Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under articles 16 and 17 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Fourth periodic reports of States parties due in 2009

Morocco *

[Date received: 24 January 2013]

Contents

Paragraphs Page

Acronyms and abbreviations3

I.Introduction1−114

II.Implementation of general recommendations12−2716

Article 1 – Exercise of the right to self-determination23–2713

Article 2 – Economic, social and cultural rights28–3514

Article 3 – Equal rights of men and women36–5616

Article 4 – Employment57–7222

Article 7 – Working conditions73–8528

Article 8 – Trade unions86–10132

Article 9 – Social security102–11335

Article 10 – Family-marriage114–14639

Article 11 – Poverty147–18646

Article 12 – Physical and mental health187–21657

Article 14 – Education217–24663

Article 15 – Culture247–27171

Acronyms and abbreviations

ADSSocial Development Agency

AIDSacquired immune deficiency syndrome

CNDHNational Council for Human Rights

CNEFNational Charter for Education and Training

CNOPSNational Fund for Social Welfare Organizations

CNSSNational Social Security Fund

DIDHInterministerial Delegation for Human Rights

FWBDfood and/or water-borne diseases

GDPgross domestic product

HIVhuman immunodeficiency virus

HCPOffice of the High Commissioner for Planning

ICTinformation and communications technology

INDHNational Initiative for Human Development

IRCAMRoyal Institute for Amazigh Culture

MDGsMillennium Development Goals

MSFFDSMinistry of Solidarity, Women, the Family and Social Development

ONDHNational Observatory for Human Development

ONEPNational Office for Drinking Water

PACTETerritorial Convergence Action Plan for the Protection of Children

PANENational Action Plan for Children

RAMEDMedical Assistance Scheme for the Economically Underprivileged

SAMUEmergency Medical Assistance Service

SMAGguaranteed minimum agricultural wage

SMIGguaranteed minimum inter-occupational wage

STIsexually transmitted infections

UNHCROffice of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

VSEvery small enterprise

WHOWorld Health Organization

I.Introduction

1.The Kingdom of Morocco, which has been a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (hereinafter “the Covenant”) since 3 May 1979, is submitting its fourth periodic report pursuant to articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant.

2.The report has been prepared in accordance with the guidelines on treaty-specific documents (E/C.12/2008/2) and in response to the concluding observations (E/C.12/MAR/CO/3) adopted by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (hereinafter “the Committee”) following its consideration of the third periodic report (E/1994/104/Add.29). It reviews the measures taken by Morocco during the period 2006–2012 to give effect to the economic, social and cultural rights recognized in the Covenant, and it highlights the progress made and the difficulties encountered in implementing appropriate policies and actions designed to ensure more effective compliance with the provisions of the Covenant. It reviews each of the Committee’s recommendations and provides as much statistical data as possible.

3.The report was prepared on the basis of a participatory approach involving all stakeholders representing ministerial departments, national institutions and civil society. Extensive consultation meetings were held to provide a solid basis for the report and to ensure its validity. The report was prepared in accordance with a procedure based on dialogue and wide-ranging consultations involving all stakeholders who participated in the preparation of reports submitted to the Human Rights Council and other treaty bodies.

4.Since the submission of the third periodic report in 2005, the Moroccan Government has spared no effort in promoting economic, social and cultural rights, particularly on behalf of vulnerable groups, and it has taken action on the points raised in the concluding observations on the third periodic report.

5.Morocco is engaged in far-reaching constitutional and institutional reforms at the time of submission of this report, including the adoption in 2011 of the new Constitution, which marks a historical and decisive turning-point in the process of building a State based on the rule of law and the Kingdom’s democratic institutions.

A.Strengthening of the institutional framework for the promotion of economic, social and cultural rights

6.Morocco reiterates its commitment to the promotion of economic, social and cultural rights and environmental rights through the establishment of a legal and institutional framework that contributes to the consolidation of the rule of law, the development of an environment that fosters participation and the establishment of inclusive economic and social institutions. The adoption of the new Constitution in 2011 resulted in the constitutional recognition of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council which was established in February 2011, the National Council for Human Rights (CNDH), the Office of the Ombudsman and the Competition Council, as well as the creation of the Interministerial Delegation for Human Rights (DIDH) in 2011.

7.The reform process and the strengthening of the institutional framework for the promotion and protection of human rights have continued and led to the establishment of the following institutions entrusted with general or specific mandates: the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication; the Higher Council for Education, Training and Scientific Research (CSEFRS); the Central Authority for the Prevention of Corruption (ICPC); the Royal Institute for Amazigh Culture (IRCAM); the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS); the National Observatory for Human Development (ONDH); the National Commission to Oversee the Protection of Personal Data (CNDP); and the National Commission on International Humanitarian Law (CNDIH).

8.All of these institutions are highly active in their respective areas of responsibility. The Constitution provides for the establishment of additional institutions with human rights mandates: the Authority Responsible for Parity and the Fight against All Forms of Discrimination; the Advisory Council on the Family and Children; the Advisory Council on Young People and Social Action, etc.

B.Development of the legislative framework

9.The new Constitution provided for the adoption of about ten organic laws dealing with economic, social and cultural rights. Special attention was given to strengthening the rights of specific groups and to provisions for the protection of categories of persons or of particular fields such as trade union law, health care, safety in the workplace, consumer protection, care for vulnerable persons, recognition of the Amazigh language as an official language, the advanced regionalization project, the Emergency Plan for Education adopted in 2007 to speed up implementation of the guidelines set forth in the National Charter for Education and Training adopted in 2000, a strategy for the “Green Morocco Plan” adopted in 2008, adoption of a new Local Authority Charter, reform of the audiovisual media, drafting of the National Charter for the Environment and Sustainable Development, launching of the second stage of the National Initiative for Human Development (INDH), and implementation of a gender-sensitive budgeting system (arrangements to ensure accountability for the full enjoyment by women of their economic, social and cultural rights). As part of the budgetary reform based on results and performance, detailed reports on the public authorities’ finance and budget laws are published in the press and on the Internet and widely discussed in the written and audiovisual media. This process is to be sustained through the adoption of the new organic law on financial legislation. The purpose of the law is to modernize public administration by enhancing the performance, oversight, transparency and accountability of administrators. It will develop budget policy tools and promote the preservation of macroeconomic balance. It will also support the process of regionalization and strengthen local governance and the development of synergies at the local level.

C.The economic and financial situation in the Kingdom

10.Morocco has enjoyed a period of sustained economic growth of over 4.5 per cent per annum during the past ten years. This successful trend is due, on the one hand, to an economic strategy aimed at opening up markets and attracting foreign investment with a view to bolstering sectors at the forefront of economic growth and, on the other, to vigorous action at the national level, primarily in the context of the INDH, to reduce social exclusion and to combat poverty and insecurity. Structural unemployment has declined. Progress in the management of public finance has enabled the State to step up investment in infrastructure and to improve the economic climate. As a result of this progress, the country has been able to enhance its citizens’ enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. Action to ensure access to basic facilities throughout the territory is a basic prerequisite for the democratization of social life and for the enjoyment by the population of economic, social and cultural rights.

11.Morocco has established institutional and political conditions on the ground that facilitate participation and dialogue at the national and local levels. Civil society has developed apace, benefiting in particular from the consultation arrangement established as part of the INDH. Staff elections have been held in companies and in chambers of trade and crafts so that the status of representatives of occupations and employees has been legitimized and a solid basis has been set for economic and social dialogue. The new Local Authority Charter requires the authorities to publish their budget. Extensive legal bases have been laid to enable all economic and social actors to express their views and to exert an impact on decisions affecting them. The practical implementation of these new facilities, which promote the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, depends on collective experience and a collective learning process.

II.Implementation of general recommendations

Recommendation 34: Establishment of a database to monitor the realization of the rights enshrined in the Covenant

12.There is no database specifically designed to monitor the Covenant. However, public agencies such as the Office of the High Commissioner for Planning (HCP) and the National Observatory for Human Development (ONDH), and many other bodies have established structured databases that can be used for monitoring purposes.

Recommendation 36: Adoption of legislative and other measures to give effect to all the provisions of the Covenant

13.Morocco has undertaken under its new Constitution to give effect to all the provisions of the Covenant. The preamble to the Constitution, which now constitutes an integral part of the text, stipulates: “Considering the vital importance of enhancing its role on the world stage, Morocco, as an active member of international organizations, is committed to the principles, rights and obligations enshrined in their respective charters and conventions; it reaffirms its commitment to universally recognized human rights and its determination to continue taking action to preserve peace and security in the world.” Moreover, article 31 of the new Constitution stipulates that the State, public establishments and local authorities shall take steps to mobilize all available resources to facilitate equal access of citizens to conditions that enable them to exercise their rights to vocational training, work and support from the public authorities for access to employment or self‑employment and to sustainable development. Furthermore, article 35 of the new Constitution enshrines the right to property and free enterprise and guarantees free competition. The article also guarantees free access to investment.

14.The constitutional regime of the Kingdom of Morocco is based on the principles of separation, balance and collaboration among authorities, the principles of citizen-based and participatory democracy, and the principles of good governance and accountability. In this context, continuous action is taken to establish a cohesive, well-adapted and progressive legislative and regulatory framework. The new Constitution provides for the drafting of organic laws in a number of fields, including those of economic, social and cultural governance. The duration of the first legislative period following its promulgation was fixed as the time limit for the drafting of the organic laws and their submission to the Chamber of Representatives for approval (art. 86).

15.In the linguistic and cultural field, the Amazigh language has been recognized as an official language alongside Arabic under article 5 of the Constitution. The National Council for Languages and Culture has been established. The procedures for implementing these measures will be laid down in the organic laws.

16.Major advances have also been achieved in the area of consumer rights protection (for instance, the adoption of Act No. 31-08 in February 2011) and in the area of environmental law (national debate in 2009 and 2010 on a National Charter for the Environment and Sustainable Development).

Recommendation 37: Provision of accurate and detailed information on, and real-life examples of, the legal remedies available to victims of violations of the rights enshrined in the Covenant

17.Statistics on administrative legal proceedings provide information on registered, decided and pending cases before the administrative courts and the administrative appeal courts. In 2010 a total of 18,081 cases were registered with the administrative courts, 17,138 had been decided and 12,169 were pending. A total of 4,880 cases were registered with the appeal courts, 3,521 had been decided and 7,283 were pending. Disputes concerning expropriation accounted for 15 per cent of cases and those concerning abuse of authority and taxation accounted for 9.4 per cent and 10.9 per cent respectively of cases registered with the administrative courts. There is as yet no analytical register of case law in Morocco.

18.However, alongside the administrative courts, there are national institutions such as the CNDH and the Office of the Ombudsman which look into cases involving violations of economic, social and cultural rights. The Office of the Ombudsman, which replaced the institution known as Diwan Al Madhalim in 2011, was created to promote the effective delivery of justice and the rule of law, to reduce the number of cases of injustice due to wrongful application of the law and to provide redress, in accordance with the country’s international obligations and the treaties ratified by Morocco.

Recommendation 56: Take into account, in negotiations and bilateral agreements, all the obligations incumbent upon it under the Covenant, so as not to impinge upon economic, social and cultural rights. Evaluate the impact of the free-trade agreements that entered into force in 2006 on the economic, social and cultural rights of the population, especially the most vulnerable sectors

19.Morocco pursues an economic strategy based on open markets. It has stepped up the strategy of open markets and trade liberalization during the past decade through the establishment of a network composed of free-trade agreements at the regional or bilateral level.

20.The negotiations concerning cooperative action to address the economic and social impact of the free trade agreements took the social impact of such agreements into account on a systematic basis. A core objective of the INDH, which was launched by His Majesty King Mohamed VI on 18 May 2005, consists in taking long-term action to address the risks involved in opening up the country’s economy. The Government has launched a number of programmes to address these risks. The programmes are implemented by the Ministry of Social Development and its agencies (the Social Development Agency and Entraide Nationale), the technical departments and the Ministry of the Interior in the context of the INDH and of international cooperation.

Recommendation 60: Dissemination of the concluding observations (E/C.12/MAR/CO/3) widely among all levels of society and, in particular, among State officials and the judiciary; provision of information in the fourth periodic report about all steps taken to implement them, and involvement of non-governmental organizations in the formulation of the report

21.The DIDH has introduced and developed a participatory approach based on consultations and coordination with all stakeholders in the area of economic, social and cultural rights. In accordance with this approach, the DIDH endeavoured to involve all relevant actors, including the media and civil society, in the preparation of the fourth national report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Recommendation 61: Submission of the fourth periodic report by 2009

22.As Morocco opted for the establishment of an interministerial structure, the DIDH, as the coordinating and monitoring body responsible for formulating and supervising the implementation of the Government’s policy concerning the defence, protection and promotion of human rights, has taken steps to intensify interaction with the United Nations human rights system. Since its establishment in March 2011, the DIDH has developed an approach based on coordination, a strategic plan for the period 2012–2016 and an emergency plan aimed at ensuring compliance with the country’s international obligations under human rights treaties, including submission of all overdue periodic reports. Adopting a similar coordination-based approach, the DIDH monitors implementation of the recommendations issued by the various treaty bodies, including the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Article 1Exercise of the right to self-determination

23.Following the departure of the Spanish colonial administration, Morocco took steps to upgrade the political, social, economic and cultural living conditions of the inhabitants of the provinces of Oued Eddahab and Saqiat El Hamra, providing for their security and making investments to fill the institutional vacuum and remedy the delay in equipping the territory and its population with basic facilities.

24.Since 1976, Morocco has done its utmost to restore the political, social, economic and cultural rights that were flouted by the former colonial power.

Recommendation 35: The State party should make every effort to find a clear and definitive solution to the issue of self-determination for the people of Western Sahara and take steps to protect the rights of persons displaced by the conflict in Western Sahara

25.The Moroccan Extended Autonomy Initiative (IMAE) is an integral part of the action taken by the Kingdom of Morocco to build a modern democratic State for which respect for human rights is both a raison d ’ être and a means of consummating its territorial integrity. The Kingdom plans, by means of IMAE, to guarantee that the population of the region are accorded their appropriate place and role in its organs and institutions without discrimination or exclusion. The people of the Sahara will be able to administer their affairs democratically, exercising exclusive legislative, executive and judicial powers. They will have the financial resources required to promote regional development in all areas. The new Constitution recognizes the specific components of the Moroccan nation, including the Saharan component; the Constitution also recognizes the Hassani language as a constituent element of the unified Moroccan cultural entity. It assigns responsibility to the State, as in the case of the Amazigh component, for their protection and development. With a view to ensuring that the regional components can fully express their political, economic, social and cultural interests, the Constitution enshrines the principle of advanced regionalization. This confers wide-ranging powers on the regional councils, which will be elected, according to the draft proposed by the advisory commission on regionalization, by direct universal suffrage.

