Gov’t Pays Great Attention to Social Projects, El Otmani Says

The government has paid great attention to the social projects in which Morocco has been resolutely engaged under the wise leadership of HM King Mohammed VI, said the Head of Government, Saad Dine El Otmani.

In a document published on the official website of the Department of the Head of Government, El Otmani underlines that the Government is committed, as part of its program, to strengthening the various social assistance plans, to improving their governance and efficiency, to launching the reform of the targeting system, to diversifying and extending support mechanisms to vulnerable categories, to expanding basic medical coverage and pension schemes and to developing the compensation system for loss of employment.

These reform projects and social mechanisms have led to satisfying results, he says.

In order to ensure the optimal implementation of the generalization of social protection, in accordance with the Royal Guidelines, the project includes four major axes, namely the generalization of compulsory basic health insurance for 22 million additional beneficiaries in 2021 and 2022 and family allowances in 2023 and 2024 to cover nearly 7 million school-age children, he points out.

It also involves the broadening by 2025 of the base of the pension schemes members to include people who exercise a job and not benefiting from any pension, and the generalization of the indemnity for loss of employment in 2025 to cover any person holding a stable job by simplifying the conditions for benefiting from this allowance and broadening the base of beneficiaries.

Regarding the expansion of medical coverage, El Otmani stressed that this Royal project will accelerate the pace of implementation of government programs in this area, adding that the rate of basic medical coverage has increased over the past few years to reach around 70% of the population in 2019 against 52% in 2015 and 35% in 2012, thanks to the expansion of this coverage to several social categories.

The official noted that the 2017-2019 period was marked by the continuation of the implementation of the National Initiative for Human Development in its second phase with the mobilization of a budget of more than 10.71 billion dirhams for the execution of the various programs of this initiative.

The Head of Government also highlighted the support mechanisms for women in precarious situations and people with special needs, efforts to strengthen the generalization of access to social housing, the Integrated National Program for the Economic Empowerment of Women, the reform of social protection institutions, the organization and restructuring of the field of social work and the compensation for loss of employment.

The government is working on the implementation of more than 100 social programs through several ministerial departments and specialized establishments, said El Otmani, noting that with a view to achieving the highest levels of convergence and efficiency, the government has set up an integrated vision of social protection following the National Social Protection Conference, held in November 2018.