A technical committee has been mandated to finalize the new interpretive declarations and will ensure that they are translated for submission to the international parties concerned.

The withdrawal of reservations will continue to be followed up.

Question 2

The procedure for Morocco’s accession to the first Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which recognizes the competence of the Human Rights Committee to receive individual communications, will be initiated.

A recommendation for accession by Morocco to the Optional Protocol will be submitted to the Government Council by two ministries, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with a view to its ratification.

Question 3

The report has not been presented to Parliament.

Question 4

Some Moroccan laws recognize that international instruments that have been duly ratified take precedence over domestic legislation. For example:

–The Nationality Act, article 1;

–The act governing the legal profession, articles 5, 18 and 31;

–The royal decree (Dahir) on the release of foreign prisoners;

–The Code of Penal Procedure, article 173.

Supreme Court decisions in this area include:

–Decision No. 2163 of 9 April 1997 (commercial file no. 2151/96);

–Decision No. 426 of 22 March 2000 (commercial file no. 1713/99).

These decisions concern the imprisonment of insolvent debtors.

Question 5

Family benefits are always paid to the husband.

This issue will be resolved by implementing provisions of the national strategy for gender equity and equality, in particular the component on social and economic rights.

Question 6

Since June 2006, Morocco has pursued a national strategy for gender equity and equality by integrating a gender approach into all development policies and programmes. This strategy is the framework of reference for concrete measures in all sectors to reduce disparities based on social roles. Its vision of sustainable, equitable human development founded on justice and gender equality may be formulated as follows:

1.Two objectives:

–That development policies and programmes shall be designed, influenced and directed fairly and equally by women and men; and

–That women, men, girls and boys shall profit from and derive fair and equal benefit from development policies and programmes.

2.Five levels for priority action:

–Civil rights;

–Representation and participation in decision-making;

–Social and economic rights;

•Work;

•Health;

•Education and training;

•Access to the resources and products generated by agricultural and rural development;

•Access to basic infrastructure;

–Social and individual patterns of behaviour;

•Transformation of social roles;

•Balance between professional and family life;

•Organizational changes;

–Institutional and political integration.

In this regard, during March 2007 a circular from the Prime Minister was sent to various Government departments urging horizontal and global integration of a gender approach into programmes and policies as a diagnostic, conceptual, planning, programming, implementing and monitoring tool.

An action plan for 2007-2009 for implementation of this strategy was devised by the Ministry of Social Development, the Family and Solidarity in 2007. Several elements of this action plan have already been accomplished. In particular, a Committee for Gender Cooperation has been established to ensure consistency in the activities conducted in conjunction with international partners and maximum streamlining of support.

A pool of gender experts is being formed whose main task will be to assist State agencies in devising sectoral action plans for implementing the gender strategy.

As of September 2007, the Ministries of Social Development, the Family and Solidarity were consolidated into a single entity that integrates gender perspective into sustainable human development.

Implementation of the action plan of the national strategy for gender equity and equality will follow a participatory and collaborative approach designed to ensure the complementarity of inputs from the various partners: ministerial departments and non-governmental organizations.

Establishing a broadly collaborative mechanism is a priority of the Ministry of Social Development.

Question 7

With regard to budgetary reform, the Ministry of Finance and Privatization (MFP) has introduced a gender perspective into budget preparation as a result of a process launched in 2002 in partnership with United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), in particular the MFP-UNIFEM project on strengthening of national capacities to mainstream gender concerns in the elaboration of the national budget. The goal is to take into account the differing concerns and interests of women and men and girls and boys in formulating, implementing and evaluating public policies while ensuring equity and increased efficiency and coherence in public policies through better allocation of budgetary resources.

Several actions have been accomplished, including the drafting of a manual on gender-responsive budgeting, a practical guide entitled “Dalil al-Mizaniyyah”, and the two gender reports annexed to the economic and financial report. The Ministry of Finance and Privatization will follow up with elaboration of the gender report to be included in the supporting documents for the 2008 Finance Act. These accomplishments were commended by national and international partners. In particular, a press release was issued by UNIFEM in 2005 characterizing Morocco’s initiative as an unprecedented success.