26.In response to the international demand for a political, negotiated and final settlement to the Saharan conflict, since all other solutions have failed, His Majesty the King created a special 141-member body for the Saharans, the Royal Advisory Council on Saharan Affairs. The Council’s terms of reference include the development of an autonomy plan based on reconciliation, an initiative that broadly complies with the principle of self‑determination. The plan was adopted by all national bodies and gave rise to the Moroccan initiative aimed at resolving the conflict. This initiative has been deemed credible and serious by international bodies. It was submitted to the United Nations on 11 April 2007 and gave rise to Security Council resolutions 1754 (2007), 1813 (2008), 1871 (2009), 1920 (2010) and 1979 (2011), all of which described it as “serious and credible”. These resolutions served as the basis for the negotiations that are currently under way. Morocco has proposed that a referendum on the autonomy statute produced as a result of the negotiations should be held among the population concerned, in accordance with the principle of self-determination and the Charter of the United Nations. It has undertaken to ensure that the population has access to the financial resources required for regional development in all areas and that it plays an active part in the Kingdom’s economic, social and cultural life.

27.Motivated by a spirit of reconciliation and recognition of the rights of Saharan communities in their Moroccan homeland, it has supported all initiatives aimed at facilitating the return and integration into the country of all displaced citizens in the Tindouf camps.

Article 2Economic, social and cultural rights

International cooperation

28.The close alignment of action by funding agencies with the country’s policies concerning economic, social and cultural rights and the increased integration of aid into the country’s budgetary system make it difficult to ascertain the specific impact of international cooperation. However, the Government’s policy consists in ensuring that official development assistance is channelled to an increasing extent into programmes aimed at promoting human rights, building democracy, consolidating institutions and improving governance. They include, for example, programmes to promote equality between men and women, the community reparations programme and the programme for the promotion of citizenship.

29.Morocco has fully endorsed the principles set forth in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. The Budget Directorate of the Moroccan Ministry of Economy and Finance has developed a geographical information system with the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme and with Spanish and French support. The system provides cartographic data on all development projects in Morocco..

30.Morocco took steps to align its national development goals with the development objectives to be achieved in collaboration with the United Nations and its international partners during the period 2007–2011. The strategic partnership framework with the World Bank for the period 2010–2013 identifies three core partnership goals in line with the country’s development priorities, namely: promotion of growth, competitiveness and employment; improvement of access to basic services; and ensuring sustainable development in a context of climate change.

31.Governance and territoriality constitute the two priority cross-cutting themes of the partnership.

Equality in the exercise of rights

32.Morocco has been ranked in the lower section of the category of middle-income countries receiving official development assistance. Inequality in terms of household consumption, which serves as the basis for calculating monetary poverty, reflects major disparities between the wealthiest and poorest members of society. In 2007, for example, average annual expenditure by the wealthiest 10 per cent of residents in urban areas was 18.6 times that of the poorest 10 per cent of residents in rural areas. However, the Gini index, which measures the scale of inequality, shows that inequality in Morocco is on a far lower scale than in China, Brazil and South Africa, three major emerging countries in which high economic growth is accompanied by a marked decline in poverty.

33.The country is making progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) fixed by the United Nations for 2015. All social categories have benefited from economic growth, but the lower-income and wealthy classes have benefited more than the middle class. As a result, social inequality, which had become more pronounced during the years prior to 2000, has now stabilized. Thanks to the establishment of the INDH and its participatory identification, implementation and participatory monitoring of development projects, the poverty rate has declined and recorded a significant drop of some 41 per cent in the rural communes targeted by the INDH, according to the HCP poverty map for 2007.

Non-nationals

34.Asylum-seekers who have been duly issued with receipts by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at its office in Rabat are protected against any measure aimed at returning them to the frontier, in accordance with the obligations assumed by Morocco under the 1951 Geneva Convention. It should be noted that the partnership with the Rabat office was greatly invigorated by the cooperation agreement concluded by Morocco with UNHCR on 20 July 2007 in Geneva, particularly by the signing of the headquarters agreement. The International Organization for Migration has also been conducting activities in Morocco since 2001, and the signing of a headquarters agreement with the Moroccan Government in July 2006 led to the opening of a Mission in Rabat in January 2007.

35.The Moroccan authorities declared in 2007 that they had intercepted 14,449 persons who were seeking to emigrate, including 7,830 foreigners. While a significant decline has been recorded (12,929 migrants were stopped and questioned in 2011), this type of migration persists on a large scale. Migrants from sub-Saharan countries, who are unable to cross the borders, tend to settle in Morocco. In 2011 the staff of the Department of Employment issued more than 10,000 work permits to foreign migrants. Notwithstanding this attitude on the part of the authorities, Morocco must exercise greater vigilance, given the scale of international migration, especially irregular immigration. The most pressing challenge consists in protecting migrants against the various forms of exploitation to which they are exposed owing to their vulnerable circumstances.

Article 3Equal rights of men and women

The fight against discrimination

36.The Constitution adopted in 2011 attaches great importance to the fight against discrimination and action to promote equality between men and women. The progress achieved in this regard is the culmination of a drive for change involving consolidation of the democratic process and respect for human rights that was launched in the 1990s. The movement to promote gender equality and the rights of women, which was initially championed by civil society organizations, constitutes the driving force behind this process. It is a key component of the State’s modernization drive and reflects the country’s political will to fight against gender-based discrimination.

37.In 2006 Morocco adopted a national strategy for gender equity and equality by integrating a gender-based approach into development policies and programmes. The strategy was developed by means of a partnership between the Government, civil society, political organizations and trade unions and with international cooperation. In addition, a circular issued by the Head of Government on 8 March 2007 called for the integration of a gender-based approach into all development policies and programmes. With the same end in view, guidance letters from the Head of Government attached to the draft 2007 and 2008 Finance Acts recommended that the gender dimension should be taken into consideration in public-sector programmes. One of the main recommendations issued following the first participatory assessment (2008) of the national strategy for gender equity and equality by integrating a gender-based approach into development policies and programmes concerned the elaboration of a government plan for equality and eventual parity for the period 2011–2015. The Plan was drawn up in 2010 and adopted by the Government Council in March 2011. It comprises 9 fields of action, 30 objectives and 100 measures in support of human development for gender equality.

38.With regard to public administration, particularly in the area of modernization of budget planning, the Ministry of Economy and Finance coordinates a pilot project for gender-responsive budgeting at the national level, which was launched concurrently with the results-based budget reform process in 2002. A gender auditing process has also been initiated in a number of ministerial departments. A “Gender Report” has accompanied the Finance Act since 2005 and has been supported since 2007 by a “Guidance letter from the Head of Government” concerning the implementation of the draft Finance Act by means of results-based management utilizing gender-sensitive indicators.

39.The INDH helps to promote the representation of women in Government agencies and decision-making bodies at the local level, focusing on bodies engaged in development projects. In the area of basic facilities, for example, 1.87 million women have benefited from development projects consisting of counselling centres, women’s refuge facilities and other social centres, as well as support for school enrolment, health care and vocational training. In the area of economic integration, 2,096 projects involving income-generating activities (IGAs) and accounting for 67 per cent of the total number of IGA projects between 2006 and 2010 were run by women. Other bodies, such as the Social Development Agency (ADS), contribute through their activities to the achievement of equality between men and women. In addition, the Government’s decision to promote a solidarity-based economy has encouraged the creation of women’s cooperatives. Almost 15,000 women’s cooperatives, bringing together 30,000 women, have been created in recent years, two thirds of them in rural areas. In 2006 the Development Agency for East Morocco launched an IGA support programme in partnership with 150 associations, which constitute a virtual territorial extension of the Agency’s scope at the regional level. The associations arrange for the training of project managers and for the supervision and management of the 3,600 activities that were implemented in late 2011 and led to the creation of more than 11,000 jobs. Women, who account for 43 per cent of the beneficiaries, constitute the social group whose projects have proved most successful and have helped to increase households’ financial resources. The overall cost of the programme is 45 million dirhams (DH), of which DH 15.5 million comes from the Agency’s budget.

Legislation and its impact

40.The principles of gender equality were institutionalized through the creation in 1998 of the ministerial department responsible for the status of women and the designation of “gender focal points” in various ministerial departments. A large number of legislative reforms were also adopted, for instance revisions of the “Labour Code” in 2003, the “Family Code” (Moudawana) in 2004 and the “Nationality Code” in 2007, the amendment of the Criminal Code (from 2003 to 2007) to include provisions concerning the fight against sexual harassment, domestic violence, trafficking, child pornography and prostitution, the amendment of the “Electoral Code” in 2009, and the adoption in December 2010 of Act No. 41-10 concerning the conditions and procedures for benefiting from the Family Solidarity Fund; a draft law regulating domestic work and prohibiting the employment of children under the minimum legal age, which is set at 15 years by the Labour Code, is currently being adopted.

41.Article 6 of the Constitution enshrines gender equality, adopting an approach which, in addition to recognizing the formal principle, guarantees the exercise of rights in practice. “The public authorities shall take the necessary steps to create conditions conducive to the general and effective enjoyment of liberty and equality by citizens and their participation in political, economic, cultural and social life.” Article 19 specifies the norms underlying the principle according to which “men and women shall enjoy, on a basis of equality, the civil, political, economic, social, cultural and environmental liberties” set forth in the Constitution, particularly in the section concerning fundamental freedoms and rights, and in the international conventions and treaties duly ratified by Morocco. It directs the State to take the necessary steps “to establish parity between men and women”, requiring it to create, “to that effect, an Authority responsible for parity and the fight against all forms of discrimination”.

42.In the area of health, Framework Law No. 34-09 concerning the health system and health-care services was adopted in 2011. The Law establishes the basic principles underlying the health-care system, including guaranteed equal access for all persons and the State’s responsibility in respect of preventive health-care measures and the rights of users of health-care services.

Recommendation 39: Alignment of national legislation with the Covenant by abolishing any discriminatory provisions and guaranteeing equal treatment for men and women in the effective enjoyment of their economic, social and cultural rights

43.A number of reforms aimed at eliminating direct and indirect gender-based discrimination have been adopted since 2005. They include, in particular: action by Morocco to achieve the MDGs; revision of the Family Code, the Nationality Code and the law on political parties; adoption by Parliament of the proportional representation list system and the national list; adoption of the national strategy and the plan of action for gender equity and equality by integrating a gender-based approach into development policies and programmes; revision of the Communal Charter in 2002 and again in 2008 with a view to promoting participatory and local management of development projects so that the needs and concerns of men, women, girls and boys are taken into account; adoption by the Government Council in March 2011 of the Agenda for Equality 2011–2015; and adoption by referendum, on 1 July 2011, of the new Constitution which enshrines the principle of equal enjoyment of rights by men and women (civil, political, economic, cultural and environmental rights).

44.The amendment of the Communal Charter (Act No. 17.08) led to the establishment of an advisory committee on parity and equality of opportunity composed of local associations and civil society stakeholders proposed by the chairperson of the communal council (art. 14). It also introduced a gender-based approach to the communal development plan, which specifies the activities to be undertaken within communes over a period of six years (art. 36) with a view to preventing all forms of discrimination. Other draft laws are currently under discussion in Parliament.

45.The Habous Code (concerning land property) prohibits religious foundations from excluding women in favour of men; it prohibits the assignment of habous/wakf status to property in favour of boys and the exclusion of girls. This measure is of major symbolic importance.

46.The Office of the Ombudsman receives complaints from all persons, regardless of whether they are of national or foreign origin and irrespective of their sex and age.

47.Other actions that have helped to institutionalize the principle of gender equality include the adoption of the “National Strategy to Eliminate Violence against Women”, the adoption of the “National Charter for Enhancement of the Image of Women in the Media” in 2005, and the implementation by the Ministry of Solidarity, Women the Family and Social Development (MSFFDS) in 2008 of a national awareness-raising and mobilization programme on the participation of women in politics.

48.The legal and political reforms implemented by the country in recent years clearly demonstrate this resolve to ensure respect for fundamental human rights and to consolidate the country’s international commitment to take action against violence, particularly gender‑based violence. In line with the changes introduced by the Constitution of July 2011, Morocco has taken the gender dimension into account in all the reforms currently being conducted, such as the “advanced regionalization” project, the amendment to the Communal Charter, and the establishment of a gender-sensitive Communal Information System. With regard to the promotion of gender equality, it should be noted that further action needs to be taken to complete the legislative reform process by abolishing all discriminatory provisions, to narrow the gap between equality under the law and equality in practice, and to promote coordination among different departments as well as oversight and evaluation.

49.Gender-sensitive budgeting constitutes an operational tool that can be used to develop assessments of public policies from a gender perspective.

Gender-based violence

50.Action to combat violence against women and girls and the empowerment of women constituent two major issues. Morocco withdrew its reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and announced its ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on 12 November 2012; these two issues are also addressed in the 2005 National Report on the MDGs, which focuses on the mainstreaming of the gender dimension in action to achieve the MDGs and adds a specific target to MDG 3, namely “to reduce violence against women by half”.

51.The objectives of the strategy to combat violence against women and children include: provision of support for women and child victims of violence and ill-treatment in the counselling and guidance units created for the purpose in public-sector hospital emergency facilities; development of coordination with other institutional stakeholders; and provision of follow-up medical care for victims.

52.The strategy has resulted, on the one hand, in the preparation and dissemination of Circular No. 1040 of 17 June 2008 concerning the establishment in all provinces of integrated support units for women and child victims of violence and Circular No. 162 of 17 December 2010 concerning the issuing of medico-legal certificates free of charge, and, on the other hand, the elaboration in 2009 of a medium-term policy and action plan.

53.The strategy has been implemented at the operational level since 2008 by means of action to raise awareness of the human rights of women and children among health-care personnel at the regional level, including emergency physicians, psychologists, social workers and other specialist physicians. Coordination and information facilities have been established, where necessary, at the central and regional levels. A monitoring system tracks the number of women and child victims of violence who are provided with support and the number of cases in which optimum medico-legal and psychosocial follow-up is ensured.

54.Training activities concerning action against gender-based violence, its impact on reproductive health and HIV/AIDS infection risks have been organized. Teacher educator training has been provided in the norms and standards applicable to the provision of care for women and child victims of violence, including in cases of sexually transmitted infections and AIDS; a reference guide on the norms and standards applicable to the provision of care for women and child victims of violence has been produced and disseminated.

55.In 2011, a total of 76 support units were operating in the country, including six in university hospital facilities. In 2010 and 2011, the units provided support for 1,300 and 2,300 women victims of violence respectively.

56.A national survey of the prevalence of violence against women was conducted by the HCP and the findings were widely disseminated.

Article 4Employment

Unemployment

57.The employment rate declined from 26.3 per cent in 2005 to 23.5 per cent in 2011. The rate of employment of children under 15 years of age declined sharply, falling from 3.6 per cent to 1.3 per cent. Concurrently with a marked decline in the rate of employment of young people in the 15 to 24 age group (28.4 per cent in 2011, compared with 35.9 per cent in 2005), the unemployment rate in the 15 to 24 age group recorded a pronounced increase from 15.7 per cent in 2005 to 18.2 per cent in 2011. The ratio of long-term unemployed persons remains high, despite a slight decline between 2005 and 2011. The unemployment rate among graduates under the age of 35 remains of great concern, despite a significant improvement between 2005 and 2011. Unemployment continues to be highest in urban areas. The ratio of unemployed persons who have never worked increased among job‑seekers holding intermediate or higher-level diplomas. In other words, it is more difficult for the labour market to absorb job-seekers with an intermediate or higher-level qualification. There has been a slow improvement in the absorption of holders of higher‑level qualifications and a worsening in that of holders of intermediate-level qualifications.

