Over 100,000 Widows in Morocco Received Social Security Support

Rabat – Over 100,000 widows in Morocco have benefited from the country’s direct support program for widowed women in vulnerable situations, as part of the country’s social security initiatives.

Morocco’s Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani recalled, during the monthly hearing on public policy on May 10, that the government gave support to 106, 675 widows totaling approximately $230 million (MAD 2.56 billion), between the launch of the program and the end of October 2020. 

Building on the success of the program, the government is looking at potentially furthering the depth of the program to also include other vulnerable segments of society. El Othmani added that the widow support program will be one of the first such programs that will see the adoption of “conditional cash transfers,” a necessary step towards a unified social registry.

The government’s direct support program benefits a wide number of some of the most vulnerable members of society. Eligibility for the program depends on factors such as poverty, being widowed or orphaned, and disability.

Read also: El Othmani Says Moroccans Should Be Proud of Social Security Reforms

The ongoing governmental initiative is currently helping society’s most vulnerable to the tune of $6.2 million (MAD 55 million) a month.

Through the same program, the government is providing approximately 176,000 orphaned children with education, in hopes of helping them overcome the cycle of poverty.

Such programs will see sweeping reforms to simplify the necessary procedures for obtaining support as well as to reduce the deadlines for processing applications.

The initiative comes as part of Morocco’s broader efforts to effectively implement the governments’ framework for the 2020-2030 generalized social protection policy. El Othmani also said that Morocco’s healthcare reforms must be implemented within a maximum of five years, which will grant an additional 22 million citizens mandatory health insurance.

As part of the North African country’s undertaking to widen its social security framework, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI recently introduced new healthcare benefits for the country’s working-class, in accordance with the timeline established by the King in the Throne Day speech of 2020.

“This societal project constitutes a real social revolution as it will have direct and tangible effects on improving the living conditions of citizens,” said Morocco’s Minister of the Economy, Mohamed Benchaaboun.