Gender-responsive budgeting is becoming a permanent feature of performance-based budgeting in Morocco. This is noticeable in many respects, including the Prime Minister’s 2007 orientation letter, which called on sectoral departments to include a gender perspective in budget performance indicators.

In the 2008 Finance Act, two pilot departments, the Secretariats of State for Vocational Training and for Combating Illiteracy, are being supported by the Ministry of Finance and Privatization in order to integrate gender perspective into budget planning and programming, notably by developing gender-responsive performance indicators.

Participation of women in public life and decision-making

Question 8

In 2002, the political parties committed to reserving 30 seats on a national list exclusively for women so that 30 women could enter the House of Representatives in the 2002 elections. This agreement held for the 2007 legislative elections, but no additional measure has since been instituted. The national list remains an isolated measure dependent on the will of the political parties and is not part of a quota system.

On the occasion of its revision of the Organic Law on the House of Representatives the national list (affirmative action) was assigned a six per cent threshold, which resulted in women from several parties entering the Legislature.

The reactivation of the list for the 7 September 2007 legislative election, with the cooperation of the political parties, resulted in 30 women entering the House of Representatives after being elected through the list (4 women were elected through local lists).

The number of women members of the House of Representatives elected during the 7 September 2007 legislative election thus came to 34 out of a total of 325 deputies, or 10.46 per cent, which is a decline in comparison with the 2002 legislative elections.

See also the response to question 6.

Question 9

There is no quota for municipal council elections.

Nevertheless, within the framework of the action plan for implementing the national strategy for gender equity and equality by integrating a gender approach into all development policies and programmes, several actions were planned for 2007 to increase the number of women at the municipal level.

Through a governmental declaration, the Government committed itself to promoting women’s access to elected institutions and decision-making positions with a view to achieving parity by putting in place a multidimensional strategy that will institute affirmative action (positive discrimination). In particular, women’s participation in the upcoming 2009 elections will be enhanced through candidate awareness and training programmes and legislative and regulatory measures that have yet to be formulated.

Developing a comprehensive vision of women’s access to decision-making positions and institutionalizing affirmative action measures are on the agenda.

Question 10

The high-level posts to which women have been appointed, including as adviser to His Majesty the King, minister delegate, ambassador and governor, highlight our country’s attachment to gender equality in working life. At the political level, the current Government, resulting from the September 2007 legislative elections, comprises seven women ministers (including the Minister of Social Development, the Minister of the Family and Solidarity, the Minister of Health, the Minister of Energy and Mines, and the Minister of Culture) out of a total of 31 ministers. This represents a significant increase over the previous government in which, out of 34 ministerial-level posts, only two women were appointed as secretaries of State.

Positions of authority, long reserved for men because of considerations bound up with ancestral traditions and time-honoured customs, are no longer the preserve of the male sex. They have been opened up to women, thereby giving them access just as much to the top of the pyramid of authority (post of governor) as to the bottom (a rifa or assistant to the judicial police).

Response from the Ministry of Finance and Privatization

In order to increase the number of women in decision-making posts, measures and options have been adopted that have led to the formulation of a Medium-Term Strategic Programme for the institutionalization of gender equality in public administration. Goals include:

•Recognizing gender equality as a source of democracy, good governance and the modernization of public administration;

•Contributing to the implementation of the national strategy for gender equity and equality through gender-mainstreaming in public administration;

•Systematically incorporating gender equality into reforms relating to the management of human resources through preventive and corrective measures;

•Optimizing the impact of the Ministry of Public Sector Modernization in its cross-cutting function of human resource development on an egalitarian basis as part of the modernization of public administration.

In addition, the development of a jobs and skills template is one of the springboards for the renewal of the public sector and of all policy measures for the optimization of human resources. It is the basic tool and benchmark for optimal management of human resources centred on efficient labour organization and appropriate skills development.