Recommendation 41: Implementation of a plan of action specifically to combat youth unemployment, based on vocational training, apprenticeships and any other measure that could facilitate young people’s access to employment

58.With a view to promoting employment, the Government has undertaken, in coordination with the socioeconomic partners, to reduce the unemployment rate by supporting economic growth and investment, developing vocational training and skills, and implementing a proactive employment promotion policy. Action in support of young graduates is taken under the Idmaje, Taehil and Moukawalati employment support programmes. Supplementary measures to improve the targeting of these programmes are planned on behalf of the long-term unemployed (Taatir), to promote the integration of the informal economy (Istiaabe), and to support social economy sectors and income‑generating activities.

59.With regard to the employment of persons with special needs, the Government’s action has evolved from an approach based on solidarity to one based on firm support for the rights and socioeconomic independence of people with disabilities as fully fledged citizens and as targets and actors for development. High priority has been given in this context to legislation, in particular:

Drafting of a bill concerning the rights of persons with disabilities (currently being adopted);

Assessment of the implementation of the decree concerning the employment of persons with disabilities (7 per cent of public-sector jobs are reserved for persons with disabilities);

Drafting of a Head of Government order creating lists of private-sector jobs for which priority can be given to persons with disabilities and fixing a quota of 5 per cent, and drafting of a joint circular and an introductory note on the draft order;

Guidance and information for persons with disabilities seeking employment so that they can take advantage of the 7 per cent quota.

60.A total of 594 persons with disabilities have been employed in the public service as a result of direct and solidarity-based recruitment since 2008, including 381 recruited in 2011.

61.There are currently no studies on the impact of measures adopted to facilitate the redeployment of workers, particularly women and the long-term unemployed, who were made redundant as a result of privatization, staff cuts and economic restructuring of public or private enterprises. However, the policy adopted by the public authorities ensures respect for the rights of employees of privatized public companies.

The informal sector

62.The informal economy in Morocco accounted for 2,216 million jobs in 2007, and a net total of 314,169 jobs were created between 1999 and 2007. More than half of all jobs, i.e. 53.2 per cent, were in the trade sector. Between 1999 and 2007 the share of the informal sector in overall non-agricultural employment declined by 1.7 per cent, dropping from 39 per cent to 37.3 per cent. Eight out of every ten jobs in the trade sector are informal. Women account for one job in 10 in the informal sector, compared with 18.6 per cent in overall non-agricultural employment. Women head 3.5 per cent of informal microenterprises with a staff of between two and five persons in the industrial sector and 3 per cent of such enterprises in the services sector. Lastly, the turnover of the informal sector has reached almost DH 280 billion, with the trade sector accounting for 77.3 per cent.

63.The Government is convinced that any attempt to upgrade the national production system that fails to take into account the important role played by the informal sector in employment and wealth creation will have a limited impact or will be doomed to failure. Hence the strategy adopted by the Government is based on encouraging very small enterprises (VSEs) to evolve as an alternative to informal businesses, for instance by providing assistance to informal units and direct support for informal activities so as to enable them to realize their productive potential, to gradually eliminate obstacles and to become involved in a process of formalization.

64.The main lines of the national strategy to promote VSEs as an alternative to informal activities include: granting of fiscal benefits to VSEs; ensuring easy access to funding (retail banks, subsidized bank loans at preferential rates, microloans, guarantee products reserved for VSEs, investment funds, etc.); social security for VSEs (simplification of registration procedures, temporary public support for the payment of contributions, protection against financial risks); and support for VSEs (training, coaching, advice, expertise, access to premises and markets, etc.).

Dismissal

Recommendation 42: Establishment of effective remedies for workers who have been unfairly dismissed and launching of publicity campaigns

65.In response to recommendation 42, the Labour Code that entered into force in June 2004 incorporated a number of legal guarantees aimed at protecting workers against unfair dismissal:

Prohibition of dismissal without reasonable grounds unless the dismissal is related to competence or to structural, economic or technological motives;

An increase in periods of notice in the event of termination of an employment contract;

Compliance with the principle of graduated sanctions;

Listing of serious offences committed by the employer and consideration of the employee’s departure as a result of such offences as unfair dismissal entailing damages;

Fixing of a ceiling for damages in cases of unfair dismissal;

Authorization of supervision by the competent court of the exercise of the employer’s disciplinary authority;

Provision for a hearing as a prior procedure in cases involving certain disciplinary sanctions.

66.Thanks to the intervention of the Labour Inspectorate in conciliation proceedings, a total of 32,900 employer/employee disputes were settled in 2011, permitting the reinstatement of 3,670 employees in their jobs.

Training

67.With regard to action to combat unemployment based on vocational training and apprenticeships, it should be noted that a number of major reforms were introduced, including, in particular, a reform of the education and training system with a view to facilitating a major increase in its absorptive capacity and enhancing the responsiveness of training to labour-market needs by developing professional degree courses and creating a partnership with professionals in the area of training management and implementation, while ensuring consistency with sectoral strategies.

68.Access to different levels of vocational training (specialization, qualification, courses for technicians and specialized technicians) is open, under the same conditions, to candidates of both sexes who are at least 15 years of age. Non-discrimination in access to vocational training is legally guaranteed. At the practical level, it should be noted that 42 per cent of trainees were female in 2010/11. The Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training nonetheless elaborated a medium-term strategic programme, in partnership with the Canadian International Development Agency, aimed at institutionalizing gender equality and equity.

69.In 2009/10 the number of female trainees participating in the residential and alternating training schemes was 110,205, or 42 per cent of the total number of trainees in the public and private sectors. A survey of the distribution of trainees by gender and level indicates that the number of female and male trainees is balanced in the case of specialized technicians. The situation at the levels of technician and specialization is moving towards parity, with the proportion of girls standing at 45 per cent and 39 per cent respectively. Parity is far from being achieved, however, at the qualification level, which fails to attract sufficient female trainees.

70.The distribution of staff by sector shows that certain branches, such as administration, management, small trades and crafts, textiles and clothing, attract a large number of female trainees — about 81 per cent. It may further be noted that 50 per cent of the total number of sectors are mixed due to the access of girls to so-called “male” sectors, such as the metal, metallurgical, electric and electronic industries, the building industry and public works, despite cultural and social resistance.

71.The residential and alternating vocational training system, which has developed at a remarkable pace in urban areas, remains very limited in rural areas because of the specific socioeconomic conditions in those areas. Trainees in rural areas account for only 2 per cent of the total. In 2010, girls accounted for 22 per cent of trainees in rural areas and rural female trainees accounted for 1 per cent of the national total. Efforts are being made to improve the supply of vocational training facilities in rural areas.

72.Other departments also support vocational training, for instance the Ministry of Youth and Sport through its network of 115 women’s vocational training centres, eight of which are in rural areas, and Entraide Nationale through its education and training centres.

Article 7Working conditions

Minimum wage

73.In addition to the abundant information provided in the third periodic report (E/1994/104/Add.29), it is important to highlight the significant progress achieved in promoting the right to decent and favourable working conditions.

74.The minimum wage legislation still makes a distinction between the minimum agricultural wage and that applicable to other occupations. The legal basis for the minimum wage is contained in articles 356 to 361 of the Labour Code. The minimum wage is fixed separately for workers in the industrial and service sectors and for agricultural workers.

75.The guaranteed minimum agricultural wage (SMAG) has been fixed at 65 per cent of the guaranteed minimum inter-occupational wage (SMIG). The minimum wage is calculated for the trade, industry and services sectors on the basis of normal working time of eight hours per day, 208 hours per 26-day month and 2,288 hours per year. The maximum number of working hours per year for agricultural employees is 2,496 hours.

76.Enterprises that fail to pay the legal minimum wage are subject to fines of between DH 300 and DH 500 for each employee (about a quarter of the minimum wage). The fine may not exceed DH 20,000. Article 358 of the Labour Code stipulates that the minimum wage shall be revised to take account of price changes and to ensure a decent standard of living for workers. Revisions of the minimum wage are prepared for the Government by the Committee on Wages and Profits. Decisions to increase the minimum wage are taken during social dialogue sessions.

77.The Government has increased the minimum agricultural wage by 15 per cent as follows: 10 per cent with effect from July 2011 and 5 per cent with effect from July 2012. This will enhance the purchasing power of rural communities and enable them to increase their consumption. With a view to aligning the salary scale in the public sector with the upward trend in minimum wages, steps 1 to 5 of the scale were abolished, leading to an increase in low public-service wages.

Working conditions

78.It should be noted, in addition to the information provided in the third periodic report concerning overtime and annual leave, that overtime pay is increased by 25 per cent if the work is performed between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. In the case of non-agricultural activities, the increase in pay is 50 per cent if the work is performed between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. If the overtime work is performed during the wage earner’s weekly rest day, the 25 per cent increase is raised to 50 per cent and the 50 per cent increase to 100 per cent. A weekly rest day of 24 hours is granted to all employees of the same establishment on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, or on the weekly market day. Employees are entitled to (paid) annual leave of 18 days, to which one and a half days are added for every five years of service until the annual leave ceiling of 30 days has been attained. Every employee who has reached the age of 60 must be permitted to retire.

Gender and employment

79.The Labour Code, which strongly reflects international labour standards, advocates equality, non-discrimination and measures to address the specific needs of working women. It contains a number of provisions that prohibit discrimination and provide for the protection of working women.

80.Special measures are also envisaged in the Labour Code. They take into consideration women’s specific needs and their reproductive role, which is now recognized as a social function which should not restrict women’s career prospects.

81.A programme-based analysis of the investment budget allocated in 2011 to the Ministry of Solidarity, Women, the Family and Social Development revealed that the support programme for the establishment and strengthening of mechanisms and structures on behalf of women, which was allocated DH 4,063 million, accounts for 11.42 per cent of the budget of the Directorate of Women’s, Family and Children’s Affairs, followed by the programme to combat violence against women (10.82 per cent). The programme for the coordination of public policies relating to gender equality accounts for 4.95 per cent of the investment budget; the programme to promote women’s access to positions of responsibility and decision-making positions accounts for 3.09 per cent; and the programme to combat stereotypes and disseminate a culture of equality accounts for 0.3 per cent. A study of the situation of women officials occupying positions of responsibility in public administration has been launched. Other projects currently being implemented include the creation of an observatory on the gender-based approach in the public service in the Directorate for Modernization of the Administration, and enhancement of women’s representation in positions of responsibility (22 per cent of positions of responsibility are to be reserved for women by 2014).

Sexual harassment

Recommendation 52: Make sexual harassment in the workplace an offence under the Criminal Code

82.With regard to the Committee’s recommendation 52 concerning the inclusion of sexual harassment as an offence under the Criminal Code, the Moroccan Criminal Code, as amended by Act No. 24.03 of 11 November 2003, explicitly creates the offence of sexual harassment in article 503-1: “Any person who abuses the authority conferred upon him by his position to harass another person, using orders, threats, coercion or any other means to obtain sexual favours, is guilty of sexual harassment and shall be punishable with imprisonment for between one and two years and a fine of between DH 5,000 and DH 50,000.”

Hygiene and safety

83.An occupational health culture is currently being developed in Morocco and there are now 1,200 occupational medical officers at the national level, i.e. about one medical officer for every 10,000 employees. Coverage thus remains limited. Only 320,000 of the 10 million workers in Morocco have access to occupational medical care, so that coverage currently stands at about 3 per cent. This is due to the fact that the existing legislation is applicable only to large enterprises (with more than 50 employees), whereas the Moroccan economy is composed to a very large extent (95 per cent) of small and medium-sized enterprises, most of which have no occupational medical coverage.

84.A preventive approach was adopted through the establishment in May 2010 of the National Institute on Living Conditions at Work (INCVT), which is tasked with developing a national strategy for the limitation of industrial risks, taking measures to upgrade enterprises in collaboration with the civil defence authorities, industrial zones and employers’ associations, building intervention capacities, and training occupational health‑care and safety professionals.

Recommendation 43: Take steps to ensure that private companies have occupational medical officers available

85.In response to recommendation 43, the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training adopted a multipronged approach aimed at providing support for private companies. It implemented the National Action Plan for Social Compliance and the National Action Plan for the Improvement of Working Conditions.

Article 8Trade unions

Procedures and independence

86.Morocco is determined, in the context of action to apply the provisions of the new Constitution, to introduce greater transparency into the management of trade union issues and to consolidate good governance in the internal functioning of its authorities. To that end, a draft law on the organization of trade union activities in Morocco was submitted to the General Secretariat of the Government in early 2011. Details are provided below in the reply to recommendation 45(a).

87.In addition to the information provided in the third periodic report of Morocco, it is important to note that the Labour Code enshrines the right to form trade union organizations without prior authorization and the freedom to join trade unions. The Code also prohibits direct or indirect interference by such organizations in the affairs of other organizations. As legal entities, trade unions are not subject to conditions that might restrict their liberty.

Recommendation 45(a): Removal of the administrative obstacles to the exercise of the right to organize, including through the prompt issuance of an acknowledgement of receipt for an application to form a trade union

88.Trade union bodies have no difficulty in securing recognition as legal organizations, either as company trade unions or as sectoral and/or provincial federations. Acceptance of trade unions by employers as partners in collective bargaining constitutes the main problem. Many employers are uneasy when they see trade unions being established in their enterprises and becoming their employees’ representatives and their official interlocutors. A large number of employers would be willing to apply labour legislation and grant rights and benefits to their employees without having to negotiate with trade union representatives.

89.With a view to enhancing the status of trade unions, the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training drafted a law on trade unions that is based to a large extent on international labour standards and comparative law. The draft law is still being discussed by all stakeholders owing to the failure to reach a consensus. It deals with consolidation of trade union freedoms, creation of a common framework of reference for their exercise, establishment of legal protection, promotion of the involvement of trade unions in advisory institutions and institutionalization of trade union representation in different sectors and activities.

Recommendation 45(b): Action to expedite ratification of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, 1948 (No. 87)

90.With regard to recommendation 45(b), Morocco has not yet ratified the Convention concerned. Ratification of the Convention is currently being considered in consultation with the social partners in order to shed light on the legal obstacles impeding alignment of the provisions of the statutory provisions applicable to these categories of staff with the Convention. However, Morocco wishes to point out that the Labour Code incorporates the provisions of the Convention.

Recommendation 44: Alignment of national labour legislation with article 8 of the Covenant by amending article 288 of the Criminal Code

91.Article 288 of the Criminal Code stipulates: “Anyone who, resorting to violence, assaults, threats or deception, brings about or maintains, or attempts to bring about or maintain, a concerted work stoppage with a view to forcing an increase or reduction in wages or undermining freedom of industry or labour shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term of between one month and two years and with a fine of between DH 120 and DH 5,000 or with one of these two penalties. Where the violence, assaults, threats or deception are committed in pursuance of a common plan, the offenders may be liable to an exclusion order of between two and five years.”

