King Mohammed VI spearheads Morocco’s social protection effort

King Mohammed VI has spurred a national program that puts the promotion and generalization of social safety nets at the heart of the country’s development model and as a lever of social cohesion.

Under orders from the King, the government has gradually rolled out a social protection program that includes mandatory health coverage for all Moroccans and financial assistance to vulnerable households.

The program “will contribute to raising the standard of living of target families and will help fight poverty and vulnerability, in addition to improving social and human development indicators,” the King said in a speech in 2021.

The system adopts a targeted approach to benefit those most in need through a national register, while upholding good governance.

The allocated budget to this social effort is significant representing 8% of Morocco’s GDP at 9 billion dollars.

So far, social aid benefits 6 million households, including 3.6 million families that receive direct cash handouts regularly.

Despite an increase in spending on social safety nets, the government expects the budget deficit to shrink from 7% in 2021 to 3% expected in 2026.

Moroccan authorities are also working on generalizing retirement pensions for all, including the self-employed and job loss benefits.

The King has also been at the heart of the solidarity effort in the wake of the quake that hit the High Atlas Mountains in September 2023, ordering the government to act swiftly in implementing relief and construction effort.

Morocco plans to spend 12 billion dollars on reconstruction, the upgrade of infrastructure and the local economy in quake-stricken areas.

The King has given his high instruction for the Royal Army to contribute to relief effort, with the setting up of field hospitals in different quake-hit areas.

King Mohammed VI is also the chairman of the board of directors of Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity which has been at the forefront of support for most vulnerable segments of the Moroccan society since 1999.

The current social protection momentum is thus a continuation of the achievements under the king-spurred National Human Development Initiative (NHDI), which has been instrumental in improving the country’s human capital and addressing critical gaps in its development trajectory.