It is so designed as to be immediately applicable in various areas of human resource management (forward management of jobs and skills, work reorganization, appropriate recruitment, functional mobility, geographical mobility, internationalization, promotion, training, optimization of public sector skills pool ...).

All these measures will be translated into operational action and assigned monitoring and evaluation indicators.

Response from the Ministry of Land Use Planning, Water and the Environment

The number of women in positions of responsibility has risen to 26 out of 89, or by more than 29 per cent, in the region of Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaër and the region of Gharb Chrarda Beni Hassan, with the rank of directors of central government services. In the same sector, for the academic year 2006/07, seven women have been authorized to continue their studies in institutes of higher education and 19 women in institutes of vocational training, representing more than 49 per cent of all those to whom this authorization has been granted. The number of women in continuing training programmes in 2006-2007 is 219, or 50 per cent of the total number.

Response from the Ministry for Relations with Parliament

Twenty per cent of women hold decision-making posts.

Response from the Ministry of Public Sector Modernization

In cooperation with the Canadian International Development Agency, the Department has drawn up a medium-term strategic programme for the institutionalization of gender equality in the civil service. This programme is seen as a sectoral input for the national strategy for gender equity and equality through gender mainstreaming in development policies and programmes.

Measures taken to ensure substantial representation of women in decision-making posts are described under the operational strategy plan.

Question 11

The number of women in diplomatic and international service has not significantly increased.

The adoption of temporary special measures (affirmative action or preferential treatment) will be an integral part of the multidimensional strategy to promote the access of women to decision-making posts.

Violence against women

Question 12

The Ministry of Social Development, the Family and Solidarity is currently putting in place an institutional information system on gender-based violence. This project, supported by the United Nations Population Fund, is an implementation mechanism of the partnership agreement with the Office of the High Commissioner for the Plan. It will generate improved information through:

–Unification of the data-gathering methods of the various institutional partners, namely, the Ministries of Health, Justice, Royal Gendarmerie and National Security;

–Establishment of a central database and sectoral databases;

–Compilation of periodic statistical reports.

The system is due to be launched on 26 November 2007, during the fifth National Campaign to Combat Violence against Women. Furthermore, since the establishment of the national hotline for women and girl victims of violence in 2005, a national statistical report is prepared. The second report, based on hotline statistics, is currently being distributed (November 2007).

As for information on the number of cases that have resulted in prosecutions, it is to be noted that all complaints of violence are subject to a procedure of referral to prosecutors’ offices, which institute legal proceedings against those so accused.

The following table gives statistics on the various forms of violence committed in 2004-2007.

Nature of the violence	2004	2005	2006	First half of 2007
Physical violence	3 869	11 241	13 244	15 511
Sexual violence	1 114	1 580	1 885	1 016
Total	4 983	12 821	15 129	16 527

Despite all the efforts, provisions are not always applied (particularly the Code of the Family) and judgements are not always enforced.

The strategy against violence and its plan of action will be updated with a view to identifying priorities and the means to be adopted for better implementation, in broad consultation with the various stakeholders.

A national survey on violence will be carried out in order to form an accurate idea of the prevalence of the phenomenon.

Qualitative and quantitative knowledge of the phenomenon will be supplemented by action-oriented research and ad hoc surveys.

Question 13

Violence against women, both inside and outside the conjugal home, is a punishable offence under the Criminal Code. A harsher punishment is reserved for those who commit violence against their wives or family, whether or not the victim has attained the age of majority,

In addition to the Labour Code, which treats sexual harassment as a punishable offence, the Criminal Code in its article 1-503 provides for one to two years’ imprisonment for offenders together with a 5,000 to 50,000 dirham fine.

Question 14

The department for women’s issues, in accordance with the national strategy to eliminate violence against women, submitted a legislative bill in October 2006 on measures to eliminate violence against women, with a view to amending the Criminal Code.

