"Arab peoples are not used to these frankness from their leaders" - Qatari newspaper
The Arab press has described the initiative of King Mohammed VI to turn the page of human rights violations committed in the past as a "bold step" that ends a political phase and brings hope to the future.
The King has not only surprised Morocco but the whole Arab world with this initiative that will remain forever deep-rooted in the Moroccan history, wrote the Qatari newspaper Arraya, commenting the speech of King Mohammed VI addressed on Friday after the end of the works of the Justice and Reconciliation Commission (IER).
This body was set up in January 2004 to probe and seek out-of-court settlement to human rights violations committed from 1956 to 1999.
Arraya editorialist deemed that "Arab peoples are not used to these frankness from their leaders," pointing out that the king is aware that internal entente requires frankness and transparency.
The Moroccan King underlined in his speech the need to be freed from the repercussions of the past, calling on all Moroccans to consider the past a part of their history and turn to the future. The sovereign did not deny past violations but insisted on the need to draw lessons to prevent the repeat of these practices, noted the paper.
The Egyptian daily Al Hayat deemed, on the other hand, that the appointment of Abderrahmane El Youssoufi (former first secretary of the Socialist Union for Popular Forces –USFP) as prime minister in 1998 heralded the change in Morocco. The future challenge, it said, is to fight poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and all obstacles hindering the country’s development.
The Jordanian Al-Anbaa newspaper said it is important to draw lessons from the Moroccan experience, especially that it grants a great interest to human rights respect and preservation.
Since king Mohammed VI ascended the throne, it said, Morocco has witnessed a continuous political dynamic through more freedom, respect of laws and fighting corruption.
The Morocco Times is also running a story on the King's recent speech, saying that it was "one of its most significant days in its contemporary history." The piece by the managing editor, Karima Rhanem is worth a read: Royal Speech. Morocco admits past mistakes, lays foundations for prosperous future
MAP reports that on Princess Lalla Meryem has chaired the start of a national immunisation campaign against measles and German measles. The campaign is part of the efforts to eradicate the two diseases by 2010 and will this year inoculate more than 477,100 school children nationwide, including 17,798 in the Haouz province (Marrakech region), where the Princess kicked off the campaign.
Princess Lalla Meryem also dedicated the "Dar Al Oumouma" health center built to help cut down mother mortality by providing pre and post natal care to birth giving women coming from surroundings places. The center, built part of the National Initiative for Human Development initiated last year to fight poverty and exclusion, the 370 sq meter centre will host some 800 pregnant women, annually. Women are allowed to stay in the center five days before giving birth.
The centre staff have been trained to raise awareness among the region’s women on issues relating to pregnancy, birth giving, child care and attendance is expected to total 3,000 women per year.
The ceremony was marked by the signing of an entente memorandum by the Moroccan Health Ministry and the UNICEF on the new purchase mode to be used by Morocco to buy vaccines and medical equipment requiring hard currency and pre-payment.
The princess, chairwoman of the National Observatory of Children Rights (ONDE), also chaired in Marrakech the inauguration of a Regional Centre for Taking Charge Women and Children Victim of Violence located at the Ibn Zohr Hospital. The centre, a first a series of eleven throughout the country, will host and rehabilitate violence victims, through inter alia providing needed care and follow up.
In 1968 it was estimated that the Moroccan community residing abroad numbered some 160,000 people. By 2004 that number had risen to 3.09 million, 2.6 million of whom live in France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Spain and Belgium.
Now the Moroccan government is working on the reforms necessary to facilitate the return of the Moroccans living abroad and hoping to encourage their contribution to the Kingdom's socio-economic development. In an interview published by the Spanish agency EFE, Nouzha Chekrouni, minister delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, expressed the government's determination to attract the return of many Moroccans. Chekrouni explained that the Moroccan government is working on the reforms necessary to facilitate the return of the Moroccans living abroad and their contribution to the Kingdom's socio-economic development.“When these reforms will be implemented, a great deal of Moroccans will be encouraged to return to the Kingdom to invest and participate in its development,” she the government, who took part this week in Grenade in a study day on "the Moroccan migration and its contribution to the success of the process of human development,".
Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news
No comments:
Post a Comment