Morocco launches action plan to promote adequate housing

The Moroccan government has set itself the goal of reducing slums, improving the living conditions of hundreds of thousands of families and achieving social justice through “Cities without Slums” initiative.

According to the Minister of National Territorial Preparation, Construction, Housing and Urban Policy, Fatima Al-Zahraa Al-Mansouri, this new action plan is linked to the implementation of a five-year programme for the period 2024-2028 aimed at eliminating the remaining slums and providing adequate housing for their residents.

Before the Committee on Interior, Territorial Communities, Housing and Urban Policy of the House of Representatives, Al-Mansouri stressed the challenges related to the implementation of this programme, such as the high cost of development works which require the involvement of other entities, and the difficulty of mobilising property and releasing areas for development where public real estate exists for the benefit of the programme.

However, The government is ready to overcome all these challenges to provide the initiative with the necessary support.to reduce inequalities in Moroccan society, improve the living conditions and standards of citizens and combat social exclusion.

Despite this, Measures and procedures are inadequate to combat the slum phenomenon, notes Al-Arab. For example, the Arab newspaper highlights the lack of an adequate legal framework to combat slums and the ineffectiveness of prevention methods, as well as the limited mechanisms for creating social housing for underprivileged families.

The Supreme Audit Council, a constitutional institution, announced in its latest report that the The Cities Without Slums programme has failed to achieve its main objective of eliminating slums in 85 cities.

This initiative, launched by the Moroccan government in 2004 on the instructions of King Mohamed VI, is one of Rabat’s priorities as it is considered a constitutional right and a pillar of the welfare stateIn fact, the “Cities without Slums” project is receiving special attention from the monarch as it contributes to reducing social inequalities.

Until nowBy the end of June 2024, the program had already supported 347,277 families.said Minister Al-Mansouri, who also said that the ministry is working to curb the spread of slums.

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