The proposed amendments concern:

Preventive measures

•Lifting of sanctions against persons who shelter women victims of violence

•Recognition of the right of associations to institute criminal proceedings before the courts

•Authorization of the Crown Procurator, the Procurator General and the examining magistrate to expel the offending husband from the conjugal home upon his committing an act of violence against his wife

•Ban on the aggressor approaching his wife or children for up to five years

•Psychological monitoring of the aggressor.

•Guarantee of legal aid for women victims of violence irrespective of their economic status

Penalties

•All acts of violence against women are treated as punishable offences.

More extensive consultat ions will be held on this bill .

Question 15

Morocco lacks shelters for battered women. However, the Government has supported the action taken by non-governmental organizations that take care of women victims of violence by setting up a mobile emergency care service for the homeless (SAMU Social) in Casablanca. This service is designed to prevent street people, whether men, women or children, from becoming social outcasts; it is operated in partnership with the departments concerned and associations working for the protection of vulnerable social groups and is supported by the French umbrella organization “SAMU Social International”. Its main functions are:

–To ensure the regular presence in the street of professional, multidisciplinary mobile assistance teams for the homeless;

–To provide emergency shelter in extreme cases;

–To build the capacity of partner services.

The plan of action includes measures to expand and institutionalize these interlinked services in other municipalities through the provision of human and material resources and the establishment of follow-up mechanisms.

Morocco intends eventually to extend these facilities by incorporating them into a comprehensive care service provided with the necessary human resources and equipped to meet the needs of women victims of violence.

Every year, ministerial departments and local authorities earmark part of their budget for associations that work for the protection of women and human rights. The resources thus made available serve for both project support and capacity-building.

Under this arrangement, 34 psychological and legal help and guidance centres linked to the national hotline service receive annual State subventions.

Trafficking and exploitation of prostitution

Question 16

The following statistics concerning trafficking in women have been provided by the Ministry of Justice.

Year	Number of cases	Number of persons arrested
2004	5 913	7 477
2005	16 465	23 518
2006	5 030	6 891

Question 17

The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Maritime Fisheries is currently elaborating a plan of action for integration of the gender perspective into agricultural and rural development policies, programmes and projects. The seven key objectives of this plan of action are:

–To improve incomes for the most disadvantaged rural populations, including women;

–To improve economic conditions for women;

–To provide health-care access for men, women and children;

–To improve the hygiene and nutrition standards of disadvantaged rural populations;

–To ensure the school-enrolment of rural girls and boys until at least the end of secondary-level education (by 2015), reduce male and female illiteracy to 20 per cent (by 2010) and eradicate illiteracy among older persons (by 2015);

–To promote outreach programmes for men and women;

–To develop tailored vocational training for boys and girls.

The Department encourages the establishment of women’s organizations and cooperatives with the aim of improving women’s representation and consequently their voice and access to decision-making.

A separate budget item allocated to outreach activities for rural women was introduced for the first time in 2002.

As for regional agricultural development boards, it is their job to sustain the achievements of the agricultural development support project relating to women’s activities by retaining staff and earmarking sufficient facilities and budgetary resources for follow-up of the efforts in progress.

The programme for income-generating activities is designed to improve socio-economic conditions for rural women.

See also the response to question 6.

Support for income-generating activities:

–Technical training for rural women relating to the production, development and marketing of project outputs;

–Organization of fairs for marketing the products of rural women in Morocco and abroad;

–Periodic follow-up of achievements through field visits and the organization of regional workshops.

Agricultural outreach activities for women:

Significant progress has been made over the past few years in terms of programmes of action and the number of women benefiting from agricultural outreach activities.

Question 18

Morocco organizes annual awareness-raising campaigns with a view to combating the social phenomenon of violence against women. These campaigns are designed to reduce the threshold of public tolerance to such violence and to encourage the younger generations to pursue relationships founded on respect for human rights and individual responsibilities.

