Moroccan government undertakes to fulfill social commitments
Morocco, Economics, 5/7/1999

The Moroccan government undertook to materialize social commitments contained in a declaration concluded in 1996 with trade unions and employers.

Khalid Alioua, social development, solidarity, employment and vocational training minister, told the press on Thursday in Casablanca that the government undertakes to materialize the provisions of the August 1996 declaration during the 1999-2000 fiscal year.

The declaration provides, among other things, for salary increases and the promotion of housing and health coverage for workers.

Alioua, who is also spokesman for the government, stressed the need to start technical and practical dialogue to determine the needed measures in housing, health insurance and salaries.

The minister announced the creation shortly of a national social development agency to help secure self-employment for unskilled persons.

The agency's action will complement that of the government, especially in struggling against poverty and illiteracy and in promoting continuous training and social protection.

Measures taken in this connection include a 20% increase in compensation for occupational accidents, the extension of the list of industrial diseases to 97 instead of 37, and setting the minimum pensions of retired persons at 500 dh (almost $50), he said.

Instituting a compulsory health insurance and its extension to the sectors of handicraft, agriculture and liberal professions are other measures announced by the government.

Morocco seeks to bring up the number of persons benefitting from health insurance to 7 million private and public workers.

Alioua added that he will carry on with action to increase civil servants' access to housing, as another social security factor.

The minister, who urged the private sector to financially contribute to the housing endeavor, said the government will create a national low-cost housing fund.

Part of the efforts to promote the country's social situation, Alioua said the government seeks to decrease the illiteracy rate to 25% from 54% by the year 2010.

To win this stake, the government will launch a partnership action with 100 associations for the training of 5,000 illiterate wage-earners annually, he said.

The program has already covered 92,000 persons, i.e. 8% of wage-earners subscribing to the National Social Security Fund (CNSS).

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