Day: June 10, 2024

Jeddah – The official Moroccan pilgrimage delegation arrived in Jeddah on Monday, to perform the Hajj pilgrimage for the year 1445 H.

The delegation, led by the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Ryad Mezzour, was greeted at the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah by the Moroccan Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Mustafa Mansouri, and the Kingdom’s Consul General in Jeddah, Abdelilah Oudadas.

The delegation includes the Wali-national coordinator of the National Initiative for Human Development (INDH), Mohamed Dardouri, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice, Abderrahim Miad, the Director of Legal Affairs and Treaties at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Hassan El Asri, and the doctor Colonel Noureddine Baba.

In a statement to the press, Mezzour said he was honored by the confidence placed in him by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, who had entrusted him with leading the official delegation to the Holy Sites of Islam as well as providing assistance and
support to Moroccan pilgrims in carrying out their rite in complete serenity.

In this respect, he emphasized the High Solicitude with which His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Commander of the Faithful, surrounds Moroccan pilgrims, so that they can perform the Hajj in the best possible conditions, recalling the contents of the Royal Message addressed to Moroccan pilgrims heading for the Holy Sites of Islam in the year 1445 H.

In this message, which was read out by Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, Ahmed Toufiq, the Sovereign called on pilgrims to represent their country during the great Hajj season in the best way possible, by adhering to the quintessential values of Islam.

“You must be reminded that during the Hajj season you are expected to embody the lofty values of Islam, including those of integrity, proper treatment of others, solidarity and sincerity when turning to the Lord of the Worlds. You must also represent your country properly and reflect its time-honoured civilization, in the same way m
y ancestors did throughout the centuries”, emphasized the Sovereign.

This year, the number of Moroccan pilgrims amounts to 34,000, of whom 22,500 are managed by the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, while travel agencies supervise 11,500 pilgrims.

A total of 738 administrators, Ulema, doctors and media professionals, including 520 escorts and supervisors, are mobilized in support of these pilgrims.

Source: Agence Marocaine De Presse

Rabat – A total of 493,651 candidates started to take on Monday the 2023-2024 unified national Baccalaureate exams in various Moroccan provinces and prefectures.

According to a statement by the Ministry of National Education, Preschool and Sports, 373,374 of the candidates are enrolled students, while 120,277 are free takers.

The exams proceed until June 13, while the catch-up session will take place on July 10, 11, 12 and 13, said the same source, adding that the results of this session will be announced on June 26 and those of the catch-up session on July 19.

Private school education represents 13% of the total number of candidates enrolled, noted the same source, adding that 64% of candidates are in scientific and technical streams, 35% in literary streams, and 1% in vocational streams.

Source: Agence Marocaine De Presse

Fez – UNICEF Representative in Morocco Speciose Hakizimana lauded, on Monday, the cooperation between the Kingdom’s judicial and executive authorities as a model for advancing children’s rights in the country. Her remarks were made during the opening of a national meeting in Fez focused on reviewing the implementation of the results from the National Conference on the Protection of Children in Contact with the Law.

“This multi-sectoral mobilization and the complementarity of actions between the executive and judicial powers, as well as between judicial and social protection, are crucial for promoting and ensuring the optimal protection of children’s rights,” Hakizimana stated.

She commended the “consistent commitment” of the public prosecutor’s office to child protection in Morocco, noting that this dedication has facilitated a comprehensive process involving all stakeholders. The meeting, marking the first anniversary of the initial conference held last June, serves as a platform to celebrate progress and
assess milestones achieved over the past year in the realm of child protection.

Highlighting the regular efforts of government authorities and civil society actors, Hakizimana pointed out the strengthened collaboration with international partners, including the European Union, as a significant factor in the effective protection ecosystem in Morocco.

“Child protection is an ongoing and continuous effort in all countries, including Morocco,” Hakizimana said. She emphasized that the Fès meeting provides an opportunity to reflect on and identify mechanisms to enhance protection measures for the most vulnerable children and those in conflict with the law, who are placed in penitentiary and child protection centers.

The meeting aims to ensure the follow-up of recommendations made last year and to review the progress and challenges faced over the past twelve months. Hakizimana called for “political and operational responses” to reinforce the achievements and advance towards the full realization of children’s righ
ts in Morocco.

In her remarks, she also celebrated the recent signing of a protocol for the care of vulnerable children, including those in conflict with the law, as a significant accomplishment.

Organized by the Office of the Public Prosecutor in collaboration with UNICEF and supported by the European Union, the two-day meeting features plenary sessions addressing the status, key issues, and challenges related to child protection in Morocco.