These campaigns have been organized on the basis of various themes, as follows:

–The national End Violence against Women Campaign of 2004 on the theme of “Violence against women: a universal responsibility — let us condemn it”;

–The national End Violence against Women Campaign of 2005 on the theme of “No to violence against women”;

–The national End Violence against Women Campaign of 2006 on the theme of “In favour of a law on violence against women”, which saw the introduction of a bill criminalizing the sexual harassment of women.

In addition:

–The first Mediterranean Forum on Violence against Women, in which 13 Mediterranean countries and Canada participated, was held from 23 to 25 November 2005;

–The Forum’s report on the subject was published (in Arabic and in French);

–The report of the third national End Violence against Women Campaign was published;

–Awareness caravans were organized, in conjunction with community-based organizations, in 2005 and 2006 in Casablanca, Marrakesh, Fez, Meknes, Salé, Safi, Tangiers and Ouarzazate.

Question 19

Pursuant to the Royal Directives contained in the letter from His Majesty the King addressed to the Prime Minister, the Minister of the Interior has embarked on implementation of the country’s socio-economic development plan for rural women, the aim of which is to combat poverty.

As a result, some 250,000 women from rural communities throughout the Kingdom have benefited from a total of 91 projects.

The Advisory Council has taken measures to remedy the effects of customs under which women are generally prevented from exploiting collectively owned land.

During 2005, the Advisory Council adjudicated 487 cases, 85 or 17.45 per cent of which involved applications to overturn orders issued by meetings of district chiefs (naibs). Of those orders, 42 per cent were invalidated on grounds of their failure to recognize a woman’s right to inherit any right of usufruct accorded to her deceased spouse.

As a result of such efforts in the interest of women’s advancement, the number of women benefiting from the exploitation of collectively owned land has risen to 14, as illustrated by the following table:

Region	Province	Number of women	Nature of project
Gharb Chrarda Beni Hassan	Kénitra	5	One commercial project Three agricultural projectsOne career
Marrakesh-Tensift Al Haouz	El Kelaa de Sraghna	3	Commercial project
Meknes Tafilalt	Errachidia	3	Commercial project
Tadla Azilal	Beni Mellal	1	Agricultural project
Chaouia Ourdigha	Settat	1	Career
Oriental	Figuig	1	Commercial project
Total		14

Women account for 15.5 per cent of representatives in the two decision-making bodies of the National Human Development Initiative (NHDI). These are the NHDI Coordination Office (a dedicated office overseen by Mr. le Wali, Secretary-General to the Minister of the Interior) and the Department of Social Services, which is attached to territorial divisions overseen by the Kingdom’s provincial and prefectural governors.

One of the Department’s functions is to ensure that women benefit more fully from income-generating projects, the aim being to promote their economic integration.

Education and stereotypes

Questions 20, 21 and 22

The Ministry of National Education, Higher Education, Executive Training and Scientific Research has adopted a policy of promoting and strengthening gender equality. A strong and fundamental policy direction has also been taken with regard to improving the quality of women’s education and training, developing the education system and enhancing its internal expertise, taking into account the gender perspective. The National Charter on Education and Training therefore serves as the essential basis for political strategies and the programme for development of the education sector during the decade 2000-2009.

In that context, the National Education Department is doing its utmost to minimize the disparities in school enrolment between rural and urban areas and promote equal access to education for girls and boys, together with equal opportunities. Overall, the Ministry of Higher Education has carried out the following activities:

1.It has elaborated a framework, including guidelines, for the strategic development of the education system to the year 2020, in which the main principles set forth in the National Charter on Education and Training with regard to equal opportunities and gender equality are translated into major objectives and specific targets;

2.It has sought to integrate gender equality and equal opportunities as a cross-cutting issue in the institutional capacity-building project for the Moroccan education system as far as the decentralization and deconcentration of education in Morocco are concerned. In the context of this project, a strategy for equal opportunities and gender equality is defined across all such components, in particular: organizational development; human resources management; and the management, follow-up and evaluation of strategic planning outcomes and results-based financial management and budgeting;

3.It has elaborated a strategic medium-term plan for the institutionalization of gender equality in the National Education Department, in partnership with the Gender Equality Fund;

