Canadian international assistance in Morocco
Morocco is currently one of the most stable countries in the region. It is an emerging country in North Africa that is implementing numerous sectoral strategies, several infrastructure programs, and an aggressive trade strategy with sub-Saharan African countries. Morocco is targeting a 52% renewable energy share by 2030, including through the major solar and wind projects in Ouarzazate and Tarfaya, respectively. Hosting COP 22 in Marrakesh from November 07 to 18, 2016, focussed domestic concerns on climate change.
Although it has so far been spared the disturbances affecting the region, it still faces major economic, political, social, and security challenges. The main challenge will be to address social, economic and geographic inequalities, in order to meet numerous citizen expectations with respect to youth unemployment, poverty, and education. Those challenges include gender equality and the low economic participation rate for women, which is having a major impact on the country’s development.
The Moroccan government's main priority is ensuring that young people can enter the labour market, in order to give them a future that would ensure sustainable social stability.
Programming in Morocco
Search the Project Browser to find out what Canada is doing to support Morocco’s development.
The ultimate objective of Canada’s programming in Morocco is to work with Morocco to help provide greater prosperity and a better future for young Moroccans, especially the most disadvantaged. Projects help to improve youth employability and education and meet labour market needs, and support women’s economic empowerment, opening of markets, and the green economy.
The programming is aligned with Morocco’s priority reforms and the Government of Canada’s priorities in relation to development assistance. Gender equality is a major theme, and all projects must directly address issues related to women’s rights.
Some examples of activities:
- Expanding the Competency-Based Approach (CBA) to the whole vocational training sector, taking into account the specific needs of women and girls.
- Supporting programs to improve job competencies in order to better meet labour market needs.
- Supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and small cooperatives that target the export market, so that they are better adapted to international market requirements and better integrated into global value chains.
- Improving the entrepreneurial competencies of students and young men and women non-graduates.
- Improving the capacities of local employment centres to provide services to young graduates and non-graduates in pilot regions in the country.
- Building capacities and promoting equitable economic opportunities for women and men in the durum wheat and pulse crops sector.
- Facilitating guidance and school-to-work transition for youth who are still in school but are at risk of dropping out.
- Strengthening local education or integration to the workforce structures in order to provide viable opportunities adapted to the most vulnerable youth who are not in school.
Examples of results achieved to date
- Supported the design and implementation of strategic reforms to expand the Competency-Based Approach (CBA) to the whole vocational training sector in Morocco.
- Developed and disseminated a Gender Equality Values and Standards Reference for the vocational training sector in Morocco.
- Created an Export Canada Club for Moroccan small and medium-sized enterprises and small cooperatives that export or are interested in exporting to Canada.
- Built durum wheat milling capacities and opened up new avenues for developing innovative pulse crops products.
- Institutionalized entrepreneurship training in the Moroccan Vocational Training Office.
- Opened up public employment intermediation services to non-graduates.
Related links
- The Embassy of Canada to Morocco and Mauritania
- Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (PDF, 1.5 MB, 26 pages)
