King of Morocco Calls for Expansion of Social Welfare Coverage to All Moroccans

PERSISMA, Tetouan, Morocco – HM king Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, stressed that the time has come to launch a decisive process for the expansion of social welfare coverage to all Moroccans within the next five years.

In a Speech to the Nation on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of the Sovereign’s accession to the Throne, HM the king stressed that “this project needs to be implemented gradually, as of January 2021, using a well thought-out plan.”

The plan should first of all focus on the generalization of compulsory health coverage and family allowances, then moving on to pension and unemployment benefits, the Sovereign explained.

“Such a plan requires tangible reform of current social protection systems and programs in order to increase their direct impact on beneficiaries, especially through the rolling-out of the national social register,” stressed HM the king, noting that “universal access to social protection coverage should serve as a lever for the integration of the informal sector into the nation’s economic fabric.”

Therefore, the Sovereign called on the “Government to complete the development, together with the social actors concerned, of a comprehensive, practical approach that includes the timetable, legal framework and financing options needed to achieve effective universal social protection”.

HM the King also underlined that all the projects and initiatives He has launched aim to accomplish one goal: the promotion of development and the achievement of social justice and inter-regional, with the priority aspiration of ensuring social protection for all Moroccans.

The Sovereign recalled that during the State of Nation Address in 2018, he had already called for speeding up the review of the social protection system, which suffers from scattered services and inadequate coverage and is only moderately effective.

“To attain this goal, we must uphold good governance, which is based on constructive social dialogue and on the principles of integrity, transparency and fairness, and see to it that any perversion or exploitation of this lofty social project for political gain is avoided,” HM the king said.