King Mohammed VI Launches ‘Ramadan 1444’ to Support 5 Million People

Rabat – Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, accompanied by Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan, launched on Friday in Sidi Moussa, Lamrissa district in Sale, the national solidarity campaign “Ramadan 1444,” for the benefit of nearly five million people.

Initiated by the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity, the campaign aims to support individuals from disadvantaged social backgrounds.

With a budget of MAD 390 million ($38 million), the “Ramadan 1444” operation is set to cover one million households, up from 600,000 households last year. The campaign will extend to 83 provinces, with 77% of beneficiaries located in rural areas.

Launched with the financial support of the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs, the campaign represents an annual tradition that aims to provide assistance to the most vulnerable of Moroccan society, including widows, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

To deliver aid to the needy, Mohammed V Foundation for solidarity is mobilizing thousands of workers supported by social workers and volunteers, at the distribution points set up throughout the country.

Social workers from the Royal Armed Forces, the National Mutual Aid, the National Promotion, and the local authorities are also expected to contribute to the operation, while the Ministry of Health and Social Protection and the National Office of Food Safety (ONSSA) will conduct quality control of the food distributed.

During the launching ceremony, King Mohammed VI distributed food baskets to 10 heads of families set to benefit from the humanitarian initiative, before posing for pictures with volunteers who participated in the solidarity operation.

Since its launch in 1998, this national campaign has mobilized a total budget of nearly MAD 2 billion ($195 million), with the number of beneficiary families going from 34,100 in 1998 to one million this year.