Morocco Turns Habitat Policy into Actions, UN Official Says

The Moroccan government turns the habitat policy into actions, said on Tuesday in Rabat, the executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN- Habitat), Maimunah Mohd Sharif, during a visit to urban programs to the cities of Salé and Tamesna.

Speaking to MAP news channel M24, the UN official welcomed, during her first visit to Morocco, the efforts made by the Moroccan government “in the implementation of a new urban agenda in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.”

“The government of the Kingdom of Morocco turns policies into actions on the ground, and this is very important,” she pointed out.

Mohd Sharif recalled, in this regard, that Morocco has a very good experience in the area of cities without slums which must be shared and replicated in other cities.

“Our role is to promote this experience and we want to collaborate with the Moroccan government and share the best practices that we have seen today with other cities,” she said, calling on the private sector to be involved in these programs. 

For his part, the Director of City Policy at the ministry of National Territory Development, Town Planning, Housing and City Policy, Abdellah Hachimi, told M24 that the field visit proposed to the Executive Director of UN-Habitat aims to highlight efforts made by the Moroccan government in terms of integration and improvement of living conditions and housing in general at the level of the region of Rabat, as well as the efforts made in the fight against unsanitary housing and the enhancement and rehabilitation of the old medinas.

For his part, Tayeb Daoudi, member of the Executive Board of Al Omrane Group, highlighted the contribution of Al Omrane in the construction of the new town of Tamesna, adding that this visit is part of a cooperation and a partnership established between the Moroccan authorities and the United Nations, as well as within the framework of a global vision of the governmental authorities aiming at the realization of a vast program of new towns.

“Tamesna stretches over a surface area of 840 ha and aims to eventually receive 250,000 inhabitants. Today we have already reached 56,000 inhabitants,” he noted, adding that this city is equipped with the necessary equipment, basic infrastructure, green spaces as well as reception areas for economic and industrial activities that stimulate employment.