92.In the event of unwillingness on the part of employers to listen to their employees’ claims and/or to recognize their legitimately appointed representatives, recourse by trade unions to a show of force in the form of a sit-in, a joint march or a strike may prove necessary. The prime reference source in Moroccan legislation, i.e. the successive Constitutions of the Kingdom of Morocco, have all guaranteed the right to strike: those of 1962, 1970, 1972, that of 1992 and, lastly, the Constitution of 2011.

93.However, the application of this guarantee in practice depends on the enactment of an organic law. Where there is a legal vacuum, assessment of the conditions governing the exercise of this right is left to the discretion of the courts, which can only express their views on a post hoc basis.

94.In circumstances in which the legislation is incomplete, jurisprudence serves as the frame of reference for interpretation of the law and recognition of the lawfulness of strikes. Experience has shown that interpretations of the lawfulness of the exercise of the right to strike vary according to the context.

95.In a context in which there are no regulations applicable to the right to strike, employers who refuse to recognize trade union representatives during labour disputes leading to strikes take legal action by filing a complaint under article 288 of the Criminal Code, which punishes acts that impair freedom of employment with evil intent.

96.The Government undertook in its governmental statement of January 2012 to complete the enactment of legal instruments supplementing the Labour Code by promulgating certain general legal texts, particularly that concerning the exercise of the right to strike and the trade union law.

Collective bargaining

97.The existing arrangements for collective bargaining in Morocco are described in article 92 of the Moroccan Labour Code. The objectives of collective bargaining are as follows: to determine and improve working and employment conditions; to regulate relations between employers and employees; and to regulate relations between, on the one hand, employers or their associations and, on the other, one or more of the most representative trade union organizations of employees.

98.Article 96 of the Labour Code prescribes annual periodicity for collective bargaining sessions. Collective bargaining is conducted at the enterprise and sectoral levels once a year or in accordance with the periodicity prescribed by the collective labour agreement. Negotiations at the national level between the Government, employers’ associations and trade unions are held once a year and as frequently as necessary. However, the periodicity of collective bargaining depends on the provisions contained in the collective labour agreements and memorandums of understanding adopted by the social partners at the sectoral and enterprise level.

99.Collective labour agreements play an important role in complementing the Labour Code; they help to prevent social disputes and to maintain a steady rhythm of dialogue between employers and trade unions. Article 8, paragraph 3, of the new Constitution enshrines this principle by requiring the public authorities to promote collective bargaining and to encourage the conclusion of collective labour agreements in accordance with the terms laid down by law.

100.It should nevertheless be borne in mind that the success of collective labour agreements depends on a revision of the Labour Code and on elaboration of the draft organic law on the right to strike, which is currently being discussed.

101.With regard to the exercise of the right to strike, the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training has prepared a draft law designed to regulate the exercise of the right to strike and to guarantee the rights of the parties, while preventing any abusive exercise of the right; it also provides a regulatory framework for labour relations and for the preservation of vital social services.

Article 9Social security

Universal coverage

102.The Moroccan Government provided information in its second and third periodic reports on the existing social security system in Morocco.

103.Act No. 65-00, which contains the Code pertaining to basic medical coverage, reflects the State’s commitment to guarantee the right to health care, in accordance with international treaties. It consolidates the acquired rights of Moroccan citizens who are covered by health insurance and introduces two systems of medical coverage, basic compulsory health insurance (AMO) based on social insurance principles and techniques (contributions and risk-sharing) and a Medical Assistance Scheme for the Economically Underprivileged (RAMED). A scheme for self-employed workers, the liberal professions and other unpaid activities (called Inaya) was launched in 2008. Additional health insurance schemes for students and former combatants are currently being considered.

104.Medical coverage has been gradually expanded since the launching of AMO. More than 34 per cent of the population now have health insurance, compared with 16.3 per cent before the introduction of AMO. The National Social Security Fund (CNSS) and the National Fund for Social Welfare Organizations (CNOPS) each provides coverage for almost 3 million persons. However, the extension of basic medical coverage has been hampered by the difficulties encountered by the CNSS and the Ministry of Employment in securing membership compliance by private enterprises, especially in rural areas (since there are only 400 labour inspectors in the entire country). It is also hampered by difficulties in speeding up the implementation of RAMED. The difficulty in the case of the scheme for self-employed workers consists in promoting wide membership among the persons concerned, who number between 10 and 12 million, so that the scheme has the base it requires to ensure its stability.

Recommendation 46: Equal distribution of coverage under the social security system between urban and rural areas and among the regions

105.The Moroccan social security system is applicable on a general and homogeneous basis to all employees and trainees in all branches of activity; the system does not take into consideration the circumstances or geographical location of social security beneficiaries, be it rural, urban or regional.

106.Social security coverage for agricultural employees remains well below that provided to employees in other economic sectors. However, the extension of family allowances to agricultural employees with effect from July 2008 constituted a major step forward which generated a strong demand to join the social security system among rural workers.

Benefits

Recommendation 49: Provide for an increase in the minimum retirement pension to enable retirees and their families to enjoy an adequate standard of living

107.With regard to the increase in the minimum retirement pension to enable retirees and their families to enjoy an adequate standard of living, it should be noted that, as part of the efforts undertaken by Morocco to improve the social and economic circumstances of beneficiaries of minimum retirement pensions, the Government has taken all necessary steps to raise the minimum pension. Thus, all CNSS pensions were increased by 4 per cent with effect from 1 January 2006. The monthly minimum pension, which had stood at DH 500 from 1996, was increased to DH 600 with effect from 1 July 2008 and then to DH 1,000 with effect from 1 July 2011. The most recent increase in the monthly minimum CNSS pension has improved the social situation of more than 111,000 beneficiaries.

Free of charge for disadvantaged persons

108.Social security benefits are not granted under Moroccan social security legislation without payment of contributions except in the case of RAMED, under which a particular category of persons has access to health care free of charge.

109.As the price support policy had a retrograde impact at the distributional level, the Government launched a policy aimed at reducing price subsidies and offsetting the impact of price increases through direct or indirect cash transfers in the form of funding for health care. The “Tayssir” programme helps families to enrol their children in school. There has been a sharp increase in the number of beneficiaries since the programme was launched in 2008–2009: 47,000 families and 88,000 children in 2008–2009; 363,000 families and 609,000 pupils in 2010–2011. In 2011 RAMED provided health insurance for the most disadvantaged persons. Almost 30,000 cards were distributed in the pilot region of Tadla‑Azilal to some 150,000 persons, who now enjoy free access to basic health care under the programme. The process of extension of the coverage of RAMED to the entire population launched in early 2012 is under way. As of 22 June 2012 a total of 1.2 million applications had been submitted by persons wishing to benefit from RAMED and 159,974 applications had been approved, enabling 462,634 persons to benefit from access to health care. Moreover, a total of 58,989 persons have obtained access to hospitals by means of their RAMED card. The rate of registration of eligible persons with the National Health Insurance Agency (ANAM) was estimated at 9 per cent on 26 June 2012; 59 per cent of the persons concerned were from rural areas. According to the ANAM forecast for 2012, about 1,590,975 persons will be registered with RAMED, enabling 5,409,292 persons to have access to health care under this scheme. Seventy-seven per cent of beneficiaries belong to poor families and 23 per cent to families in vulnerable circumstances. Steps have been taken to improve the quality of services, for instance by identifying health-care facilities that need to be rehabilitated as a matter of priority, and by creating a medical assistance facility and a social support and assistance unit. Costly surgical procedures, which disadvantaged social groups were previously unable to afford, have been conducted under the RAMED scheme.

Private/informal schemes

110.Workers in the private and semi-public sectors who are registered with the CNSS and are thus entitled to retirement pensions under the basic pension scheme managed by the Fund can supplement their pensions by joining the Moroccan Inter-occupational Pension Fund (CIMR) supplementary scheme and the private schemes run by insurance companies and banks. They can also subscribe, jointly or individually, to insurance policies offered by insurance companies and banks in order to supplement AMO health-care coverage. Supplementary coverage by mutual benefit and private insurance companies is governed by the 1963 Mutual Benefit Insurance Act and the 2002 Insurance Code respectively.

Recommendation 40: Adoption of legislative and other measures to regulate the working and employment conditions of domestic workers

111.As the Government is aware of the importance of the social and economic situation of domestic workers and of the need for improvements, it has taken all necessary steps to organize the working and employment conditions of this category of workers. Pursuant to the provisions of article 4 of the Labour Code and with a view to guaranteeing the right of domestic workers to social security, the draft law establishing working and employment conditions for domestic workers was adopted on 12 October 2011 by the Government Council and submitted to Parliament on 27 October 2011. The present Government withdrew the draft law from Parliament and decided, at the Government Council meeting on 12 March 2012, to subject it to an in-depth examination. A decree establishing the conditions governing the extension of the social security system to domestic workers, pursuant to the provisions of article 2 of the 1972 Act concerning the social security system, as amended and supplemented, is currently being drafted. The final version of the draft decree will take into account the findings of the impact study currently being conducted by the CNSS and will specify the types of social benefits to be provided, their funding modalities, and the conditions governing the granting and organization of social security coverage for this category of workers.

Gender

Indicate whether there is equal enjoyment by men and women of pension rights as regards the age of access, qualifying periods and amounts

112.The social security legislation guarantees equal access for men and women to all benefits without discrimination (in respect of age, insurance periods and amounts).

Medical coverage : Article 6 of Act No. 65.00 stipulates that, where the two spouses have separate coverage, the children are registered with the agency providing coverage for the father. Article 36 of the same Act permits a divorced woman to continue enjoying basic health insurance benefits for one year. An uninsured spouse is not entitled to such coverage.

S ocial security : The legislation in force guarantees equal access for men and women to old-age and survivors’ pensions.

Non-nationals

113.Pursuant to article 31 of the Constitution, non-nationals working in Morocco are subject to the same social security system as workers with Moroccan nationality, and the same conditions are applicable to them, in accordance with the provisions of the Dahir of 27 July 1972 concerning the social security system and the provisions of bilateral agreements signed between Morocco and certain countries. As the Moroccan social security system is contributory, they are entitled, if they contribute, to health care, family allowances and other benefits. With regard to non-contributory benefits, there is no provision for aid and assistance under the Moroccan system.

Article 10Family-marriage

Right of men and women to enter into marriage freely and to establish a family

114.The Moroccan Government provided information in its third periodic report on the right of men and women to enter into marriage freely and to establish a family.

Recommendation 38: Intensification of efforts to respect and protect the rights of women and, in particular, to abolish polygamy once and for all

115.While polygamy is not completely prohibited by the Family Code, it occurs only in exceptional cases. It must be based on objective grounds and prior judicial authorization is required. In all cases where an application is submitted for a second marriage, the first wife can automatically obtain a divorce if she opposes her husband’s decision. A second marriage is impossible if the husband undertook, at the time of his first marriage, not to take such a step. Statistical data indicate that the practice of polygamy is in decline. According to the Ministry of Justice, polygamous marriages accounted for only 0.3 per cent of all marriages (811 out of 273,000) in 2006 and for 0.27 per cent and 0.31 per cent in 2007 and 2009 respectively.

Social services

Availability, coverage and funding of social services to support families; legal provisions in place to ensure equal opportunities for all families, in particular poor families, families from ethnic minorities, and single parent families, in relation to: child care services; social services that enable older persons and persons with disabilities to remain in their normal living environment for as long as possible and to receive health care

116.The Ministry of Solidarity, Women, the Family and Social Development (MSFFDS) is primarily responsible for the different aspects of current policy concerning social services to support families and vulnerable persons. A number of ministerial bodies engage in direct action to address risks and indirect action to prevent them or to alleviate their impact.

117.Entraide nationale, a public institution under the Ministry’s supervision, undertakes activities designed to ensure protection for groups outside the mainstream, for instance by managing orphanages and care centres for older people and/or monitoring and providing staff for similar establishments run by associations. Entraide nationale provides special support for vulnerable groups, such as nurseries and day-care centres for children and vocational training facilities. The Social Development Agency, which reports to the same Ministry, provides financial and technical support for civil society organizations and local authorities, primarily to assist them in addressing the problems of vulnerable groups more effectively.

118.With regard to child care programmes, the programme to support the establishment of local child protection structures and the mobilization of local authorities accounts for 17.85 per cent of the investment budget of the Directorate of Women’s, Family and Children’s Affairs; the programme to promote the rights of the child and intersectoral coordination at the national level accounts for 7.03 per cent. This demonstrates the importance attached by the MSFFDS to integrated preventive action and action to protect children against abuse and violence.

Shelter for vulnerable persons

119.The legal framework applicable to social protection establishments, which provide shelter for vulnerable persons, was created by the 2006 Act concerning social protection establishments (SPEs). Its provisions are applicable to social protection establishments that provide care for all persons of both sexes who are in difficult circumstances of insecurity or poverty, in particular abandoned children, women who have been abandoned by or excluded from their families, older persons without support and persons with disabilities.

Maternity protection

120.The Moroccan Government provides information in its third periodic report on the duration of paid maternity leave before and after childbirth (14 weeks) and on the cash benefits, medical care and other support measures proposed before, during and after childbirth.

121.It should be noted that the Labour Code guarantees paternity leave for men. All male employees are entitled to three days’ leave in respect of each birth. This provision is applicable where the employee acknowledges his paternity of a child. There is no parental leave for men.

Protection of children and young people

122.The Moroccan Government provides information in its third periodic report on protection and assistance measures on behalf of children and young people.

123.The draft law prohibiting domestic work by children under 15 years of age was submitted to the Government Council in October 2011. It supplements the Labour Code provisions prohibiting child labour by making the domestic employment of young people in the 15 to 18 age group subject to strict criteria. In addition, a draft decree concerning the creation of child protection units has been forwarded to the General Secretariat of the Government.

124.With regard to the promotion of children’s rights, the Government has launched a very important harmonization initiative called the National Action Plan for Children (PANE) “A Morocco fit for its children”, which is backed up by monitoring and implementation mechanisms. PANE 2006–2015 provides a solid platform for action to develop an intersectoral approach and results-based management in support of children’s rights.

125.Further action aimed at rationalization was undertaken at the regional level with the launching on an experimental basis in Casablanca, Marrakesh and Agadir of the pilot project known as the Territorial Convergence Action Plan for the Protection of Children (PACTE). The Plan is designed to promote the harmonization of local action on behalf of children.

126.Periodic progress reports on PANE during the period 2006–2010 were submitted to the special Ministerial Commission on Children, chaired by the Head of Government, and to the National Congress on the Rights of the Child. The Moroccan Government provided information in its second and third periodic reports on the existing social security system in Morocco.

127.Considerable progress has been made in the fight against child labour.

Recommendation 47: Integration of children living in the street into the National Action Plan for Children (PANE); tougher action against child abandonment; and care for neglected and abandoned children

128.A survey of children living in the street in Casablanca was completed in November 2011. Two specialized services were created by the Emergency Medical Assistance Service (SAMU) in Casablanca (2007) and in Meknes (2010). The services provide health care, rapid rehabilitation, medical, paramedical and psychosocial assistance, temporary post‑emergency accommodation, support for rehabilitation and referral to competent services. The MSFFDS has also provided capacity-building facilities for more than 800 local actors involved in protecting children against violence and reintegrating children living in the street.