4.It has overseen a conspicuous rise in the number of girls enrolled in school throughout the curriculum between 1999 and 2007:

(a)Pre-school (under-fours) for the school year 2006/07:

–In urban areas: 271,101 girls out of a total of 566,949 pupils, compared with 277,799 girls out of a total of 570,783 pupils in 2005;

–In rural areas: 293,685 girls out of a total of 588,155 pupils, compared with 294,404 girls out of a total of 594,932 pupils in 2005;

(b)Primary school:

–Children in urban areas: 139,646 girls out of a total of 283,750 pupils, compared with 137,002 girls out of a total of 279,502 pupils in 2005;

–Children in rural areas: 149,128 girls out of a total of 306,165 pupils, compared with 144,761 girls out of a total of 297,334 pupils in 2005;

–Children from 6 to 11 years of age in urban areas: 838,392 girls out of a total of 1,696,618 pupils, compared with 820,937 girls out of a total of 1,654,758 pupils in 2005;

–Children from 6 to 11 years of age in rural areas: 902,741 girls out of a total of 1,886,264 pupils, compared with 916,096 girls out of a total of 1,875,079 pupils in 2005;

(c)Secondary school (12 to 14 years of age) for the school year 2006/07:

–In urban areas: 510,242 girls out of a total of 1,062,157 pupils, compared with 474,884 out of a total of 994,738 pupils in 2005;

–In rural areas: 127,351 girls out of a total of 338,069 pupils, compared with 97,700 girls out of a total of 278,240 pupils in 2005;

(d)Vocational secondary level (15 to 17 years of age) for the school year 2006/07:

–In urban areas: 300,334 girls out of a total of 595,412 pupils, compared with 277,814 girls out of a total of 576,216 pupils in 2005;

–In rural areas: 24,148 girls out of a total of 63,075 pupils, compared with 19,248 girls out of a total of 52,380 pupils in 2005.

5.It has provided significant support for the school enrolment of girls at various levels:

(a)School meals for the school year 2006/07:

Primary school:

–In urban areas: 48,278 girls out of a total of 105,567 pupils, compared with 48,006 girls out of a total of 103,428 pupils in 2005;

–In rural areas: 405,676 girls out of a total of 888,260 pupils, compared with 403,387 girls out of a total of 876,574 pupils in 2005;

Secondary school:

–In urban areas: 881 girls out of a total of 2,202 pupils, compared with 674 girls out of a total of 1,668 pupils in 2005;

–In rural areas: 11,313 girls out of a total of 26,999, compared with 7,799 girls out of a total of 20,855 pupils in 2005;

(b)School transport in outlying and rural areas in order to ensure that girls attend school and also to fight school drop-out:

Secondary school:

–In urban areas: 54 girls out of a total of 95 pupils;

–In rural areas: 744 girls out of a total of 1,592 pupils;

(c)Award of grants for the school year 2006/07:

Secondary school:

–In urban areas: Full grants awarded to 7,280 girls out of a total of 18,353 pupils;

–In rural areas: Full grants awarded to 7,263 girls out of a total of 20,310 pupils;

(d)Boarding pupils for the school year 2006/07

Secondary school:

–In urban areas: 5,639 girls out of a total of 12,817 pupils, compared with 4,800 girls out of a total of 10,946 pupils in 2005;

–In rural areas: 5,523 girls out of a total of 15,914 pupils, compared with 4,334 pupils out of a total of 13,214 in 2005;

Vocational secondary school:

–In urban areas: 10,510 girls out of a total of 34,336 pupils, compared with 8,458 girls out of a total of 30,807 pupils in 2005;

–In rural areas: 1,438 girls out of a total of 5,028 pupils, compared with 1,269 girls out of a total of 4,666 pupils in 2005;

(e)School textbooks and supplies are distributed, particularly in rural and suburban areas, in the context of solidarity campaigns organized by the National Education Department.

