Morocco

In Morocco, the poorer children have it much worse, their access to health and education is limited. Girls have to put their health at risk because abortions are criminalized. No information is released by Morocco on the situation of children in the occupied Western Sahara.

The Committee notes with concern that, while the incidence of HIV remains very low in the State party, less than two thirds of boys and only one third of girls are reported to be aware that condom use can prevent infection with HIV/AIDS. It is also seriously concerned that the criminalization of abortion leads to dozens of teenage girls every year undergoing illegal unsafe abortions, at the risk of their lives.

The Committee recommends that Morocco organize the collection of data on children with disabilities and develop an efficient system for diagnosing disability, which is necessary for putting in place appropriate policies and programmes for children with disabilities. Also, Morocco should set up comprehensive measures to develop inclusive education and ensure that inclusive education is given priority over the placement of children in specialized institutions and classes. To this end, the Committee urges the State party to urgently remove children with disabilities who have been placed in centres de sauvegarde. It further recommends to take immediate measures to ensure that children with disabilities have access to health care, including early detection and intervention programmes, as well as train and assign specialized teachers and professionals in integrated classes providing individual support and all due attention to children with learning difficulties.

The Committee is concerned that maternal and infant mortality rates remain high and huge disparities in health status persist between children from urban areas
and those from rural areas, with children living in rural areas reportedly being at twice the risk of death as children living in urban areas. Also, the infant mortality risk is 2.5 times as high among children from the poorest quintile compared to those from the richest quintile and forty-two per cent of the children living in the Migrant Reception Centre are underweight, and many are reported to present serious or contagious medical pathologies.
The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that sufficient resources are allocated for the health sector and are used effectively. It further recommends that the State party develop and implement comprehensive policies and programmes for improving the health situation of children and facilitating a greater and equal access to quality primary health services by mothers and children in all areas of the country in order to end the disparities in health-care access. Also, Morocco should take more effective measures to address maternal and infant mortality and the nutritional status of young children.

The Committee is concerned that, while tourism constitutes one of the main pillars of the State party’s economy, the State party has not yet adopted measures to protect children from violations of their rights arising from tourism activities.
The Committee recommends that the State party examine and adapt its legislative framework concerning legal accountability of business enterprises and their subsidiaries operating in or managed from the State party’s territory, especially in the tourism industry. It also recommends to establish monitoring mechanisms for the investigation and redress of violations of children’s rights, with a view to improving accountability and transparency. Morocco should further undertake awareness-raising campaigns with the tourism industry and the public at large on the prevention of child sex tourism and widely disseminate the charter of honour for tourism and the World Tourism Organization global code of ethics for tourism among travel agencies and in the tourism industry. Additionally, Morocco should strengthen its international cooperation against child sex tourism through multilateral, regional and bilateral arrangements for its prevention and elimination.

The Committee urges the State party to ensure that detention, including pretrial detention, is used as a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible period of time, even in cases of very severe crimes, and that it is reviewed on a regular basis with a view to withdrawing it. Also, Morocco should ensure that children in conflict with the law are provided with qualified and independent legal aid at an early stage of the procedure and throughout the legal proceedings, including in the case of flagrant offences. The Committee further urges Morocco to ensure capacity-building and specialization of all the justice actors, including judges, prison officers and lawyers, on the provisions of the Convention and develop properly funded social reintegration programmes for children in conflict with the law.

The Committee recommends that the State party take all necessary measures, including affirmative action policies, to address the economic disparities affecting rural regions and urban suburbs and leading children to unequal enjoyment of their rights. The State party should assess the impact of its social protection programmes and review them to ensure that they are sustainable and accessible to children in the most vulnerable and disadvantaged situations, and should consider holding targeted consultations with families, children, and children’s rights civil society organizations on the issue of child poverty.

Concluding observations on the third and fourth periodic reports released on 14 October 2014.While welcoming the withdrawal of the State party’s reservation to article 14, paragraph 1, of the Convention, the Committee regrets that this reservation has been replaced by an interpretative declaration, which continues to affect the implementation of the rights guaranteed in this article. More information about education in morocco: https://www.moroccoworldnews.com