Protection of older persons

129.In 2009 the Government adopted the National Strategy for Older Persons. Based on a participatory approach, the Strategy established policy guidelines and specified measures to be taken with respect to income and pensions, health care, housing, and the living conditions, role and place of older persons in society.

130.In line with the community-based approach adopted in improving the services offered to older persons, the INDH has taken vigorous action in the following areas to protect older persons:

Support for the activities of associations of older persons (capacity-building and awareness-raising);

Establishment of hostels for older persons: 89 hostels were created between 2005 and 2011 on behalf of 9,377 direct beneficiaries;

Improvement of the care provided by hostels, shelters and other accommodation facilities for older persons.

131.In 2011, 3,224 older persons (1,627 women and 1,597 men) benefited from the services and care provided by Entraide nationale under the social welfare programme in 45 hostels and other accommodation facilities for older persons.

Protection of asylum seekers

132.With regard to the protection of asylum seekers, it should be noted that Morocco has been a party to the Geneva Convention since 1957. It should further be noted that it enacted a law in 2003 concerning the entry and residence of foreign nationals. United Nations agencies in Morocco have created an inter-agency group on migration issues, which has developed a comprehensive approach to the matter. Efforts have begun to raise awareness, identify problems and offer support with a view to ensuring respect for the fundamental rights of migrants and refugees and improving their living conditions.

133.The current refugee population in Morocco was estimated by UNHCR at 829 in May 2008 and 754 in September 2011, including 278 children under 17 years of age and 109 women. Of that total, 66.57 per cent came from five countries in sub-Saharan Africa and 24.53 per cent from two countries in the Middle East.

134.In 2006, a funding agreement worth €67 million was signed with the European Union as part of a support programme for the Moroccan migration strategy. This sum is well below the costs incurred by Morocco in managing migration issues. A number of difficulties persist in the area of refugee protection, particularly in connection with the integration of refugees and asylum seekers into national programmes and ensuring access to the same services (health care, education, employment, housing, etc.) as Moroccan citizens.

135.A legal framework for the protection of refugees and asylum seekers, which will provide for additional measures to enforce the provisions of the existing legislation, is currently being elaborated.

Recommendation 48: Adequate assistance, rehabilitation and protection for unaccompanied migrant children who are repatriated

136.The three-year “Tamkine-Migrants” project, which was launched in May 2011, is the product of coordination among several ministerial departments, United Nations agencies and NGOs involved in the fight against violence. It is co-funded by the European Union under the Asylum and Migration Programme and aims to reduce the vulnerability of migrant women and children in Morocco by means of direct action on behalf of such groups and advocacy with the authorities concerned. The project will be implemented in the cities of Rabat, Tangiers and Oujda, and will focus on five themes: health (access to health care, counselling services, etc.); justice (legal and administrative support); education (access to schooling and vocational training); civil society (awareness-raising and alertness); and advocacy (power of persuasion).

Violence

Recommendation 50: Intensification of efforts to combat domestic violence by making such violence an offence under the Criminal Code and by providing law enforcement personnel and judges with training on the criminal nature of domestic violence

137.The adoption of the Family Code in February 2004 led to the insertion in the Criminal Code of a new article 406, which stipulates that the penalty imposed on a husband who deliberately assaults or inflicts injuries on his wife shall be double that prescribed under articles 400 and 401; it prescribes prison terms of at least one year, regardless of the duration of the incapacity attested by a medical certificate. It should nevertheless be stressed that there is a marked difference between the existing legal provisions and the judgements handed down on a daily basis by the courts. The penalties imposed are often less than the minimum one-year penalty. The MSFFDS has been working since 2010 on a draft law that will define all forms of domestic violence in far greater detail with a view to protecting women and prosecuting acts of violence against them.

138.A survey of the prevalence of violence against women was conducted in 2010. It found that the overall prevalence rate was 55 per cent and that 3.7 million women were affected.

139.The Operational Plan in support of the National Strategy to Eliminate Violence against Women was launched in September 2004. It was elaborated on the basis of a participatory approach and consultations with the social partners and civil society. The ultimate long-term goal of the Strategy is to eradicate violence against women and to contribute to the promotion and protection of women’s rights.

140.In addition, the institutional framework for the elimination of gender-based violence was established in late 2007. Its aim is to standardize tools for data collection and analysis and to launch a system of annual institutional reporting on the phenomenon of violence against women. Measures to that end have been taken by different departments.

141.The establishment of support facilities for women victims of violence has been accompanied by human resource capacity-building through training and the development of guides and tools. Many awareness-raising and advocacy initiatives have been implemented by different departments.

Trafficking

142.Human trafficking is defined as an offence under article 2-274 of the Criminal Code. Sexual exploitation and forced labour are also recognized as offences under the same Code.

143.Morocco is exposed, owing to its geographical situation as a transit and destination country, to trafficking risks involving migrant women, men and children from sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and Asia who wish to emigrate to Europe.

144.The strategy that Morocco pursues in this regard is designed to harmonize its legal framework to ensure greater effectiveness and consistency by activating the process of ratification, particularly of the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and by expanding the scope of its legislative and regulatory instruments.

145.Morocco has signed a number of core conventions in this area and will amend its anti-trafficking legislation by prescribing harsher penalties for forced labour, taking more vigorous steps to prosecute human traffickers and ensuring that victims are not punished for acts committed on account of their circumstances. The National Plan of Action for Children 2006–2015, which includes the protection of children against abuse, violence and exploitation among its objectives, is the cornerstone of the fight against human trafficking in Morocco.

146.At the practical level, there are plans to develop a victim identification tool and a procedure for transferring victims to reception and support centres run by civil society stakeholders, and to launch public awareness campaigns concerning, inter alia, the fight against child sex tourism. Training courses on the issue will be organized for judges, prosecutors and the police and border security authorities. An effort will be made to collect and organize data on the impact of human trafficking.

Article 11Poverty

The right to improved living conditions

147.In 2009 the HCP measured the poverty threshold in terms of the minimum amount required to purchase food, applying the standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), plus an additional amount required for expenditure on non-food items calculated in accordance with the World Bank approach. The annual per capita poverty threshold is currently DH 4,037 per annum in urban areas and DH 3,758 in rural areas. The number of poor persons in Morocco dropped from 4 to 2.8 million between 2001 and 2007. During the same period, the poverty rate declined from 15.3 per cent to 8.9 per cent at the national level.

Recommendation 55: Disaggregated comparative data on the number of people living in poverty and on the progress made in combating poverty

148.Two main approaches are used in measuring poverty: an absolute approach, according to which anyone who lives below the poverty line in the society in which he or she resides may be defined, in objective terms, as poor; and a relative approach, which classifies the population in terms of percentiles, usually along the following lines: extremely poor (first quintile), moderately poor (second quintile), average living standard (third quintile) and not poor (fourth and fifth quintiles).

149.According to these approaches, the poverty rate may be defined as the proportion of poor persons in the population whose per capita expenditure is lower than the relative poverty threshold. In 2007 this threshold was DH 3,834 per person per annum in urban areas and DH 3,569 per person per annum in rural areas. The vulnerability rate is defined as the proportion of individuals who are not poor but who live under threat of poverty, that is to say those members of a household whose annual expenditure per person in 2007 was between DH 3,834 and DH 5,751 in urban areas and between DH 3,569 and DH 5,353 in rural areas. These poverty rates were used to identify the members of the population who are entitled to benefit from RAMED.

150.It is therefore necessary to consider, alongside poverty, the extent of quasi-poverty (or vulnerability). While absolute poverty has declined, the number of poor and quasi-poor persons remains high, totalling about 8.5 million. According to HCP data for the period from 2001 to 2007, the relative poverty rate dropped from 15.3 per cent to 8.9 per cent at the national level, a rate corresponding to 2.8 million people. However, the consumption level of 17.5 per cent of the population remains just above the poverty line. Thus, a quarter of the population, i.e. 8.5 million people, live in circumstances of absolute poverty or risk falling into such circumstances. Mention should also be made of the major geographical disparities that exist in respect of poverty. Thus, the poverty rate in rural areas (14.5 per cent) remains more than three times greater than the poverty rate in urban areas (4.8 per cent).

151.Income distribution in Morocco remains unequal. The most well-to-do 20 per cent of households possess more than 53 per cent of the country’s global income, compared with 5.4 per cent in the case of the poorest 20 per cent. According to the HCP, 17 per cent of the population live on an income of less than DH 2,000 and 64 per cent on an income of less than DH 5,000, while 8 per cent have an income of more than DH 12,000. Monthly incomes per household are 1.6 times greater in urban areas (DH 6,124) than in rural areas (DH 3,954). The ratio of average per capita consumption in urban areas to that in rural areas dropped from 2 in 2001 to 1.8 in 2007.

152.The progress that is currently discernible stems from a number of different factors. Infrastructural programmes have improved the access of communities living in remote areas and outlying urban districts to essential services and have enhanced the productivity of economic activities. Investment in equipment and increased investment in the building sector and in infrastructure have helped to generate income and to bring about a multiplier impact conducive to growth. Income from emigration and tourism, which increased sharply during the past decade, benefited low and middle-income households. Moreover, the participatory approach adopted by INDH and ADS, particularly the Oriental Agency, facilitated the targeting of rural areas and urban districts with the highest poverty rates.

Recommendation 53: Ensure that families living in poverty in shantytowns have access to public services and take due account of general comments No. 3 (1990) on the nature of States parties’ obligations, No. 7 (1997) on the right to adequate housing and forced evictions, and No. 15 (2002) on the right to water

153.Morocco ensures access to public services for people living in shantytowns in rural or urban areas. The housing strategy adopted on behalf of these communities provides for either renovation or rehousing, depending on the town-planning and land-property constraints involved. The implementation of new programmes, whether they involve the renovation of unsanitary housing areas or rehousing in new property, is based on the legislation in force and ensures that the housing has access to basic network facilities: drinking water, sewage facilities, electricity, telephone and the Internet. Provision is made for educational establishments (day nurseries, schools, lower-level and higher-level secondary schools), health-care centres, and shopping, recreational and green areas. Roads are planned and built, as far as possible, to ensure easy access to housing and reliable sanitation services.

The right to adequate food

154.Basing itself on the Regional Strategy on Nutrition 2010–2019 and the WHO Plan of Action for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Morocco was the first country in the region to develop a national nutrition strategy for the period 2011–2019. Following its adoption, measures were taken to speed up its implementation, including the establishment of coordinating and monitoring bodies. Speedy action was deemed to be necessary in response to the indicators published by the Ministry of Health, which demonstrated the urgency of the nutritional situation.

155.Children in rural areas and poor families are worst hit by the lack of adequate food. According to a family health survey of the population conducted in 2003/04, 18 per cent of children under 5 years of age suffer from retarded growth, which is generally due to chronic malnutrition during pregnancy and infancy. Retarded growth affects 24 per cent of children in rural areas and 29 per cent of children in the poorest quintile (Ministry of Health, 2004). The fact that the retarded growth rate is higher than the poverty rate for the same period (14 per cent) indicates that lack of nutritional information at the household level is a source of serious problems.

156.In this context, the strategies and programmes implemented by the Ministry of Health and its partners to promote a healthy diet and to address the problem of insufficient micronutrients have led to an improvement in the population’s nutritional status.

Indicate the measures taken to disseminate knowledge of the principles of nutrition, including of healthy diets

157.The following measures have been taken to disseminate knowledge of the principles of nutrition, including of healthy diets: organization of campaigns to promote fortified foods; promotion of the consumption of foods that are rich in micronutrients; organization of campaigns to promote breastfeeding; production and dissemination of infant and young child feeding modules; and production of a lifecycle food and nutrition guide to promote information, education and communication at the level of health-care facilities. Lastly, the Ministry of Health and its partners are currently developing a national integrated global communication strategy in support of lifecycle nutrition.

Indicate the measures taken to promote equality of access by disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups, including landless peasants and persons belonging to minorities, to food, land, credit, natural resources and technology for food production

158.Morocco provides the entire national territory, particularly remote areas and/or areas with a high concentration of needy households, with basic food supplies (soft wheat flour, sugar, food oils) and a reliable energy supply (butane gas) at prices that low-income households can afford. When the market prices of these products can no longer be maintained, the State pays subsidies to keep them stable.

159.The subsidy system that the public authorities have been implementing since the 1940s has played a crucial role in maintaining stable prices for basic products and in preserving consumers’ purchasing power. It has also supported and promoted the economic development of a number of sectors.

160.The subsidy system in Morocco is run by the following bodies:

The Compensation Fund, which reports to the Head of Government and by delegation to the Ministry of General Affairs and Governance. The Fund was established in the early 1940s and reorganized in 1977. It supports the prices of sugar, butane gas and petroleum products.

The National Inter-occupational Office for Cereals and Pulses (ONICL), which was established in 1939 and restructured en 1994. ONICL subsidizes national soft wheat flour and has also been supporting the price of deluxe flour derived from soft wheat since September 2007.

161.Developments in the national and international economic environment in recent years, such as the scarcity of raw materials on the international market, rising world prices and the huge increase in consumption, have undermined the subsidy system and exposed certain malfunctions.

162.The cost of the subsidy system, which stood at around DH 6 billion in the early years of the century, had reached almost DH 20 billion by 2007 and DH 36 billion by 2008. it stood at DH 48.8 billion in 2011 (including the price support fund), compared with DH 27.1 billion in 2010. These costs, which were equivalent to about 1.2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), rose to almost 3.4 per cent of GDP in 2010. During the past four years (2008–2011), they have totalled DH 120.75 billion, including the price support fund, or roughly US$ 12 billion.

163.The inaccurate targeting of beneficiaries remains the principal weakness of the subsidy system: the universal nature of the price support system means that all consumers, regardless of their standard of living, benefit from the subsidies. Consumers who enjoy the highest living standards arrogate a disproportionate share of the subsidies; their share is estimated at 80 per cent of the cost of the system, excluding administrative costs.

164.Action to reform the subsidy system is currently being studied and constitutes a priority of the new Government that came into power in 2012. It intends to replace the system with better targeted programmes. Measures to overhaul the existing procedures will focus on the establishment of a new subsidy system by the following means:

Introduction of more effective arrangements for supporting needy households;

Confinement of subsidies to the neediest social strata;

Reduction and stabilization of subsidy costs.

Indicate whether the State party has adopted or envisages the adoption, within a specified time frame, of the “Voluntary Guidelines to support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security”. If not, explain the reasons why

165.A number of Government departments, including the Ministry of Health and the HCP, undertake regular surveys of the food situation in the country. The indicators mentioned above reflect their vigilance in this regard. It extends beyond mere supervision of market supplies. In addition, the deficiencies and needs of specific categories, such as children and women, are identified. The food programmes presented above reflect the authorities’ concern to meet all the conditions required to guarantee adequate food. However, the Government is aware of shortcomings in the social welfare policy and of their possible impact on food security, for instance the poor quality of the targeting of social welfare measures. A process of reflection is under way and pilot projects have been launched to investigate the possibility of creating a mechanism for targeted monetary transfers. The main difficulty consists in designing and setting up local administrative machinery and ensuring control of the budgetary costs that the machinery would entail.

