In his speech addressed on May 18, 2005, HM King Mohammed VI raised the following issue:  a large fringe of Moroccan society live in very hard conditions. Sometimes, these conditions are incompatible with a dignified and decent life. These populations sheltered by shantytowns, poor districts of the urban and suburban zones, and by several rural communes, suffer from a lack of the very elementary social services such as, health, education, water, power, cultural infrastructure etc.  One cannot overcome these basic necessities by a mere punctual assistance or a spontaneous charitable action or else by an ethical duty, underlined HM the King in his speech.

What is required is a sustainable development based on integrated public policies being part of a global project to which all society components should adhere.

The NIHD goals

To attack the social deficit by making the basic social services more accessible, promote activities likely to create employment opportunities and stable incomes, adopt an imaginative action towards the informal sector, and help people suffering vulnerability and those with specific needs. These are the main objectives which HM the King proposed as an action methodology in order to attain the objectives of the National Initiative for Human Development (NIHD). As a first step, the NIHD will deal with the most urgent cases and make sure to respond to the needs of the poorest sheltered by some 360 communes, the poorest of rural areas, and 250  

needy districts in the urban and suburban regions.

All society components are invited to take part in the realization of this great project especially the government which, three months after the King’s speech on May 18, 2005 presented to him a governmental action plan for the implementation of the NIHD. This plan outlines the context and the stakes, elaborated programmes, financing, execution terms and implementation planning of the initiative. Political parties are also called to participate in the National Initiative for Human Development by including in their main preoccupations concrete projects during the 2007 elections.

 The NIHD financing

HM the King aimed to perpetuate the NIHD actions by involving the general State’s budget in their realization. Therefore, he ensured in his speech addressed on May 18 that the financing of the INDH will not depend on any new tax or fiscal charge.

The NIHD budget amounts to 10 billion dirhams over 5 years. 60% (6 billion) will be financed by the State budget and 20% (2 billion) by district councils. The remaining 2 billion dirhams will be paid ensured thanks to international cooperation. To start-up the project, 250 million DH will be allocated by the end of 2005. A co financing ensured by the State, district councils and Hassan II Fund for Economic and Social Development. The first concern of this launching phase is to fight school abandonment, support programs relating to health and activities likely to generate incomes.

Far from being an occasional program, the National Initiative for Human Development (NIHD) is meant to be a lasting project leading Moroccans on the path to development and rejecting poverty and exclusion.