The National Human Development Incentive

As you pass through the ancient medina, with your senses being overwhelmed by sounds, smells and colour, you might miss a few small details. A detail which is particularly worthy of noting, are the small signs which are dotted around the walls of various attractions or industrial areas which read “Initiative Nationale pour le Developpement Humain”. These signs are indicative that the project or co-operative it is mounted onto, is backed and maintained by the Moroccan Government’s National Human Development Incentive.

The incentive was launched in May 2005 by His Majesty the King Mohammed VI in an effort to reduce poverty, instability and social exclusion for Moroccans. The project aims to make steps in changing these factors by way of providing activities which aim to combat unemployment. Examples such as training programmes, job creation, sports leadership and income promotion have been cropping up all over Morocco, and are designed to spark motivation for generating income without participating in criminal activity. The programme promises to be accessible to all Moroccans, and inclusive of the most impoverished areas.

There are four programmes at play, which all strive to benefit different targets and these are as follows:

1. Fighting against rural poverty in all regions of Morocco.
2. Fighting against social exclusion in urban areas of Morocco.
3. The program of fighting against precariousness (unstable situations such as homelessness, the poor elderly and street children).
4. The transversal project which aims to support unemployed people living in non-target communal spaces.

The project has a budget of 10 billion dirhams and in time, this incentive aims to lift the human development index of Morocco which has been ranked as relatively low; due to low rates of literacy, life expectancy and income.

Partially due to the Arab Spring in 2011 and the marginalisation it caused for young people from the labour market; the role of growth in reducing unemployment is key in Morocco.
Morocco is a low medium income country and the majority of income in the economy comes from services and tourist trade, followed by agriculture, industry and lastly construction.

The good news is that in the years since the project was launched in 2005, Morocco has made huge steps in addressing poverty and improving living situations for Morocco’s poorest residents. In the last decade, Moroccan economic growth patterns have been increasingly stable; and in the past 15  years the growth of Moroccan economy has been continuously positive.

In terms of statistics in the past decade, each year has recorded on average 123,000 new entrants into the labour market within Morocco and beyond this, approximately 164,000 jobs were created each year between the years 2000 and 2008. The sectors of construction and service are recorded as being the most efficient in creating jobs; but the incentives aim to increase jobs in the industrial sector too. The leather industry is one of the oldest historical industries in Morocco, but it has been shrinking since 2005 – so the government are backing training programmes which will ideally introduce young Moroccan’s to this sector and promote a sustainable career in the field.

There are also many grass roots organisations cropping up, which aim to make a change in the structure of Moroccan employment and education. Non-profit organisations such as Henna Cafe Marrakech, provide free classes to Moroccans and refugees of all ages in various subjects such as literacy, numeracy, languages, study-groups and kids club.

Your tourism has a great impact on the economy of Morocco, so contact us and plan your visit today. It’s time to see all that this diverse country has to offer…