Source: Agence Marocaine De Presse

Fez – Morocco’s Minister of Solidarity, Social Integration and Family, Aawatif Hayar, highlighted, on Monday in Fez, the importance of cooperation between the judiciary and the governmnt to ensure comprehensive protection for children.

In a speech read on her behalf at the opening of the national meeting on the implementation of the National Conference on the Protection of Children in Contact with the Law, the Minister explained that since the field of child protection is multidimensional and multidisciplinary, it requires cooperation between the judiciary and the government to ensure integrated protection of the child guaranteeing their best interests, in particular for children in contact with the law.

In this context, she stressed the importance of the contribution of all stakeholders, including law enforcement and social, educational, cultural and other actors, in achieving effective and integrated care for children in contact with the law, whether they are in conflict with the law, in difficult situati
ons or victims of crime.

Hayar recalled that the Ministry of Solidarity, Social Integration and Family has been working on the development of the second national program for the implementation of the integrated public child protection policy 2015-2025, the main lines of which were presented on May 27 on the occasion of National Children’s Day.

She pointed out that this program is built around prevention and protection, expanding the range of social services to achieve spatial justice and create a new generation of services, while using personal development and leisure to unleash children’s creative energies and prepare them for the post-18 stage.

The government official added that the second national executive program of the integrated public policy for child welfare also focuses on digital violence, supporting the youngest children and providing an institutional environment of proximity and quality in services and practices.

The Minister also announced that the government is working on the legal framewor
k for the creation of a national agency in charge of promoting child welfare and improving the situation of children in need of care, whether they be children in difficult situations, neglected children or children in contact with the law.

In this regard, she affirmed that this meeting is an opportunity to reaffirm the will and determination to intensify the efforts of the various stakeholders to advance children’s issues, to which His Majesty King Mohammed VI pays particular attention, also recalling the commitment and personal involvement of Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Meryem, President of the National Observatory for the Rights of Children (ONDE).

For his part, Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid stressed, in a speech read on his behalf, that engaging in ambitious reform projects linked to the development of Morocco’s child welfare system is one of his department’s top priorities.

The Minister added that children in contact must be protected and cared for in a safe
and stable environment, as this is ‘not only their fundamental right, but also an investment in the future of our society as a whole’.

Bensaid noted that the treatment of this category of children relies on cooperation and convergence between the various parties concerned, so as to rationalize the human and financial resources mobilized for this purpose.

In this respect, he stressed that his department is working tirelessly to implement its commitments concerning the activation of the tripartite child welfare agreement, as well as the agreement on the activation of the territorial protocol for the care of children in vulnerable situations.

The Minister also referred to the mobilization of all available capacities to strengthen the role of child welfare centers and the probation system in monitoring and integrating children in contact with the law, reinforcing children’s reintegration programs and ensuring their participation in various cultural and recreational initiatives and programs organized by the Min
istry and its partners at national and local levels, which have yielded encouraging results.

Source: Agence Marocaine De Presse

Lamharza Essahel Commune (El Jadida Province) – The Casablanca desalination plant, the construction of which was launched on Monday by HRH Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan, is an extremely strategic project for strengthening and securing the drinking water supply for the entire region, emphasized Tarik Hammane, Managing Director of the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE).

This plant, set to be built in the Lamharza Essahel municipality (El Jadida province), is one of the largest in the world and the largest in Africa, with an annual production capacity of 300 million cubic meters per year, Hammane told the press at the launch of the project, noting that it will supply the cities of Casablanca, Settat and Berrechid and neighboring areas (Bir Jdid, Had Soualem).

The plant will be built in two phases and will supply drinking water to some 7.5 million people in the region, he added.

During the first phase, scheduled for commissioning at the end of 2026, the plant should reach a production cap
acity of 200 million cubic meters per year, extendable in a second phase (scheduled for mid-2028) to 300 million cubic meters per year, or an additional 100 million cubic meters, including 50 million for agricultural use, added ONEE’s Managing Director.

This project will be carried out thanks to a public-private partnership, he continued, noting that ONEE has joined forces with national and international private partners to finance and carry out the project.

He added that the Casablanca desalination plant is just as important from a technical point of view, since it will be equipped with the best technologies in the field and will be powered by renewable energy.

All the electricity required for the plant’s operation will come from non-polluting renewable energies,’ stated Hammane, stressing that all actions to respect the environment have been taken into consideration.

Source: Agence Marocaine De Presse