Country Profile of Morocco - International Bureau of Children's Rights

Foreword
The project “Manara Network: A Civil Society for
Child’s Rights” was designed and has been implemented
by Save the Children Sweden in a time when the
Middle East has experienced an Arab spring.
Our partners, the International Bureau for Children’s
Rights and Bayti Association, were key in producing this
country report, a component of the Manara Network
project.
The objective of this innovative project is to assure and
contribute to effective development and implementation
of policies, strategies and legislation in line with the
Convention on the Rights of the Child at the national and
regional levels in Middle East and North Africa countries.
The overall project aim is to establish a regional child
rights network of civil society organisations by supporting
and strengthening the capacity of local organisations
in four main components: analysis and reporting, coordination
and networking, advocacy and child rights programme
mainstreaming with a high degree of children’s
participation During the year, children across the region
have been actively involved in the newly-developed childled
data collection. Based on their findings, the children
developed their own animated movies for advocacy purposes,
which can be found at www.manaracrc.org.
On behalf of Save the Children Sweden’s Regional Office
for the Middle East and North Africa, I am happy
to introduce you to one of the key components of the
Manara project, the country profile, a report highlighting
the commendable practices implemented by government,
civil society (parents, non-governmental organisations,
media, religious leaders, etc.) and the international com-
munity (United Nations agencies and international nongovernmental
organisations) towards compliance with the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional
Protocols.
The country profile component of the Manara project
is a rigorous and exhaustive report on the status of the
implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child. It aims to be a resource for identifying gaps and
challenges on the status of the implementation of the
Convention, to highlight the recommendations of the
Committee on the Rights of the Child on specific matters,
and to identify commendable practices implemented by
the State, civil society and the international community in
addressing these issues.
We encourage its use as an inspiration to neighbouring
countries, since the exchange of experiences presented in
the country profiles can only lead to positive changes in
the promotion and protection of children’s rights in the
region. I would also like to thank the Swedish International
Development Cooperation Agency and their regional
office in Cairo who believed in this idea and made the
funding available.
Sanna Johnson
Regional Director, Save the Children Sweden
Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa
Morocco Country Report 6