Data banks and research to guide economic and social programs, Morocco

Morocco and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) signed in Rabat on Friday three agreements providing for cooperation in population and development strategies.

Under the agreements, part of the 2002-2006 cooperation program, a budget of 1.7 million US$ (1.02 Mln from the Fund's own resources and 680,000 from the state budget) will be earmarked to integrate population and gender issues in development planning, to methodological research and to the creation of a social-demographic data bank for the Marrakesh region.

The projects will be carried out by Moroccan partners, the center of demographic studies and research, the national institute of applied statistics and economy and the ministry of economic forecasts and planning.

The agreements were initialed by Moroccan economic forecasts and planning, Abdelhamid Aouad, and the UNFPA representative in Morocco, Vincent Fauveau.