhood. These projects will require investments of 27 million dirhams.
A new translation of flagship Tangier-Metropolis program, launched on September 26, 2013 by the Sovereign, these projects are in line with HM the King's efforts to promote the proximity policy, consolidate social action projects, fight insecurity, strengthen basic infrastructure and promote human, comprehensive and sustainable development.
Thus, the center for youth training and skills-building (5.1 million dirhams) is expected to contribute, through a set of training, coaching and facilitation tools, to fighting illiteracy and school dropout, disseminating citizenship and civic values, promoting socio-economic and professional development of the beneficiaries, and promoting the action of the youth to allow them participate in the momentum of local development.
A partnership between INDH, the Ministries of the Interior and Youth and Sports, and the Prefecture of Tangier-Assilah, this project meets the needs of inhabitants and associations in the concerned neighborhoods as it provides training in income-generating businesses, participates in the promotion of cultural and community activities and promotes volunteerism among target populations.
As for the socio-economic and sports complex in the Mesnana neighborhood, it aims to promote the working conditions of street vendors, eradicate substandard construction, upgrade the urban landscape, and develop the economic and commercial infrastructure of the city.
The indoor sports hall, whose works were launched today by the Sovereign, reflects the ongoing commitment of HM the King to give a strong impetus to the development momentum in Tangier, and His enlightened vision that Sports is a fundamental element to the development of personal skills and abilities of young people.
Besides the indoor sports hall in the Mghogha Lakbira neighborhood, the Tangier-Metropolis program provides for building 30 outreach grounds in the various neighborhoods of the city, especially in Ain Mechlaoua, Sania, Tanja El Balia, Ard Dawla, El Majd, Aazib Abekiou, El Guembouria, El Ksibat, Lakouadess, Bousselham, Beni Said, Labraness Lakdima, Aazib El Haj Keddour, Laaouina, Ain Hayani, Branes, Rmilat, Rahrah, Mesnana and Jbilat.
On this occasion, HM King Mohammed VI symbolically presented delivery tricycles, carts and badges for ten street vendors, who benefited from the project of the socio-economic and sports complex in the Mesnana neighborhood
http://allafrica.com/stories/201510080866.html
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Anti 'Sex and the city' book wins Mamounia prize: Story about female sexual obsession.
08 October,
(ANSAmed) - RABAT, OCTOBER 8
The most prestigious literary prize of Morocco, the Prix La Mamounia, comparable to the French Goncourt for its importance and references was won by a woman Leila Slimani, who authored the text, 'Dans le jardin de l'orgre' (In the garden of the ogre), the story of a female sexual obsession.
So, in the country forbidding in cinemas the movie about Marrakech prostitutes, the book awarded the highest literary honour, is one not only written by a woman, but also one celebrating the double life of Adèle, Parisian journalist and attractive wife on the one hand and fierce man-eater, always on the brink of losing everything she has, on the other.
The opposite of Carrie and her friends in Sex and the City.
The higly-praised author called it a "A book about obsession ".
Slimani, born in 1981 is a journalist writing for the magazine Jeune Afrique. Awarded at La Mamounia in Marrakech, she looked scrawny, almost student-like.
Adèle, her 'creature' is an ice-lady. As soon as her husband goes out the door she cannot wait to jump in the arms of a stranger , to "touch the vile, the obscene, the middle-class perversion and human misery". She does not, however, keep track of her lovers, rather she forgets everything as fast as possible.
Born in Rabat, from a French-Algerian mother and a Moroccan father from Fez, Leila Slimani speaks Arabic but writes in French: a significant pass in Morocco where no publishing house would have dared to present a book such as this one.
Called by French critics a trash Madame Bovary, 'Dans le jardin de l'ogre' is akin to a clinical observation of ninphomania with the protagonist doing anything possible to forget how dull and sad life can turn out to be. (ANSAmed).
http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/culture/2015/10/08/morocco-anti-sex-and-the-city-book-wins-mamounia-prize_0e11d1ca-d1fb-4bba-80c4-7d27a06d2002.html
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From Small Seeds, Morocco-Mississippi State University Partnership
BlogBy Jean R. Abinader Moroccan American Center for Policy (Washington, DC)
It seemed like a good idea - to interview Mark E. Keenum, the president of Mississippi State University (MSU), recently named an honorary consul for Morocco in the US. It was an opportunity to discover why a partnership between a leading SEC football powerhouse and a frontier market economy makes sense, and what lies ahead for both parties. Well, along the way, I got quite an education.
First of all, I found out that MSU is not only the premier university in the state, it is, as its website proudly notes, "among the nation's leading major research universities, according to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, which represents the highest level of research activity for doctorate-granting universities in the U.S." It has an impressive array of more than 175 academic programs building on its strengths in engineering, agriculture, and arts and sciences... Quite impressive and an exceptional partner for Morocco.
Gone are the days when honorary consuls were largely ceremonial opportunities to showcase visiting dignitaries. Morocco's Ambassador Rachad Bouhlal is determined to promote his country's ties of friendship to key communities across the US by demonstrating the mutual benefits of cooperation and collaboration that serve both countries' interests. This partnership with MSU certainly illustrates the potential for enabling Morocco to find capable and committed partners in its efforts to realize economic growth and prosperity for the country, the region, and the African continent.
