23/05/2006
The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has welcomed Morocco's social and human rights reforms and is urging the country to do more. The committee positively assessed legislative reforms aimed at improving the situation of women and children and the new Labour Code adopted in 2003. It welcomed that human rights training was given to students at all levels of education, judges and public servants.
The committee was concerned that domestic agricultural workers were not protected by the Labour Code and were therefore vulnerable to exploitation. Other areas of concern were that the coverage given by social security remained inadequate and unequally distributed between rural and urban areas, as well as between regions. The committee encouraged Morocco to intensify its efforts to respect and protect the rights of women by removing all discriminatory provisions and guaranteeing gender equality in economic, social and cultural spheres. (MAP)