Morocco to elaborate children's rights code

A children's rights code is being elaborated by the state secretariat, UNICEF and other partners, state secretary in charge of family, solidarity and social action, Yasmina Badou, said here on Wednesday.

At the opening of a workshop on "children deprived of family environment" organized by the Moroccan League for the protection of Children, Badou further noted that the state secretariat supports more than a hundred associations and NGOs active in children issues through a budget estimated at 5 million Dhs (US $ 500,000).

In the same vein, Badou recalled that king Mohammed VI called for the creation of a family support fund at the opening of the current judiciary year.

For her part, UNICEF representative in Morocco, May Ayoub, surveyed recommendations of the U.N. children rights committee, that met lately in Geneva, and that called countries to release more data and statistics about the situation of children and undertake the necessary measures to provide children with an appropriate family environment.

Ayoub hailed the Moroccan government's mobilization to promote the situation of children, stressing that there is a chance to achieve progress in this realm.

The workshop aims to deepen reflection on children living in public or private orphanage institutions and examine means to coordinate actions in favour of children, notably legal, and institutional actions.