The right to water

166.In 2011, 92 per cent of the rural population had access to drinking water, i.e. 12.5 million inhabitants, compared with 70 per cent in 2005 and 14 per cent in 1994. Morocco plans to achieve a rate of access of 95 per cent by 2015.

Ensuring the sustainability of drinking water supply systems by controlling water flows through damming

167.The 92 per cent rate of access to drinking water remains a national average and some provinces have not yet attained that level. It is therefore necessary to guarantee minimum coverage of 90 per cent for these provinces, which often lack easily mobilizable resources, have a widely dispersed population and are located in remote areas. Most of them are located in mountainous regions that require surface water processing and pumping, which engender higher costs per inhabitant than existing projects. Top priority is being given to action in this regard.

168.The Government has been taking measures since the 1990s to improve the situation:

Guidelines were issued by the Higher Council for Water and Climate at its 1994 session, which referred to the alarming situation in respect of access to drinking water in rural areas of Morocco. The Council recommended the launching of a wide‑ranging programme to supply the rural population with drinking water.

In 1995 the rural drinking-water supply programme, commonly known as PAGER, was launched.

The guidelines of the Higher Council for Water and Climate issued at its 2001 session recommended stepping up the pace of the rural drinking-water supply programme. The National Office for Drinking Water (ONEP) is currently organizing the drinking-water supply for rural centres and douars. The resulting services usually require welding with regional pipelines.

2009: The new national water strategy gives priority to ensuring universal access to drinking water in Morocco, protecting the quality and quantity of groundwater, and developing water resources in general.

169.The public authorities involved in these programmes are the Directorate-General of Hydraulics of the Ministry of Energy, Mines, Water and the Environment, and the ONEP Directorate for General Access to Drinking Water. The total amount allocated to the rural drinking-water supply programme for the period 2005–2011 was DH 8.85 billion.

170.The rural drinking-water supply programme has had a positive impact. Water‑fetching chores have been significantly reduced or abolished in the douars covered by the programme. There has been a marked reduction in the incidence of waterborne diseases, which have affected households hit by cholera. The programme has had a very positive impact on the school enrolment of children, especially girls, who have traditionally been tasked with water-fetching chores. Moreover, thanks to the thousands of projects launched each year, dozens of small enterprises have been created in various sectors (well‑digging, civil engineering, installation of pumping equipment, maintenance), and the national engineering service has been involved in all general studies and planning of rural drinking-water supply projects. More than 500,000 working days are created each year.

171.With a view to guaranteeing sustainability and consolidating advances made in the establishment of drinking-water supply facilities under optimal operating conditions, ONEP, which has been the main actor in this area since 2004, has pursued an innovative policy involving the introduction of appropriate management techniques that take each region’s context into account.

Provide information on education concerning the hygienic use of water, protection of water sources and methods to minimize water wastage

172.Large-scale information campaigns have been conducted for decades in all the audiovisual media to alert the population to the risks involved in using untreated water and to encourage households to fight against the risk of waterborne diseases by using appropriate treatment methods.

173.In 2006 an important national sewage and wastewater treatment programme was launched alongside the national sewage programme for rural areas. The objectives of the programme are to achieve an overall rate of connection to the network of 80 per cent by 2020 and 90 per cent by 2030, to reduce domestic pollution by 80 per cent by 2020 and 90 per cent by 2030; and to treat and reuse or exploit 100 per cent of collected wastewater by 2030.

174.Major progress had been achieved by the end of 2010 in reducing liquid waste (700 million m3 per year, compared with 600 million m3 per year in 2005), in the sewage network connection rate (estimated at 72 per cent, compared with 70 per cent in 2005), in the wastewater treatment rate (an increase to about 20 per cent, compared with 7 per cent in 2005), and in the construction of water treatment plants (42 operational plants, compared with 21 in 2005).

The right to adequate housing

175.A distinction is made in Morocco between homeless people and people living in unhygienic housing. According to the 2004 general census of population and housing, 9,181 people were homeless at that time, including 6,174 in urban areas and 1,905 females. This population group can apply for assistance to the social welfare establishments, which are governed by Act No. 14.00 and run by Entraide nationale. People living in unhygienic housing are classified in accordance with the three components of such housing (shantytowns, substandard housing and dangerously run-down housing). Shantytowns: the action plan under the Towns without Shantytowns programme launched in 2004 was based on updated figures for the number of households living in shantytowns (270,000 households).

176.The number of households living in districts with substandard housing was 354,000, according to the 1993 census. According to the updated data for 2002, the number at that time was almost 540,000 households. According to the housing survey conducted in 2000, almost 90,000 buildings fell into the category of dangerously run-down housing. The updated figure for 2011 was 144,000 buildings.

177.Vigorous action has been taken against unhygienic housing, especially during the past ten years. Steps have been taken to tackle the existing phenomenon and to prevent it from spreading. According to the most recent assessments, the number of beneficiaries under the programmes launched by the Ministry may be estimated as follows:

With regard to the 1,750,000 residents covered by the Towns without Shantytowns programme (figures updated in September 2011), 1.2 million stand to benefit from housing units that have been completed or are currently being constructed, i.e. an implementation rate of 70 per cent. If the scale of the programme had not increased (by 400,000 residents) after its launching date, the rate of implementation would be 83 per cent rather than 70 per cent.

With regard to the second component of unhygienic housing, the Ministry’s list of services rendered for the period 2002–2011 included 414 agreements on rebuilding and upgrading services for underequipped districts on behalf of 4 million residents, requiring a total subsidy of DH 7.73 billion.

With regard to dangerously run-down housing, 86 projects were launched between 2003 and 2011 on behalf of 440,000 residents for a total subsidy of DH 1.35 billion.

Recommendation 51: Improvement of housing conditions in shantytowns and elsewhere; provision of assistance to earthquake victims, particularly women and children, and adoption of preventive measures (ensuring that housing is built in accordance with the rules applicable to earthquake-prone areas and rehousing the disaster-struck population of Al-Hoceima)

178.In light of the new political and social context in Morocco and the provisions of the new Constitution, which enshrines access to decent housing as a constitutional right, the plan is to step up Government action and to focus on priority projects such as the promotion of social housing, social renting as an alternative residential option for citizens, self-build schemes and housing cooperatives.

179.With regard to the Committee’s recommendation on the improvement of housing conditions, the broad lines of the Government’s strategies and policies aimed at ensuring access to adequate housing are based on the following objectives for the period 2012–2014:

The eradication of shantytowns by speeding up the production of units (rehousing lots, dwellings) for people living in shantytowns (the Towns without Shantytowns programme). During the period 2004–2012, the Towns without Shantytowns programme, which covers almost 300,000 households living in about 1,000 shantytowns, made it possible, thanks to a total investment of DH 17.1 billion, including a State subsidy of DH 5.4 billion, to declare 45 of the 85 towns involved to be without shantytowns; 200,666 of the 362,327 households covered by the programme benefited from clearance projects (an implementation rate of 83 per cent was recorded in 2012 for the shantytown eradication programme notwithstanding numerous operational problems).

Speeding up action to complete 150,000 social housing units per year.

Implementation of the programme for 50,000 low-cost villas.

Implementation of the new 70,000-unit programme in the southern regions.

180.With regard to preventive measures (rules applicable to earthquake-prone areas) and rehousing of the disaster-struck population of the province of Al Hoceima, the department responsible for housing participated, following the earthquake that struck the province in 2004, in the large-scale provincial development programme and implemented a series of projects at a cost of roughly DH 1.1 billion.

181.Moroccan town planning legislation takes environmental aspects of residential construction into account. The Town Planning Master Plan specifies the main wastewater and household waste disposal sites. The areas reserved for such sites must be far removed from residential areas so that they do not constitute a risk for residents.

182.The town planning documents that lay down the rules governing land use prohibit construction in sites that may adversely affect the health of the population, including sites deemed to be sources of pollution (arts. 4 and 19 of the 1992 Town Planning Act).

Indicate whether there are any disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups, such as ethnic minorities, who are particularly affected by forced evictions and the measures taken to ensure that no form of discrimination is involved whenever evictions take place

183.There are no “minorities” in Morocco in the constitutional sense of the term. All cultural groups that have been involved in forging the history of Morocco (the Arab‑Islamic, Amazigh, Hassani Saharan, African and Western cultures) form a single unifying national identity.

184.With regard to expulsions, the Office of the Ombudsman is authorized to address any housing problems raised by occupants of guich land. The Ministry of the Interior has hitherto addressed occupant expulsion issues on a case-by-case basis, since the State decides on whether guich land should be used for the implementation of development projects.

185.The national strategy in support of older persons adopted in 2009 includes “housing and living conditions” among its four priority lines of action. Entraide nationale provides assistance, under MSFFDS supervision, for older people living in poverty and without family support by running 44 social protection centres for older persons in the different towns and cities of the Kingdom. The centres provide accommodation for about 3,200 beneficiaries (figure recorded in late 2011).

Indicate the number of persons and families evicted within the last five years and the legal provisions defining the circumstances in which evictions may take place and the rights of tenants to security of tenure and protection from eviction

186.Evictions as a result of disputes are relatively rare in Morocco. In the absence of a social support system that can be used to distinguish persons who persistently fail to pay their bills from households in difficult circumstances and deserving of assistance, the courts hesitate to grant rights to property owners faced with cases of non-payment of rent. This has led to a rental housing supply crisis and has resulted in a large number of empty housing units. Rents for occupied housing units are increasing at a rate that is not index‑linked to inflation. As a result, there is now a widening gap between rents for occupied housing units and those for new units. A locally based social support system for tenants will need to be established in order to resolve the housing problem. The objective of draft Act No. 67-12, which is currently being discussed, is to organize contractual relations between tenants and owners of funds to be used for commercial or housing purposes.

Article 12Physical and mental health

Accessibility

Provide information on the measures taken to ensure :

(a) That preventive, curative, and rehabilitative health facilities, goods and services are within safe reach and physically accessible for everyone, including older persons and persons with disabilities ;

(b) That the costs of health-care services and health insurance, whether privately or publicly provided, are affordable for everyone, including for socially disadvantaged groups .

187.The coverage provided by basic health-care facilities has greatly improved. The number of such facilities increased from 394 in 1960 to 2,689 in 2011, and the number of people served by each facility declined from 29,500 in 1960 to 12,000 in 2011. Health care is thus universally accessible, in particular to people living in rural areas, where the number of facilities per resident dropped from 27,300 in 1960 to 6,949 in 2011. In urban areas the ratio per facility declined from 37,000 residents in 1960 to 11,851 in 2011, i.e. 72 per cent of all such facilities (24,927 residents). The number of hospitals increased from 52 in 1960 to 141 in 2011 (35 specialized hospitals and 95 general hospitals), i.e. an increase of 89 hospitals in the past four decades. Hospital bed capacity increased from 15,500 to more than 27,326 during the same period.

188.The hospital network is currently being expanded through the construction of three new university hospital facilities and of centres of excellence (for paediatric ophthalmology, burn treatment and oncology). In addition, the technical expertise of a large number of hospitals and the equipment of health-care centres have been upgraded.

189.With a view to further building existing capacity to meet demand by means of an approach based on solidarity and risk-sharing, and with a view to increasing the overall funding of the health-care system, which currently accounts, on average, for only 1.4 per cent of GDP and less than 5 per cent of the State budget, a new basic health-care coverage system has been established. It is composed of compulsory basic health insurance (AMO), based on the principles of insurance for members of the working population, and public and private-sector retirees, and a Medical Assistance Scheme for the Economically Underprivileged (RAMED) based on the principle of social welfare for persons who are not eligible for compulsory basic health insurance. RAMED has replaced the system based on indigency certificates since 1 January 2012 (see the section of the report on article 9 of the Covenant).

Approval of drugs and medical equipment

Measures taken to ensure that drugs and medical equipment are scientifically approved and have not expired or become ineffective

190.Morocco has a body of scientific experts (the commission of the World Medical Association) which is responsible for assessing the therapeutic effect of drugs.

National legislation: Act No. 17-04 containing the Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Code prohibits the sale of expired drugs. The pharmaceuticals inspectorate is responsible for oversight and control of the drugs market and the pharmaceutical sector.

The national drug control laboratory is responsible for supervising the quality of drugs that are approved and sold in the Moroccan market.

191.With regard to medical equipment, the Ministry of Health has a registration procedure and an advisory committee that assesses the effectiveness of such products. Work is almost completed on a draft law that will consolidate the equipment approval system.

Training

Measures taken to ensure adequate training of health personnel, including on the right to health and human rights

192.When the RAMED scheme was implemented throughout the country, the Ministry of Health organized training courses on the right to health and human rights for health-care personnel. It also developed a training plan for all health-care professionals and for graduates of health-care and social welfare training institutes.

193.In addition, the Ministry is prepared to support the strategy of the Interministerial Delegation for Human Rights and the National Council for Human Rights with a view to contributing to the joint development of modules concerning human rights, including economic and social rights, to be included in basic training courses for nurses and in‑service training courses for all professionals.

194.A training plan for health-care personnel has been implemented (6,561 beneficiaries).

Improvement of health-care services and programmes

Recommendation 54: More vigorous efforts to combat maternal mortality and to improve the effectiveness of programmes addressing this problem

195.Morocco has made enormous progress in reducing maternal mortality, which has declined in three years from 227 to 112 deaths per 100,000 live births. This mortality ratio, which represents a reduction of 50.7 per cent compared with 2003–2004, is the crowning achievement of a number of flagship initiatives, particularly in rural areas.

196.Free-of-charge deliveries and caesarean sections has certainly had an impact on mother and child health and has begun to bear fruit. Preliminary estimates indicate that there has been an increase in the rate of delivery with skilled birth attendance, which stood at 74 per cent in 2009, and in the performance of caesarean sections in public-sector hospitals, which stood at almost 12.7 per cent in 2010. Moreover, the number of hospital deliveries in 2010 exceeded 300,000 and the number of caesarean sections performed in hospitals exceeded 40,000, totalling 380,947 and 48,280 respectively. Further action will be taken with a view to achieving more than 400,000 hospital deliveries by 2012.

Waterborne diseases

Provide information on measures taken to prevent, treat and control diseases linked to water and ensure access to adequate sanitation

197.Food and waterborne diseases (FWBDs) used to be a major public-health problem in Morocco and some of them even reached epidemic proportions, for instance cholera and typhoid prior to the 1990s. The national programme to combat these diseases includes measures to prevent and control all FWBDs, particularly cholera, typhoid and paratyphoid fever, viral hepatitis A and E, diarrhoeal diseases and foodborne illness outbreaks. As notification of these diseases is mandatory under the regulations currently in force, they are subject to continuous epidemiological surveillance and to preventive action and countermeasures.

198.The various activities provided for under the national programme to combat FWBDs (prevention, diagnosis and treatment) are performed free of charge in all outpatient and hospital facilities run by the Ministry of Health.

199.Thanks to joint action by a number of different sectors, the epidemiological situation with respect to these diseases is now under control. With regard to action to reduce the morbidity rate, one of the main achievements of the programme to combat FWBDs has been the elimination of cholera transmission and the marked reduction in the incidence of typhoid and epidemic viral hepatitis (A and E), which no longer constitute a disturbing public-health problem.

