Rabat – More than 1.3 million citizens or 4.1 percent of Moroccans have some type of disability, according to the most recent data released by High Commission for Planning.
This number was revealed by Ahmed Lahlimi Alami High Commissioner of Planning during a press conference on Tuesday in Rabat, while disclosing the result of the Sixth General Census of Population and Housing (RGPH 2014), which took place in September 2014.
According to the same source, the number of Moroccans with disabilities in Morocco reached 1, 353,766 as of December 2014. Over 25.5 percent of them are females, while 47.8 percent are males.
Lahlimi noted that 50.8 percent of individuals suffering from disabilities are aged above 60 years old, while 38.3 percent are aged between 15 and 59, and 10.9 percent are underage.
These figures mean that number of Moroccan citizens with disabilities decreased by 1.02 percent in the past ten years. In 2004, the number of disabled people was estimated at more than 1,530,000 individuals, representing 5.12 percent of Morocco’s population.
The study, which was conducted by the Moroccan Secretariat for Family, Children and Disabled Persons, also found that one in four families is directly or indirectly affected by disability issues and has an active interest in protecting the rights of people with disabilities.
Morocco has made a number of positive steps recently to protect the rights of people with disabilities. Through recent reforms, the Moroccan government has shown commitment to ensuring the political and social inclusion of persons with disabilities.
Morocco has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2009, and the revised constitution, which was adopted in 2011, specifically protects the equal rights of persons with disabilities.
In addition, Morocco’s election code now requires polling station staff to provide necessary assistance to persons with disabilities in order to enable them to vote.
