The Moroccan government is preparing a law to ban child labour and in particular the use of children as domestic servants.
Yasmnia Baddou (pictured above), Morocco's secretary of state for family, childhood and the disabled, told a press conference on Tuesday that the law aimed to "create a Morocco that is worthy of its children" and would focus on "regulating domestic labour and punish all use of little girls as maids."
According to the US rights group Human Rights Watch, Morocco has one of the highest child labour rates in the Middle East and North Africa.
Moroccan law bans children under 15 from working.
However, a survey carried out by Morocco's employment ministry, the rights group International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) and the World Bank, cited by the Maghreb Arabe Press news agency, found that some 600,000 children between the ages of seven and 14 work in Morocco - 11 percent of the country's children in that age group.
The Human Rights Watch's report issued in December last year said that "girls as young as five work 100 or more hours per week, without rest breaks or days off for as little as six and a half Moroccan dirhams (about 70 US cents) a day. These girls are often exposed to physical and even sexual abuse and denied schooling."
The US-based rights group blamed the Moroccan cabinet for neglecting children's rights.
The draft bill is reportedly also aimed at fighting recruitment networks, especially in poor rural areas where child labour is most widespread.
Yasmnia Baddou (pictured above), Morocco's secretary of state for family, childhood and the disabled, told a press conference on Tuesday that the law aimed to "create a Morocco that is worthy of its children" and would focus on "regulating domestic labour and punish all use of little girls as maids."
According to the US rights group Human Rights Watch, Morocco has one of the highest child labour rates in the Middle East and North Africa.
Moroccan law bans children under 15 from working.
However, a survey carried out by Morocco's employment ministry, the rights group International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) and the World Bank, cited by the Maghreb Arabe Press news agency, found that some 600,000 children between the ages of seven and 14 work in Morocco - 11 percent of the country's children in that age group.
The Human Rights Watch's report issued in December last year said that "girls as young as five work 100 or more hours per week, without rest breaks or days off for as little as six and a half Moroccan dirhams (about 70 US cents) a day. These girls are often exposed to physical and even sexual abuse and denied schooling."
The US-based rights group blamed the Moroccan cabinet for neglecting children's rights.
The draft bill is reportedly also aimed at fighting recruitment networks, especially in poor rural areas where child labour is most widespread.
Tags: Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
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