200.As these diseases are closely linked to hygienic conditions and sanitation, the country’s socioeconomic development and the improvement in sanitary conditions have played a major role in their prevention and control. The drinking-water supply programme for rural communities, which is a national programme designed to guarantee universal access to drinking water in rural areas, has greatly assisted in reducing the incidence of FWBDs.

201.In addition, FWBDs are detected by means of case definitions. Persons showing signs of these diseases undergo detection and diagnosis tests which are available in all public-sector and private-sector facilities. Morocco has access to all forms of treatment currently existing at the international level, and various drugs are available throughout the country.

Vaccination

202.Vaccination is a basic children’s right. Following the restructuring of the National Immunization Programme in 1987, national coverage rose to 90 per cent in the 1990s and has exceeded 95 per cent during the past five years. Vaccinations against 11 antigens are provided free of charge for all children under 5 years of age. The Ministry of Health hopes to reduce the mortality rate of infants under 1 year of age to 15 per cent of live births by 2015 (MDG). It has been implementing a National Immunization Programme for the past 30 years.

Drug addiction

203.Morocco has undertaken a series of epidemiological studies and a study of the prevalence of mental disorders and drug abuse (2006), which have enabled it to achieve more effective control over the problem and to develop strategic plans that take into account drug consumption statistics and trends in the country. About 4.2 per cent of the Moroccan population over six/seven years of age suffer from drug dependence or drug abuse and are potentially in need of treatment.

204.Two university degrees in addictology have been introduced in the Casablanca and Rabat faculties of medicine and pharmacy and more than 50 qualified specialists have been trained every 18 months. A programme to reduce the risks associated with drug use, based inter alia on psychosocial support, has been launched and has led to the introduction of three methadone maintenance programmes in Salé, Tangiers and Casablanca. A drugs and drug addiction observatory will shortly be established in Morocco with its headquarters at the Ministry of Health in Rabat. Morocco is the first Mediterranean country to adopt this approach. Lastly, the programme of action against social insecurity, which forms part of the second stage of the INDH initiative, specifically targets drug addicts.

205.With regard to health care, the strategy aimed at reducing harmful alcohol consumption now constitutes an integral part of the strategy to combat drug addiction. In this context, Morocco is developing primary and second preventive activities and measures to support drug users in every way possible.

206.The national cancer prevention and control plan (2010–2019) includes alcohol as an environmental risk factor. The plan provides for practical measures to be taken in the “Fight against alcohol consumption”.

HIV

207.It is estimated that 28,000 people in Morocco arc living with AIDS (estimate produced by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS). During the first ten months of 2011, 235 cases of AIDS and 259 cases of HIV were detected. Four thousand persons are currently receiving treatment in 12 facilities.

208.Morocco has introduced innovative approaches in the region involving preventive measures on behalf of population groups who are most at risk, promotion of voluntary testing, psychosocial support, and mobilization of civil society and persons living with HIV. Morocco thus plays a leadership role in the region in terms of its response to HIV.

209.The objectives of the fight against AIDS in Morocco have recently been revised upwards with a view to reducing the HIV transmission rate by 50 per cent. In addition to improving the high-quality care provided for all patients with HIV or AIDS, which comprises medical care, antiretroviral therapy, and psychological and social support, the anti-AIDS strategy also aims to reduce to zero the risk of transmission of the virus by pregnant women infected with HIV to their children and the number of HIV-related maternal deaths. Measures to prevent stigmatization and discriminatory practices against people living with HIV or AIDS and to ensure respect for their rights and improved social integration are core components of the new strategy. In addition, the INDH has identified persons living with HIV as a category entitled to benefit from the programme of action against social insecurity.

210.The integrated and multisectoral strategy is implemented by means of an annual Ministry of Health budget of DH 19.5 million. This budget is to be increased over the next five years to meet the needs of the 2012–2016 strategy and to ensure that Morocco remains a low-prevalence country in which the epidemic has been stable since 2000. The Global Fund has also provided support for action against the disease in the form of a US$ 43.5 million grant for a five-year period.

Essential drugs

Provide information on measures taken to ensure affordable access to essential drugs, as defined by WHO, including anti-retroviral medicines and medicines for chronic diseases

211.A number of measures have been taken to guarantee the right to health and to consolidate the constitutional right of access to health care by promoting the availability of affordable treatment. The Government’s key projects include universalization of the RAMED card, full coverage and high-quality care for chronic illnesses, availability of essential drugs in all health-care facilities, reductions in the cost of about 320 drugs with effect from 1 January 2013, according to the Ministry of Health, and development of a new strategy for coverage of mental illness.

212.The budget for medicines and medical devices increased by 106 per cent between 2007 and 2010.

Mental disorders

213.Free medical care for persons suffering from mental illness in public-sector facilities is guaranteed by the 1959 Dahir which established the goal of preserving mental health and protecting mentally ill persons.

214.A national survey was conducted by the Ministry of Health in partnership with WHO. The CNDH also published a report in 2012 on the mental health situation in Morocco. Morocco has only 1,900 psychiatric beds for a population of 32 million. There are only 300 practising psychiatrists in Morocco, i.e. one psychiatrist for every 100,000 inhabitants. As the World Health Organization has set the necessary minimum at 2.5 psychiatrists for every 100,000 inhabitants, Morocco is aware of the urgency of the situation.

215.The shortage is due to the relatively recent introduction into Morocco of the discipline of psychiatry. Moreover, psychiatry has not always been included in the Government’s agenda and has not therefore benefited from the public-sector funding that this would entail. However, the authorities are now aware of the importance of providing small towns and the most remote regions of Morocco with facilities for mental health patients and of providing specialized training in psychiatry for doctors and nurses.

216.Mental health is one of the top priorities of the Ministry of Health and has been included in the Action Plan for Health 2008–2012.

Article 14Education

Free primary education

217.In 1999 Morocco adopted the National Charter for Education and Training (CNEF) and designated 2000–2010 as the decade of education and training. The main goal of the Charter is to achieve universal primary and lower-level secondary education for children in the 6 to 15 age group, paying special attention to the school enrolment of girls in rural areas. The enrolment rate increased from 79.1 per cent in 1999/2000 to 97.9 per cent in 2011/12 for children in the 6 to 11 age group, and a rate of 90 per cent was recorded for children in the 12 to 14 age group (lower-level secondary education).

218.The State guarantees education free of charge throughout the primary to secondary school cycle, with average annual registration rates of 2 euros. Schooling is compulsory for girls and boys under 15 years of age throughout the national territory of Morocco.

219.More than 4 million pupils attend primary school; the contribution of the private sector to such schooling is only 12 per cent. There was an overall increase of 3.2 per cent between 2007 and 2010, 5.8 per cent of which was recorded in rural areas. Eighty-four primary schools and community schools were created between 2009 and 2012 and 1,699 schools were renovated in 2012.

220.Families belonging to disadvantaged groups with socioeconomic problems that can impede the school enrolment of their children receive financial support to safeguard pupils who may be at risk of dropping out of school. The “Tayssir” programme is an innovative component of the social support strategy that has produced positive results. It provides direct conditional financial support to needy families with a view to reducing school dropout. The number of beneficiaries of the programme increased from 47,000 families and 88,800 pupils in 2008/09 to 460,000 families and 783,000 pupils in 2012/13, i.e. rates of increase of 878 per cent and 781 per cent respectively. The programme has had a significant impact on the effectiveness of the education system. The records show, inter alia, an improvement of 9.5 per cent in the school enrolment rate and a decline in the primary school dropout rate of almost 43 per cent.

221.The Najah (Success) Emergency Plan, which was allocated a budget of DH 44 billion (DH 29.5 billion of which has been invested in various activities), was drawn up by the Department of National Education on the basis of the first report produced by the Higher Council for Education in 2008. Its aim is to galvanize the education and training reform process. It focuses on four strategic areas which have given rise to 27 specific projects aimed at implementing the Plan.

222.Parallel measures will be taken to universalize the supply of modern high-quality pre-school facilities, and a marked improvement in the supply of educational establishments will be achieved within three years of the launching of the Plan. The rate of enrolment of pupils in the 6–11 age group reached 97.5 per cent in the 2010/11 school year. Morocco is therefore close to achieving the goal of universal schooling, although reversibility risks cannot be ruled out in the present context.

Accessibility of secondary education

223.The measures taken to increase the supply of educational facilities (building and renovation of educational establishments and boarding schools) have had a positive impact on the availability and accessibility of lower-level secondary education for all pupils in rural and peripheral urban areas. Progress has also been made in the provision of support for scientific and technical secondary education. The State encourages enrolment in these branches of education; access depends on the skills acquired by female and male pupils and is based on principles of merit and equity. A marked increase in the percentage of pupils enrolled in these branches was recorded between 2007/08 (55.1 per cent) and 2011/12 (60.8 per cent).

224.Support for the supply of secondary education has produced significant results. During the 2012/13 school year 100 new educational establishments, including 62 lower secondary schools, were opened. In 2012, 812 lower secondary schools and 405 upper secondary schools were renovated or supplied with basic equipment.

225.Social support measures enabled 117,361 pupils to attend boarding schools in 2012/13, compared with 76,924 in 2008/09, which represents an increase of 52.6 per cent. Enrolment in lower-level secondary education recorded a major increase (+12 points) from 71.3 per cent in 2007/08 to 83.7 per cent in 2011/12. Enrolment in rural areas increased by 19 per cent.

226.Special attention has been given to social support initiatives on behalf of secondary school pupils, particularly those from rural areas. The number of school canteen beneficiaries increased by 46 per cent and that of boarding school residents by almost 53 per cent between 2008/09 and 2012/13. Almost all pupils from needy families were provided with satchels containing school supplies in 2010/11. Their number increased from 1,273,846 in 2008/09 to 3,898,000 in 2012/13 (primary and lower secondary levels), which represents an increase of about 206 per cent. During the same period, the number of school transport beneficiaries increased from 2,200 to 50,221 pupils. The total number of pupils enrolled in higher-level secondary education also recorded a marked increase of 7.4 points between 2007/08 and 2011/12.

Accessibility of higher education

227.The progress recorded is encouraging: the number of students rose from 311,856 in 2006/07 to 496,437 in 2011/12, which represents an increase of 59 per cent; the number of graduates increased by 22 per cent, reaching almost 53,505 in 2009/10; 55 per cent of the training currently provided is vocational in nature.

228.University-based higher education in Morocco entered a new phase in 2009 with the launching of State-run development contracts with universities and the two establishments subject to public oversight (the National Centre for Scientific and Technological Research and the National Office for University Social and Cultural Services (ONOUSC)). The contracts cover all university development projects for a four-year period and specify the universities’ commitments in terms of goals to be achieved. The State, for its part, undertakes to provide the universities with the financial and human resources they require to achieve the goals in question. The goals were set by each establishment in accordance with the general guidelines set forth in the 2009–2012 Emergency Programme.

229.However, the results are still inadequate when compared with the far-reaching ambitions of the sectoral strategies launched by Morocco. Thus, the number of engineers still falls far short of the country’s needs, which have been estimated at 35,000 engineers per year, notwithstanding the achievement of an 18 per cent increase which brought the total number of engineers and persons with comparable skills to 11,420 in 2010/11, compared with 4,249 in 2006/07.

Recommendation 57(c): Take steps to ensure that higher education in scientific subjects is also available in Arabic

230.Most of the higher education courses available in Moroccan universities are conducted in Arabic and French. Courses in almost all fields of study at university level are still conducted in French, except for religious education and law, which are conducted in Arabic. In 2009/10, 57 per cent of newly enrolled university students opted for scientific courses, which are conducted in French. Courses conducted in French in the “arts and humanities” faculties and the “legal, economic and social science” faculties account for 16 per cent and 63 per cent respectively of the total. Most lecturers in scientific subjects received their training in French. The transition to scientific training courses in Arabic is a social choice that can be studied and discussed in the constitutionally competent institutions.

Continuing education and literacy

231.The illiteracy rate in Morocco declined from 43 per cent of the population in 2004 to just under 30 per cent in 2010. The number of beneficiaries of literacy programmes also increased from 286,000 persons in 2002/03 to about 700,000 in 2010/11. A total of more than 2,723,000 persons enrolled in literacy programmes during the period from 2007 to 2010.

232.The Department of National Education runs the non-formal education programme. Major advances have been recorded since it was launched:

400,000 young people benefited from education during the period from the launching of the non-formal education programme in 1997/98 until 2009/10;

The number of beneficiaries of non-formal education totalled 38,197 in 2009/10; 19,038 of this total were girls and 19,159 boys; 41 per cent lived in towns and 59 per cent in rural areas;

Since the launching of the programme, 28,700 beneficiaries of non-formal education have been integrated, mostly into formal education (24,400);

Females remain the principal beneficiaries of such programmes, with a current ratio of 58 per cent.

233.Adult literacy education is a national priority. Morocco recorded a total of 2 million beneficiaries between 2002 and 2006, which is equivalent to the figure recorded for the 20 years from 1982 to 2001. Almost 80 per cent were women. A total of 0.67 million people were enrolled in 2006–2007. The number of persons enrolled in literacy programmes increased from 390,000 beneficiaries in 2001/02 to almost 706,394 beneficiaries in 2009/10, 49.9 per cent of whom, i.e. 352,467 beneficiaries, lived in rural areas. Women are the main beneficiaries of the literacy education programme. They account for 85.3 per cent of all enrolments or more than 602 000 beneficiaries, of whom more than 280,000 live in rural areas, while men account for only 14.7 per cent, or 104,000 enrolments.

234.The recent establishment of the National Agency to Combat Illiteracy will facilitate the coordination of action against illiteracy in Morocco and an improvement in human development indices.

Recommendation 58: Create literacy programmes in the Amazigh language and provide free schooling in Amazigh at all levels

235.The framework of reference for the integration of Amazigh into the education system is contained in the speeches delivered by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, particularly the speech to mark the Feast of the Throne on 30 July 2001 and the speech delivered in Ajdir on 17 October 2001, in the provisions of the dahir establishing and organizing IRCAM, in the recommendations of the CNEF, and in the educational guidelines set forth in the White Book of the Ministry of National Education.

236.At the beginning of the 2003/04 school year, IRCAM and the Ministry of National Education set about drawing up curricula, publishing teaching manuals and guides, and providing the requisite training for teachers and inspectors. A number of measures have been taken in the school and university education system since 2001.

237.Amazigh has been taught in all six primary-school grades since the beginning of the 2009/10 school year in a large number of schools. There are currently roughly 10,000 teachers of the Amazigh language in about 3,500 schools, which serve 12 per cent of pupils enrolled in primary education. Amazigh courses will be extended in due course to the entire education system. The number of beneficiaries was estimated at almost 600,000 at the beginning of the 2011/12 school year.

Gender

Recommendation 57(b): Take steps to achieve equality in education between girls and boys and between rural and urban areas

238.In addition to the action taken with respect to school textbooks, school life, teacher training courses and the design of teaching aids in support of education in human values, particularly equality, the Ministry of National Education developed a strategic plan for the period 2008–2012 aimed at institutionalizing gender equality. A number of measures have been taken to ensure equality in practice and to promote equal access for boys and girls to the services, benefits and resources provided by the education and training system.