6.Promotion of a culture of human rights and equality

A.Creation of a human rights and citizenship commission to provide guidance, coordination, evaluation and follow-up for action plans relating to education on human rights and citizenship rights in partnership with social actors, national institutions, international organizations and non-governmental organizations active in schools.

B.Organization, in a number of academic institutions, of training sessions for teaching staff on education in human rights, citizenship, equality and transparency.

C.Creation of a values observatory whose task is to promote the values and principles of human rights and equality in strategic planning, curricula and school programmes and textbooks.

D.A values observatory to promote the values and principles of human rights and equality in strategic planning, curricula and school programmes and textbooks.

E.A review commission to examine the content of school manuals in the light of human rights principles.

F.Human rights clubs in schools and forums for the discussion of citizens’ experience and practices, for the purpose of organizing extracurricular activities, exercising democracy with a view to creating awareness regarding international human rights conventions, education in citizenship and equality, etc. Whereas there were no more than 60 such clubs in 2002, according to 2006 statistics the number has now reached 936.

G.Partnership and cooperation agreements with non-governmental organizations to promote and create awareness of human rights and women’s rights.

Morocco has also developed a National Charter for the Enhancement of the Image of Women in the Media, which amounts to an ethical framework for respect for the image of women in national media design and production. The Charter is based on principles of human rights, respect for the dignity of women, equal opportunity and the fight against all forms of exclusion of and discrimination against women. The partners are currently coordinating their action to implement the National Charter.

The vocational training sector has a twofold mission: to meet the needs of businesses in order to enhance their performance and their competitiveness and to meet the needs of the population in order to promote the integration of its members into active life and ensure their socioprofessional advancement. Considerable efforts to achieve those goals, undertaken over the past decade by the Office of the Secretary of State for Vocational Training, resulted in outstanding development of the vocational training system.

Vocational training is provided in accordance with the following modalities:

•In-house vocational training, which takes place essentially within vocational training establishments and is necessarily completed with technical training periods in the workplace;

•Alternating vocational training, instituted by Law 36-96, at least half the total duration of which takes place in an enterprise and at least one third within a vocational training establishment;

•Apprenticeship training, instituted by Law 12-00, which is a type of vocational training based on practical in-house training for at least 80 per cent of its total duration, complemented by general technological training for at least 10 per cent of that duration.

Vocational training at the various levels (specialization, qualification, technician and specialized technician) is open to girls as well as boys on the same terms, as provided by the Moroccan Constitution, which stipulates that citizens have equal rights to education and work.

Distribution of trainees in in-house and alternating vocational training by training sector, for the year 2006/07

Girls had access to all these training sectors, in both the public and private spheres.

		Number of girls
Sector	Grand total (1)	Total (2)	Per cent by sector	Female p articipation rate (2)/(1)
Administration — management	75 760	42 852	50	57
Production crafts	11 801	7 764	9	66
Service crafts	33 183	12 736	15	38
Textiles and garments	11 188	7 114	8	64
Hotels — tourism	12 124	5 038	6	42
Construction	15 658	1 797	2	11
Health	7 501	6 359	7	85
Electrical and metal industries	29 210	1 245	1	4
Agriculture	3 275	715	1	22
Others	3 154	937	1	30
Total	202 854	86 557	100	43

It should be pointed out that 38.5 per cent of the areas in the public sector are predominantly male (less than 20 per cent girls), while only 11 per cent can be considered female (more than 80 per cent girls). Areas widely shared by both sexes constitute 50.5 per cent of the total number of areas, which represents a marked increase (11 per cent in 2003). This is attributable to the recent access of girls to the so-called “male” fields, despite cultural and social resistance, as in the case of the electrical and metal industries and construction.

All these observations tend to reveal a certain persistence of differentiation of choice according to sex. However, that differentiation is in no way specific to Morocco, inasmuch as it can be observed in countries whose economic development is far more advanced.

The current trend is towards encouraging girls to take up fields considered “male”.

