Morocco Pledges Social Reforms Amid Youth Led Protests

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The government plans to boost social spending, with US$13 million set aside for health, education, and 27,000 new jobs.Demonstrators gather in Rabat during a protest organised by the online-based ‘Gen Z 212’ collective movement. (EPA Images pic)RABAT: The Moroccan government on Sunday promised improvements to healthcare and education in response to a wave of youth-led protests that took authorities by suprise, state media reported
It announced a set of measures aimed at encouraging young people to engage in politics and pledging social reforms, the state news agency MAP said.
The 2026 draft finance bill would improve social services, including public education and healthcare – two key sectors which demonstrators have urged the government to reform.
Another draft bill aimed to further citizen engagement in public life by inviting “people younger than 35 to enter politics”, MAP said.
This would mean easing eligibility rules for young candidates running in elections with financial incentives covering up to 75% of campaign expenses, the report added.
Another bill seeks to enhance the roles of political parties, improve their transparency, and help more women and young people join or found them, MAP said.
Gen Z protests took the usually stable kingdom by surprise late last month, following the deaths of eight pregnant women at a hospital in the major city of Agadir.
The online-based movement calling itself “GenZ 212” later expanded its demands to include changing the current government and ending corruption.
The government said it would prioritise social spending next year, with nearly US$13 million allocated to health and education, and create over 27,000 jobs in those sectors, MAP reported.
Social inequalities remain a major challenge in Morocco, where deep regional disparities persist alongside a gap between the public and private sectors.
Official figures show a lack of education in Morocco is a key driver of the country’s poverty, which has, nevertheless, fallen from nearly 12% of the population in 2014 to 6.8% in 2024. - FMT

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