239.The boy/girl parity index for the primary cycle gained three points at the national level and five points in rural areas; it stood at 0.90 and 0.88 respectively for the 2010/11 school year, compared with 0.87 and 0.83 for 2007/08.

240.Action has been taken to meet the equity challenge. Thus, universalization has been combined with a significant decline in both regional and gender-based inequalities in access to education. Girls living in rural areas, a group long neglected by the system, are now almost universally enrolled in school. Moreover, the gap between rural and urban areas has been greatly reduced: in 2009 the gap in terms of the net primary school enrolment rate dropped sharply to just over two percentage points.

241.The universalization of education was accompanied by a significant decline in both regional and gender-based gaps in school enrolment rates. In 2006/07, the gap in the net primary school enrolment rate between rural and urban areas recorded a marked decline to 1 per cent for boys and 4 per cent for girls. The enrolment rate for girls living in rural areas stood at 88 per cent at the beginning of the 2006/07 school year. In 2010/11, the gap in the specific primary school enrolment rate between rural and urban areas declined sharply to 3.1 per cent for boys and 5.1 per cent for girls. The enrolment rate for girls living in rural areas stood at 93.6 per cent at the beginning of the 2010/11 school year.

242.There is now almost full gender parity in higher education. In 2007 girls accounted for 47 per cent of students and 52 per cent of graduates; in 2009/10, girls accounted for 48 per cent of students and 50 per cent of graduates.

School drop-out

243.Steps have been taken to improve school management, for instance by supporting the position of head teacher in terms of both the benefits system and working methods and means. The Emergency Programme provides for large-scale projects to prevent school dropout, such as the expansion and upgrading of educational facilities, tackling pf socioeconomic impediments by developing existing programmes (canteens and boarding schools), introduction of new programmes such as the “One million satchels” Royal Initiative and the Tayssir conditional financial support programme, and many other projects aimed at improving the quality of education. In addition, Morocco has devised a special plan to prevent school dropout by means of monitoring committees and individual oversight of pupils.

244.However, experience on the ground has shown that the results depend to a large extent on the involvement and commitment of the local community. Three years after the launching of the Emergency Programme, the number of pupils dropping out of school declined from 445,000 to 288,700 between 2008 and 2011. During the same period, the number of pupils dropping out of school declined by 34.5 per cent at the primary level, by 19 per cent at the lower secondary level and by 20.4 at the higher secondary level.

245.With a view to enhancing equity, the Ministry of National Education also took steps to facilitate access to education for children with specific needs (children with disabilities, children in a prison environment, children living in the streets and working children). In 2009 and 2010, the Ministry focused on developing a strategy to increase the rate of integration of children with disabilities into the school environment.

246.Mention should be made, for instance, of the creation of 351 corridors to facilitate access to ordinary and specialized classes for children with disabilities, and of the establishment of 114 integrated classes in which 1,368 children with disabilities were enrolled. Much work remains to be done, however, to achieve the educational mainstreaming of such groups with specific needs.

Article 15Culture

Promote popular participation in, and access to, cultural life

Accessibility of cultural activities for all segments of the population

247.The Government has espoused the aim of increasing popular access to cultural facilities with a view to promoting citizens’ individual and collective cultural development. Its approach consists in facilitating access, particularly of the most disadvantaged groups, to leisure, recreational and entertainment facilities, such as community arts centres, theatres, book and multimedia libraries, music conservatories and public sports facilities, and in developing socio-educational complexes and recreational sports centres.

248.A further aim of the Government’s policy is to guarantee the rights of different stakeholders in the field of sport and to specify their obligations. The Government has continued to implement projects aimed at renovating existing sports facilities and providing a wider range of local facilities such as district stadiums and indoor sports centres, thereby encouraging people throughout the country to engage in sport, particularly young people from peripheral urban areas and rural areas, including people with disabilities. The policy is also designed to promote the emergence of high-performance national teams and future champions in different sports. Further action has been taken to expedite the development of major sports facilities.

Enhancement of access to the cultural heritage of humankind, including through new information technologies

249.Morocco has developed procedures for disseminating information about the cultural heritage, targeting professionals who work in that area and the general public, particularly young people. The aim is to arouse young people’s curiosity and to encourage them to discover the richness and diversity of the country’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Other public communication activities are undertaken on a regular basis. They include the organization of cultural and artistic events at historic sites and monuments, and the organization of a Heritage Month from 18 April to 18 May by the conservation and inspection services responsible for historic sites and monuments.

Encouragement of participation in cultural life by children, including children from poorer families, and migrant or refugee children

250.The Government takes steps each year to support institutions that encourage children, particularly children from poor families, to participate in cultural life. Examples of these activities are provided in the footnote.

Elimination of physical, social and communication barriers preventing older persons and persons with disabilities from fully participating in cultural life *

251.A number of actions have been undertaken:

Training courses have been organized for architects with a view to improving physical accessibility as well as communication and transport facilities. A draft decree on implementation of the law concerning accessibility has been prepared.

Steps have been taken to upgrade support centres for persons with disabilities: signing of an agreement with the Meknes Tafilalet region on the equipment of a centre for abandoned children with disabilities in Meknes (30 June 2008); support for the creation by nine associations of support centres for persons with disabilities; and equipment of a sound library for persons with autism in Taza.

A festival for persons with special needs is organized each year.

Protection of cultural diversity

Measures taken to protect cultural diversity, to promote awareness of the cultural heritage of ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities and of indigenous communities, and to create favourable conditions for them to preserve, develop, express and disseminate their identity, history, culture, language, traditions and customs

252.The tangible heritage in Morocco comprises 40 medinas, 150 archaeological sites, 406 historic sites and many natural sites, eight of which have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Morocco has implemented a great variety of initiatives aimed at documenting and promoting the cultural heritage as a living tradition by creating museums, multimedia libraries and libraries, encouraging young people to become actively involved in cultural life, recognizing medinas as part of the cultural heritage, sharing good practices between towns and cities; organizing festivals sponsored by local authorities, encouraging the general public to have access to and become involved in cultural life, and supporting workers in the cultural and handicrafts sector so that they can continue to earn a living from their activities.

253.Two legal instruments regulate the Government’s action to protect, promote, raise awareness and preserve the diversity of the national cultural heritage: the Act creating the “National Foundation of Museums”, which establishes the institutional framework for the creative and cultural field and for conservation of the cultural heritage, and the Act concerning archives.

Recommendation 59: Make Amazigh an official language under the Constitution; enable parents to give their children an Amazigh name; fully guarantee the right of the Amazigh community to exercise its own cultural identity

254.Article 5 of the Constitution confers on Amazigh the status of an official language of the State and recognizes it as part of the common heritage of all Moroccans without exception. It also guarantees the protection of existing languages and forms of cultural expression in Morocco. To that end, the Constitution provides for the creation of a National Council for Languages and Moroccan Culture.

255.With regard to Amazigh names, article 21 of the 2002 Act concerning civil status stipulates that “the first name chosen by the person making the declaration of birth with a view to having it entered in the civil registers must be Moroccan in character”. In addition, the circular issued by the Ministry of the Interior on 9 April 2010 clearly states that the first name given at birth must reflect the specific characteristics of Moroccan society from the north to the south of the Kingdom and from the east to the west. Moroccan first names include Amazigh first names whose meaning differs from one region to another and Hebrew names for Moroccan Jews.

256.With a view to guaranteeing the right of the Amazigh community to exercise its own cultural identity, a National Action Plan for Democracy and Human Rights was drawn up for the period 2011–2016. It adopts a rights-based approach to various economic, cultural and environmental issues, including the promotion of national languages, in particular the Amazigh language and culture. In addition, the State created the Royal Institute for Amazigh Culture (IRCAM) in 2001. IRCAM has implemented a large number of projects aimed at promoting the Amazigh dimension of Moroccan culture and highlighting it in social, cultural and media contexts at the national, regional and local level through education, information and communication, cultural creativity and support for civil society. It has issued numerous publications and has developed training methods.

257.In addition, information and communication services in the Amazigh language have been developed in the press and on radio and television, especially since the launching of the Tamazight television channel in 2010. Several private radio stations in the Amazigh language have been authorized. The terms and conditions applicable to public audiovisual communication companies in Morocco include provisions concerning cultural diversity.

Education

Provide information on school and professional education in the field of culture and the arts

258.The choice of curricula is based on the diversity of the Moroccan cultural dimension and its openness to different regional and international cultures. Children are introduced to a range of artistic activities from the primary-school level without any restrictions. The activities, which are organized in educational establishments at all levels and with the assistance of different partners, usually focus on freedom of expression, creativity, art, human values, tolerance and criticism. An agreement was signed between the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of National Education. The results achieved under the agreement remain to be assessed.

Scientific progress

Indi cate :

( a) The measures taken to ensure affordable access to the benefits of scientific progress and its applications for everyone, including disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups

259.Among the measures taken with this end in view, special mention should be made of private-sector initiatives undertaken with Government support, such as the price policy adopted by “Telecom” operators with a view to making information and communications technology (ICT) services (mobile phone services, Internet, etc.) available to a wide sector of the population at competitive prices, and the decisions taken by pharmaceutical companies and laboratories to manufacture generic drugs at prices that are affordable for disadvantaged social groups.

260.With regard to ICT, a new national strategy called “Digital Morocco 2013” was adopted in October 2009 for the period 2009–2013. It aims to make high-speed Internet services accessible to citizens and to facilitate access to exchanges of views and information. Several programmes have been adopted since then, including: the “GENIE” Programme, which aims to universalize ICT in public-sector educational establishments and to equip them with multimedia resources linked to the Internet; the “N@fida” Programme, which grants subsidies to families of students so that they can subscribe to the Internet and purchase computers (150,000 beneficiaries); the Injaz Programme (high-speed Internet access and/or laptop) for students of engineering and similar subjects and students in various branches of higher education; the U-NET Programme, which provides public universities and student halls of residence with Wi-Fi networks; the Community Access Centre (CAC) Programme for people without IT facilities and Internet access, including people with disabilities; and the “PACTE” Programme, which aims to provide universal access to telecommunication services for 9,263 districts without telecommunication links.

( b) Measures taken to prevent the use of scientific and technical progress for purposes which are contrary to the enjoyment of human dignity and human rights

261.Among the measures taken, mention should be made, in particular, of the following Government initiatives: adoption of the regulations currently in force governing organ donations and transplants (Act No. 16/89) and the creation of local bioethical bodies.

Protection of creators

Indicate the measures taken to ensure the effective protection of the moral and material interests of creators , i n particul a r:

( a) To protect the right of authors to be recognized as the creators and for the protection of the integrity of their scientific, li terary and artistic productions

262.The Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act protects authors’ rights. Creative activities are protected by several different bodies. The Book Office, run by the Ministry of Culture, registers books and protects authors’ rights. The Moroccan Copyright Office (BMDA) is tasked with collecting royalties and distributing them to rights holders. The Moroccan Film Centre helps to organize film-related activities and occupations. All these bodies take action against forgery.

263.The main difficulty encountered in protecting artists’ interests consists in developing a sufficiently wide supervisory network to prevent the misuse of artists’ works without notification of the BMDA. In practice, it is essential to conduct inspections in art and entertainment sites that may potentially be used to exploit protected works.

( b) To protect the basic material interests of authors resulting from their productions, which enable them to enjoy an adequate standard of living

264.The legislation concerning artists recognizes their work as a profession whose members should enjoy all rights and obligations that entitle them to benefit from social security rights, health insurance and the establishment of creative enterprises with a view to promoting citizens’ involvement in cultural life. Its second objective is to enable individuals and groups to enjoy the products of creative activity by ensuring that artists can work under conditions that preserve their dignity and encourage their creativity. An artist’s card was introduced to facilitate enforcement of the legislation. Agreements to accord preferential conditions to artists have been concluded between the public and private sectors.

( c) To ensure the protection of the moral and material interests of indigenous peoples relating to their cultural her itage and traditional knowledge

265.The Copyright Act protects the folklore heritage, including the use of folklore for commercial purposes or in circumstances that fall outside the traditional or customary context, for instance the reproduction of folklore, the public communication of folklore through its presentation, performance or production, the broadcasting or transmission of folklore by cable or by any other means, and the adaptation, translation or any other modification or arrangement of folklore. The BMDA is tasked with ensuring that all printed publications and all communications to the public of an identifiable expression of folklore indicate the source in an appropriate manner and in accordance with established practice by mentioning the community or geographic location in which the expression of folklore originated. It is entitled to authorize expressions of folklore and to identify rights associated with such expressions for professional purposes and cultural development.

266.The High Authority for Audiovisual Communication is tasked with ensuring that the interests of culturally and linguistically diverse communities are properly reflected in the audiovisual media. In March 2011 the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication created the Unit for Cultural and Linguistic Diversity within the Programme Monitoring Department. The Unit has been tasked with monitoring and conducting a posteriori controls of audiovisual broadcasts in the Amazigh language. It incorporates aspects of linguistic diversity in its reports on pluralism.

( d) To strike an adequate balance between the effective protection of the moral and material interests of authors and the State party’s obligations in relation to the other rights recognized in the Covenant

267.A framework for dialogue between the public authorities and artists’ and creative workers’ associations and trade unions was developed, inter alia with a view to establishing procedures that enable them to benefit from rights to social security and health insurance. The BMDA website recently published a list of musical, literary and dramatic works (almost 40,000 titles) and the names of authors registered with the BMDA (about 2,000). At the end of the dialogue between the BMDA and the artists’ associations, an agreement was reached on measures to facilitate registration procedures and on publication of the Office’s redistribution scales and statement of accounts. There are plans to have professional associations representing artists who recently arrived on the artistic scene represented on the BMDA Board of Directors.

Research and creative activity

Indicate the legal provisions in place to protect the freedom indispensable for scientific research and creative activity and any restrictions on the exercise of this freedom

268.Article 25 (para. 2) of the new Constitution stipulates: “Freedom of literary and artistic creation, publication and exhibition, and of scientific research are guaranteed.” Article 15 of the General Public Service Regulations prohibits public officials from “engaging professionally in a private income-generating activity”. However, such activities are authorized when they involve the production “of scientific, literary, artistic and sports‑related works, provided that they are not primarily of a commercial nature” (see article 1 of the Act amending the General Public Service Regulations).

Dissemination of science and culture

Measures taken for the conservation, development and dissemination of science and culture and to encourage and develop international contacts and cooperation in the scientific and cultural fields

269.A key achievement in the area of scientific and cultural development was the creation of the Hassan II Academy of Science and Technology. More recently, the Government set itself the following goal in its governmental policy statement: “building of a knowledge society and promotion of a knowledge-based economy by enabling universities to reassume a leadership role in training and scientific research, and by creating the conditions required to guarantee students’ dignity and to encourage training in fields generating the greatest demand on the labour market”.

270.Morocco has a network of universities and professional training establishments at its disposal to implement its scientific research policy.

271.The Government plans to promote research at universities by restructuring their research facilities, creating doctoral study centres and new branches of doctoral studies, amalgamating teams and skills, and accrediting university research facilities. The publication statistics show an improvement in scientific production and the beginning of a trend towards innovation-driven applied research. At the operational level, Morocco has created the National Centre for Scientific and Technical Research.