Morocco ►EU-funded project launches campaign to combat violence against women On 4 February it was announced that a campaign to combat violence against women will be launched on 5 February in Rabat. The campaign “No tolerance for violence against women” is conducted by the group “La Force des Femmes”, which seeks to reinforce the capacities of those Moroccan civil society organisations that are active in the field of women’s rights. “La Force des Femmes” is an initiative of the Italian NGO ProgettoMondo Mlal and is co-funded by the EU. Its implementation in several provinces runs in partnership with Amnesty International Morocco and the Moroccan Women’s National Union. Its objectives are to improve the institutional capacity of networking, and to promote the full and effective participation of civil society organizations active in the field of women’s rights. ►Minister involved in corruption scandal over chocolate bill On 29 January Abdeladim El Guerrouj, Moroccan Minister of Vocational Training, was accused of using state funds to make a purchase of chocolate on the occasion of his first child’s baptism. The scandal, which has stirred controversy in Morocco, puts the Islamist-led government in an embarrassing situation, particularly because the latter has repeatedly promised to fight corruption. In response, the Minister decided to file a complaint against the media for publishing information about him without checking its veracity. ►MPs question Prime Minister On 28 January Moroccan MPs questioned Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane about several issues, including efforts to tackle corruption. Parliamentarians complained that the problem has grown to considerable proportions without the government implementing any concrete solutions. MP Ahmed Reda Chami said the government should keep its promises, especially since the prime minister has wide-ranging powers and his party vowed to combat the phenomenon. Benkirane acknowledged the scale of corruption in Morocco but underlined that he could not achieve the desired goals on his own. I agree with all of the criticism about the extent of corruption in Morocco. One of the big problems that stop us from tackling this issue is the failure to report acts of corruption. Citizens and institutions must perform their duty, he said. ►New push to end Western Sahara stalemate On 27 January it was announced that the UN Special Envoy for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, is trying once again to achieve a peaceful resolution to the frozen conflict. Ross wrapped up his latest Maghreb tour after meeting with Moroccan Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar. No details about the meeting were revealed. Earlier, he met with Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal. He also travelled to the Polisario refugee camps in Tindouf for talks with their chief Mohamed Abdelaziz. Appointed in 2009 as the personal envoy to the Western Sahara for UN chief Ban Ki-moon, Ross said after his last regional tour in October that there was still no hope of convening face-to-face talks between Morocco and the Polisario. Ahmed Chrifi, a political analyst, said Ross would still like to facilitate direct or indirect negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Feb 2014 18:06:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015