Morocco’s 2020-2021 national campaign to protect against cold waves will benefit more than 755,000 Moroccans. Approximately 13% of the beneficiaries are elderly, 35% are children, and 51% are adults.
The Minister Delegate to the Ministry of the Interior, Noureddine Boutayeb, announced the number on Monday, December 21, during a meeting at the House of Representatives.
According to the official, the national campaign will target 1,776 remote villages across 27 different provinces. This year’s campaign will be slightly larger than the previous one, which only covered 1,753 villages and benefited 736,000 Moroccans.
Morocco’s national campaign to protect against cold waves became an annual event in 2007. Each year, the Ministry of the Interior, in collaboration with other departments, launches the initiative to assist populations in remote villages in the Atlas and Rif mountains.
Between December and March, temperatures in the remote villages, especially those located at high altitudes, regularly drop below zero degrees Celsius.
Boutayeb explained that authorities have divided villages across Morocco into three categories, depending on how difficult it is to access them during cold waves. Local authorities will regularly supply the villages with basic necessities and will schedule their visit based on the predefined categories.
The first category includes 289 villages where access is relatively easy. Local authorities will be able to supply the villages with necessities every two to three days.
The second category includes 842 villages and will receive visits from local authorities every four to seven days.
Finally, the third category includes 645 villages and will receive new supplies every seven days or more. The villages classed within this category host more than 34,000 families and 239,000 Moroccans.
Supplies include various commodities, heating tools, livestock feed, and telecommunication devices.
Morocco’s Royal Gendarmerie will contribute to the national campaign through providing helicopters for emergency interventions.