The relationship is no happenstance. There are MSU faculty members from Morocco who helped build a partnership with the International University - Rabat (IUR), a public-private partnership focused on developing skilled graduates in line with Morocco's national initiatives. This is underscored by the joint programs that have been launched in automotive and aeronautic engineering. The undergraduate program consists of three years of study at IUR in mechanical and automotive engineering, then a senior year at MSU, with BS degrees awarded at both schools and automatic entry into the Masters programs at MSU.
The programs are off to a quick start. This fall, 21 Moroccans are enrolled in the Masters program in aeronautical engineering. In fall 2016, the first class of 49 students will complete their senior year at MSU in mechanical engineering and enter into the Masters programs. And 61 are expected in automotive engineering as undergrads in 2017. This is quite an innovative program for MSU, its first international program - and one that has the full support of President Keenum, which is where this blog started...
Mark is both a lifelong Bulldog (as MSU's sports teams are called) and one of its staunchest supporters. He completed his undergraduate and advanced degrees in Agricultural Economics at the school, later serving as chief of staff for Senator Thad Cochran and as an Undersecretary in the Agriculture Department under President George W. Bush. While in the Administration, he oversaw the Foreign Agricultural Service, which gave him broad exposure to other countries, as well as international and multinational to agencies in the food and agricultural sectors.
He is acutely aware of food and water issues facing the world and has developed partnerships with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Program. Mark has formed six partnerships with USAID and has a program with FAO in Africa. MSU, under his tenure, has been designated as a UN Global Agricultural Health Center, where the university brings its expertise to bear on issues of food security and sustainability.
In discussing these issues and initiatives, it is clear that President Keenum is passionate about the challenge of feeding people. With 20 billion people expected on this earth by 2050, he says that we need smart, educated, and talented people to direct more research, resources, science, technology, and innovation to meet this challenge. He has high praise for Morocco and its efforts in Africa, and is well acquainted with OCP, since he is a member of the International Fertilizer Development Council.
He gives Ambassador Bouhlal credit for recognizing how honorary consuls can play a dynamic role in building strong bilateral bridges beyond politics, especially on issues of common concern. This past spring, he met with Morocco's Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Aziz Akhannouch to discuss how MSU's Water Resources Centers covering research, the environment, aquaculture, and water management can contribute to Morocco's USAID triangular aid projects in Africa.
It is a beginning of a broad array of opportunities for Moroccan and American students and experts to gain valuable experience, share knowledge, and together generate innovate approaches to meeting the critical food, water, and energy security issues challenging human development.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201510161255.html
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Book review: the characters in Street of Thieves are too thin to support its ambitions: French novelist Mathias Énard has interesting things to say about the current condition of North Africa but his novel doesn't really come to life
Saturday, 10 October, 2015, Laila Lalami thereview@scmp.com
Street of Thieves by Mathias Énard (Open Letter)
Tangier, Mathias Énard writes in Street of Thieves, is famous "chiefly for the people who leave it". Take, for example, the explorer Ibn Battuta. He left Tangier in 1325 and travelled through much of Africa, the Middle East, eastern Europe and Asia. When he finally returned home, 30 years later, he wrote the Rihla, an account of his adventures and one of the most important narratives we have of life in the 14th century.
Lakhdar, this novel's 18-year-old narrator, will also leave home and write about it. Though his journeys are limited to Morocco, Tunisia and Spain, they provide a glimpse into the tremors of the Arab spring, the threat of Islamic fundamentalism, and the indignados movement in Spain.
These subjects may seem ripped from the headlines, but they are not unusual for Énard, a French novelist whose work often focuses on war and political conflict. His first novel, La Perfection du Tir, from 2003, was told from the point of view of a sniper in a civil war, possibly the Lebanese civil war. Zone, first released in 2008, is a single-sentence story about a spy who wants to expose war crimes in several countries bordering the Mediterranean.
As Street of Thieves opens, Lakhdar is just another Moroccan boy who spends his days watching the ferries that cross the Strait of Gibraltar. In the summer, he and his friend Bassam smoke kif and ogle women, especially scantily clad tourists. One day Lakhdar is caught in bed with his cousin, Meryem. Feeling dishonoured, Lakhdar's father beats him and throws him out of the house. He also beats Meryem and packs her off to a remote village in the Rif mountains. Now homeless, Lakhdar travels south, surviving by begging, thieving and prostitution. Some months later, he returns to Tangier, where he finds that Bassam has become friends with Sheikh Nureddin, a friendly and articulate scholar who has started a Muslim Group for the Propagation of Qur'anic Thought. Lakhdar is hired as their bookseller, a job that provides him with a place to live and enough free time to indulge his passion for crime novels.
But the quiet life doesn't last. Soon the Arab spring protests reach Morocco. As a political type, Lakhdar is interesting. Like thousands of other north Africans, he is fed up with state repression, yet finds no viable alternative to the government, which makes him susceptible to the ideas of the Islamists. A mix of Candide and Forrest Gump, he grows as a result of his interactions with the people he meets on his travels.
Énard is an ambitious writer and his prose, in Charlotte Mandell's translation, has moments of devastating clarity. He draws interesting connections between disaffected youths in Morocco, Tunisia and Spain, and the different ways in which they voice their political discontent. In the end, however, his characters remain too thin to bear the weight of his political observations.
http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/books/article/1865483/book-review-characters-street-thieves-are-too-thin-support-its
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