Zawaya

The National Initiative for Human Development in Morocco offers positive lessons

By: Jemal Mohamed Oumar

Based on the circumstances and facts that led the Kingdom of Morocco to adopt the National Initiative for Human Development, the rest of the Arab Maghreb countries are bound to learn from this ambitious step announced by King Mohammed VI in his speech on May 18, 2005.

The Arab Maghreb countries have many similar economic and social conditions, excluding Tunisia and Libya which have taken major steps towards the improvement of their economic and social development policies. These circumstances are summarized in the weakness of all government programs that were designed to fight poverty and its negative effects, which translates into the inability to absorb the growing numbers of unemployed graduates, and thus the continuing decline in the economic level of marginalized groups, instead of integrating them into the economy and development. Moreover, social policies failed, resulting in a high rate of illiteracy among people, and the non-extension of access to education, especially in rural areas.

If we take Morocco as an example – being the discussed model today -, we will find that the proportion of people who lived under the threshold of absolute poverty, according to the statistics of 2005, reached 6.6 per cent, and 11.7 per cent in rural areas; the number of needy families increased from 56.8 per cent to 60.5 per cent, and the overall rate of poverty will increase from 13.6 per cent to 22.1 per cent according to previous estimates.

Besides, most Maghreb countries suffer from a major weakness in both manufacturing and services.

These matters – among others – have prompted Morocco to launch the National Initiative for Human Development, involving various key actors, including local elected officials, civil society bodies and governmental agencies, as well as sponsors from outside. This initiative – as announced at the outset – is a development project aimed at improving the economic and social conditions of the population of the Kingdom of Morocco; and it is based on three major aspects:

- Addressing the social deficit both in rural and urban slums;

- Promoting income-generating activities;

- Meeting the demands of people with special health and material needs.

The question that arises now is about the success of this initiative after five years of work, so that other Arab Maghreb countries can benefit from the experience of Morocco.

The results of the Moroccan initiative prove that the country has achieved several positive results after five years of efforts, mainly in terms of promoting basic infrastructures, developing the sectors of health, education, culture, sports and training, improving skills in rural and urban areas, in addition to supporting income-generating activities and fighting poverty. All these are crucial steps should be followed by the rest of the Maghreb countries if they are serious about the construction process.