The 11th session of the Strategic Orientation Board (SOB) of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Account Morocco Agency (MCA-Morocco) was held on Tuesday April 27th, 2021 in Rabat, under the presidency of the Minister of Economy, Finance and Administration Reform, Mr. Mohamed Benchaaboun. The work of the Council was attended by Mr. Saaïd Amzazi, Minister of National Education, Vocational Training, Higher Education and Scientific Research, in addition to the other members of the SOB or their representatives.
This session
was dedicated to the presentation of the implementation report of the
cooperation programme object of the "Compact II", concluded between
the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco and its American counterpart,
represented by Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the monitoring of the
implementation of the resolutions adopted at the last session of the SOB and
the approval of the resolutions recorded in the context of the implementation
of the projects.
On this
occasion, the President of the Council expressed appreciation for the
significant progress made in the implementation of the various activities
under Compact II. He noted, in this regard, the sustained progress made in
the realization of the infrastructure works planned under several Compact II
activities, in particular with regard to the rehabilitation of 15 secondary
education establishments in the Tangier-Tetouan -Al Hoceïma regions,
construction or rehabilitation of 13 of the 15 vocational training
establishments (VTE) receiving support from the “Charaka” Fund, development
works at the level of three projects supported by the Sustainable Industrial
Zones Fund (FONZID ) and off-site works at the level of the three pilot
industrial zones in the Casablanca-Settat region.
Furthermore,
the President of the Board reviewed the main achievements made within the
framework of the various activities of Compact II. Hence, the “Secondary
education” activity recorded the launch of three new mobile applications to
facilitate access to the services of the “Massar” information system, the
ongoing delivery of teaching equipment to the three beneficiary regions, the
launch the training program for 6,000 pedagogical and administrative
executives, the digitization of the 26 training modules for teaching and
administrative staff and their posting on the “Etakwine” ministry platform.
On its part,
the "Vocational training" activity was distinguished by the
launch of the acquisition procedure for the benefit of the VTE beneficiaries of
the "Charaka" Fund, including the deployment of the technical
assistance provided to these VTE in terms of, the development of basic and
continuing training programs, the preparation of the training plan for
administrative and technical teaching staff and the implementation of management
tools.
For its
part, the “Employment” activity was marked mainly by the partnership
agreement with the consortium “Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) -OCP
Solutions-Atlas Cloud Services” for the implementation in real time of a
digital platform of information, on job offers and applications, based on
artificial intelligence and big data. This activity also saw the training of
3,851 beneficiaries of the Results-Based Funding (RBF)’ Employment Program and
the integration of 953 of them, including 2,649 and 661 women. Likewise, this
activity has reported the launch of the BCURE “Building Capacity to Use
Research Evidence” program aimed at strengthening national capacities in terms
of production and use of the most reliable scientific evidence and data in the
process development, implementation and evaluation of employment and labor
market policies.
The “Industrial Land” activity was marked by the signature of an
agreement with the private partner “CAP Holding” relating to the planning,
development and management of the Bouznika industrial zone within the framework
of a public private partnership (PPP), the continuation of the capacity
building program for the staff of the Ministry of Industry, Trade, Investment
and the Digital Economy in terms of land mobilization in the service of
industrial investment and the start of the diagnosis of the current electronic
platform on industrial land, with the aim to identify avenues for technical and
functional improvement of this platform in order to set it up as a complete
information system.
The “Rural
Real Estate” activity was mainly marked, in the component of the deployment
of the melkization operation of 66,000 Ha of collective land located in the
irrigation perimeters of Gharb and Haouz, by the finalization of plot and
household surveys on 47,681 Ha, the execution of subdivision plans on 11,500 Ha
and the installation of terminals on 7,388 Ha. The accompanying measures for
the melkization operation have seen, as part of the functional literacy program
carried out in partnership with the National Agency for the Fight Against
Illiteracy (NAFAI), the development of additional modules and the start-up the
capacity building program for literacy teachers and NGO managers mobilized for
the opening of literacy classes. The measures initiated in cooperation with the
National Office of the Agricultural Council (NOAC) focused on the
implementation of the axis of partnership relating to agricultural
entrepreneurship in favor of women and young people, through the development of
a project financing mechanism.
The “Land
governance” activity recorded, for its part, the organization of a round
table on improving women's access to land and their participation in its governance,
with a view to developing a common vision of the design and modalities of
establishment of a Center for the inclusion of women in land. This activity
also saw the start of the work of the Technical Committee set up following the
signing with the Ministries of the Interior and Agriculture of the implementing
agreement relating to the "Land governance" activity.
On the other,
the Resident Director of MCC in Morocco, Mr. Richard Gaynor, described
the results of the last quarter as honorable, acknowledging in this regard the
commitment and support of all the partners and the mobilization of the staff of
the MCA-Morocco Agency. He also called for regular meetings of the steering
committees of the various activities of Compact II with a view to accelerating
their implementation and promoting greater ownership of these activities by the
partners.
The Director General of the MCA-Morocco Agency, Ms Malika Laasri, presented subsequently to the members of
the Council a detailed report on the progress of the implementation of Compact
II since the last session of the COS, emphasizing that the rate of commitment
of the funds is currently 75.10%, the equivalent of nearly 338 million dollars.
At the end
of this meeting, the Board approved a series of resolutions, which
mainly concern the approval of agreements concluded as part of the
implementation of Compact projects and the Agency's Procurement Program as
updated.