The initiative aims to mitigate restrictions on mobility and preserve the health of rural Moroccans.
Rabat – Morocco’s INSAF Association has initiated a solidarity campaign in Chichaoua, a town approximately 90 kilometers west of Marrakech, to distribute food to 150 needy families in nearby rural villages.
The association collaborated with local authorities to assist families in the villages of Imintanout, Idouirane, and Timzgadiouine who have been hard hit by the COVID-19 outbreak and its socioeconomic repercussions.
The architect of the solidarity campaign, Omar Saadoun, told Maghreb Arab Press that the INSAF Association was inspired by the dozens of humanitarian initiatives that have emerged as Moroccans adjust to life under the state of health emergency.
Because the state of emergency limits the mobility of citizens and residents to contain the spread of COVID-19, the disruption of daily life has adversely impacted economically vulnerable people working in the informal sector.
The INSAF Association constantly works to provide aid to needy families in rural Morocco, but COVID-19 has posed a unique threat to their livelihoods.
People living in rural areas who already do not have easy access to basic goods and must travel to purchase foodstuffs are especially vulnerable under the lockdown, which prohibits inter-city travel.
The initiative to distribute food to 150 families aims to mitigate the restrictions on mobility and preserve the health of rural Moroccans.
Dozens of solidarity initiatives and humanitarian operations targeting vulnerable communities have picked up in Morocco amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) launched Operation SALAMA with the objective of protecting vulnerable communities in Morocco, particularly women, against the risk of COVID-19 infection.
The humanitarian operation aims to distribute medical and hygiene kits to pregnant women, midwives, survivors of gender-based violence, migrants, people with disabilities, and the elderly as a preventive measure against the spread of the virus.
Rabat-based non-profit Mobilising for Rights Associations (MRA) assembled online emergency resources for victims of domestic abuse in light of the lockdown.
Local authorities in Safi, near Marrakech, teamed up with the Provincial Delegation for National Assistance and the Al Bir Wal Ihssan Association to welcome dozens of homeless people at shelters and protect them from infection.
Social distancing has become the norm in Morocco under the lockdown, but social cohesion has reached unprecedented heights.
Read also: Health Ministry: Morocco’s COVID-19 Curve to Flatten in Near Future
