National Children's Day: Launch of Model Action Plan to Fight Begging and 'Wladna’ Program (Assessment)

As part of the promotion and protection of children, the Ministry of Solidarity, Social Development, Equality and Family has launched an action plan to protect this category from exploitation for begging purposes as well as the “Wladna” program, which consists in launching integrated territorial mechanisms for child protection, according to an assessment of the Ministry.

In line with the high guidelines of HM King Mohammed VI in the field of promotion and protection of children, and in accordance with the initiative “Rabat: City without children in street situations” launched by the National Observatory for Children’s Rights (ONDE) chaired by Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Meryem, the Ministry and the Presidency of the Public Prosecutor’s Office launched, on December 04, 2019, an action plan to protect children from exploitation for begging purposes, in a model experiment in the cities of Rabat, Sale and Temara.

In a statement outlining the achievements in the field of childhood during the period from May 25, 2020 to May 25, 2021, on the occasion of the National Children’s Day, the Ministry said that this initiative was done in coordination with several ministerial departments and public institutions as well as the ONDE and the Moroccan League for Childhood Protection.

Among the results of this action plan are the protection of 142 children, including 79 females, and this until December 15, 2020, added the same source, noting that the data revealed that 66% of these children are aged between 0 and 04 years, of which 27% are less than one year, and 13 children are of foreign nationalities.

In addition, all cases recorded so far involve mothers begging with their children (97 mothers), with the exception of the grandmother (two cases) and a relative of the mother (only one case), added the statement.

The results also revealed that 17% of the women beg with more than one child and 46% of them are married mothers, 38% are single mothers, 13% are divorced mothers and 02% are widows, the statement said, adding that mothers begging with their children who have not been prosecuted for exploiting their children in begging have also benefited from social services including psychological support, family mediation, referrals to social programs and coordination for training and employment.

Based on the assertion of all partners that this model experience has all the necessary conditions for its success in other regions, the initiative has been extended to include four regions and new provinces, namely Tangier, Meknes, Marrakech and Agadir, with a view to its generalization nationwide.

In addition, the Ministry of Solidarity, Social Development, Equality and Family stressed that the program “Wladna” is part of the implementation of the second strategic objective of the integrated public policy of child protection in Morocco (2015-2025) relating to the creation of integrated territorial mechanisms for child protection.

This program is also part of the implementation of the National Pact for Children resulting from the 16th edition of the National Congress on the Rights of the Child, organized by the ONDE in November 2019, under the High Patronage of HM King Mohammed VI and the effective presidency of Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Meryem.

According to the statement, this program includes a set of measures to strengthen the child protection system against various forms of neglect, abuse and exploitation at the provincial level, including the establishment of provincial committees and support centers to protect children, the establishment of a training program in the field of childhood, a provincial information system to monitor the child in the area, as well as tools that allow the convergence and complementarity between the interventions of decentralized public services concerned with child protection.