Distribution of apprenticeship trainees for 2006/07

		Number of apprentices
	Total	Girls
Agriculture	5 901	1 320
Service crafts	2 269	45
Production crafts	3 496	1 129
Hotel and restaurant industry	2 807	1 281
Construction	1 385	—
Sea fisheries	1 801	—
Services	1 203	930
Textiles and garments	561	527
Education	733	681
Leather	12	9
Total	20 177	5 922

The number of girls among apprenticeship trainees is very limited in comparison to their participation in in-house and alternating training, i.e., under 3 per cent. This is attributable to the fact that apprenticeship does not yet cover, or does not adequately cover, the sectors preferred by girls, such as administration and management or textiles and garments.

It is difficult not to call attention to the considerable discrimination experienced by women seeking to enter the labour market owing to unemployment and underemployment. Such discrimination is undeniable, but should not overshadow another fact, namely that once they have been accepted into the labour market, the conditions of their employment are less discriminatory. The actual situation is not clear-cut, with negative aspects but also with neutral and positive ones. All in all, the labour market appears to be relatively free of sexism and discrimination with regard to the women employed in it, though this clearly does not rule out the possible existence of specific situations involving discrimination.

Question 24

Percentage of women with HIV/AIDS:

–19 per cent from 1986 to 1990;

–42 per cent from 2001 to 2005.

Percentage of women suffering from AIDS:

–0.61 per cent of pregnant women;

–0.26 per cent of patients with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs);

–2.04 per cent of sex workers.

Percentage of women with treatable STDs:

–More than 370,000 cases reported in 2005, with infected women accounting for 72 per cent.

To combat HIV/AIDS, the Ministry of Health has adopted the following measures:

–Generalization of treatment and distribution of condoms through health centres;

–Equipping of seven analysis laboratories at the regional level and training of staff in HIV/AIDS detection;

–Revision of the guide to the diagnosis and care of infected women in 2007 within the framework of a comprehensive STDs programme;

–Broadening of the field of control of cases of infection at 26 sites, since the year 2006;

–Generalization of free triple-drug therapy for patients infected with AIDS since 2003.

The national strategy for equity provides specific measures relating to STDs/AIDS while strengthening prevention and the integration of reproductive health and STDs/AIDS modules in vocational training and literacy programmes.

Question 25

The effort to combat maternal mortality has required the attention of the authorities, who have initiated various actions in that sphere, in particular through the building and repair of 48 pregnancy monitoring centres and hospitals, including operating rooms; the fitting out of 72 medical equipment structures; drugs; the acquisition of 70 equipped ambulances; the preparation and dissemination of audio-visual pedagogic support materials on safe motherhood and maternal mortality; the provision to the provinces of documents, folders and information sheets on pregnancy and childbirth; the revision of the basic training programme for doctors and midwives; ongoing training for health personnel (2,000 staff members); the assignment of obstetricians/gynaecologists to the prefectures and provinces; the integration of midwives into the civil service; the development of programmes to sensitize the public to the risks connected with pregnancy and childbirth; and the organization of discussions on treating complications of pregnancy and childbirth.

In February 2007 a sizeable programme on reducing maternal and neonatal mortality in rural areas was launched in the region of Gharb Chrarda Beni Hassan and Chaouia Ouardigha, in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). It involves the building and equipping of health centres with a view to enhancing the care of mothers and infants and developing appropriate logistics for the evacuation of complicated cases.

As for medical coverage, the basic Medical Coverage Code guarantees assistance and medical care for mothers and children in accordance with the principle of equality of the sexes.

Marriage and family relations

Question 26

The Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs has a special relationship with the Ministry of Social Development, the Family and Solidarity. It works with the latter during sensitization and consciousness-raising campaigns organized during Equality Week (March of each year) and the campaign against violence against women (November). The Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs issues guidelines for devoting Friday sermons in mosques to respect for women’s rights and equality between men and women.

Question 28

Refer to the response to question 6.

Question 29

The Moroccan Government proposes that meetings be held for consideration of the report by the Committee every four years.