Morocco rebuts low ranking from UNDP
2009-10-14
Moroccan officials are questioning the criteria used in a UN report that gave their country a less-than-stellar ranking in terms of human development.
By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabatha — 14/10/09
 [GERARD CERLES/AFP/Getty Images] Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri rejected UNDP conclusions about his country. |
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently ranked Morocco 130th out of 182 countries, an assessment that prompted rebuttals by Moroccan officials.
One concern is that the 2009 Human Development Report index, which was released on Monday (October 5th), is based on per capita GDP, education, and life expectancy figures from 2007.
"Morocco disagrees with the criteria used, which were chosen 20 years ago and are now largely out of date, besides being clearly selective and certainly insufficient to measure progress with regard to human development in an objective fashion," said Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri.
Norway tops the report's index. Niger is in last place, while the US is ranked 13th. At the bottom of the ranking are Afghanistan and Sierra Leone. The reports cover themes as wide-ranging as cultural liberty and financing, along with larger global challenges like co-operation and climate change.
In September, prior to the report's release, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned UNDP representative Mourad Wahba to discuss the report. After the report was made public last week, a Moroccan delegation met in New York with the head of the UNDP to discuss the figures, which Moroccan officials believe do not reveal the whole picture.
Morocco's high commissioner for planning, Ahmed Lahlimi, said October 8th in Rabat that his department had engaged in discussions with UNDP officials. Lahlimi said that those with whom he met "recognise that Morocco's ranking does not reflect the true development situation in our country".
The commissioner called Morocco's ranking "meaningless". During the 26th International Population Congress in Marrakech, which ran September 27th-October 1st, he called on developing countries to join in the debate between the UNDP and Morocco regarding the human development index.
"There is more to the UNDP's report than the human development index, which is used to give a ranking," Wahba noted last month in Rabat. "[The report] also assesses other areas, particularly women's participation, human development, civil liberties and access to modern means of communication, for example," said Wahba last month in Rabat
"All these indicators feature in other tables in the report and show the progress that Morocco has made," he added.
"The index is not intended to be an exhaustive tool and does not give an indication of progress made in the short term," said the chief of the Statistics Unit at the Human Development Report Office in New York, Alison Kennedy.
Speaking at a conference in Rabat on October 8th, the chief of the Statistics Unit at the Human Development Report Office in New York, Alison Kennedy, described the index as "an instrument that focuses countries' attention on a certain number of issues".
"Morocco doesn't dispute the accuracy of the figures that form the basis of the human development index, but questions the relevance of the composite index," said economist Larbi Jaidi. "Measuring a country's development by means of a composite index has its limitations and is a somewhat arbitrary method, since [it] gives equal weight to three different parameters."
"Nevertheless, whatever criticisms are levelled at the index, it should be taken note of, and the government policies on which the ranking is based need to be adjusted," Jaidi added.
Many members of the public seemed to share this view.
"Morocco has to accept its ranking, since in terms of [the report's] indicators, the country is indeed lagging behind other nations," said Ahmed T., an engineer. "Significant efforts must be made with regard to literacy and income."
"Whatever the index happens to be, it must be said that Morocco is developing at two different speeds," he added. "One of them is fast, such as the high-speed trains that Morocco wants to introduce, and the other relates to the rural world, which is still reliant on traditional methods of transport and farming. There is a real contrast."
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moroccan patriot Posted 2009-10-14
The reason that the GDP per capita numbers are so off is because of the incredible amounts of money Moroccans generate off the books. The black market/bribes given to public and private officials are probably just as high as the actual declared salaries of most people. This black market/bribe pay is not something that the officials protesting the Morocco's abysmal ratings in the rankings are actually going to be able to mention as it points to the real cause of Morocco's economic and social stagnation : CORRUPTION. Corruption is endemic in everything done in Morocco. If you have a great idea, like computerizing Real Estate title records, getting those in charge to sign the Purchase order requires a bribe. A 220,000 DH contract will require a 40,000 DH bribe. The Guy paying the salary of the Purchasing department takes a cut of each Purchase order. The guy paying his salary takes a percentage of the payroll budget as his cut. The corruption is absolutely endemic. It does not stop with Govt. offices though, even teachers participate in this corruption, they do the minimum when they show up for the public school classes, do what they can for the Private school classes, but save their best efforts for students who pay by the hour, who are actually in their own classes!!! Essentially, this means that if you want to guarantee your kid a good grade, have him/her pay for extra hours with their teacher. I will not even get started on the Corruption in the real estate and finance sectors... The Corruption issue in Morocco will not be fixed by the govt. If they even attempted to fix it, they would have to imprison 50% of the country. The problem can only be fixed by the average citizen. Every Moroccan citizen out there has to say no to recieving or giving bribes.
mansali Posted 2009-10-15
Well, of course! In order to hide the sick person’s fever, you blame the thermometer!
Acharif Moulay Abdellah BOUSKRAOUI Posted 2009-10-15
His Majesty has given back hope to the Moroccans for their country, for their territorial integrity, for their democracy. These are words that the political parties and certain corrupt men and authorities have erased from the memory of the people. And, when the Moroccans have lost trust in everything, the king was there for them to give them hope and give them back trust. His Majesty has taken important measures to promote the freedom of the courts and of expression. Under the leadership of His Majesty, Morocco has made a lot of progress in terms of human rights and women’s rights, establishing the Moudawana, which guarantees women all their rights, and establishing the Family Code. His Majesty Mohamed VI is working for strong and independent courts in order to make Morocco a strong and sovereign state, a state of democracy and constitutional institutions. However, certain sick-minded people both here and elsewhere have misunderstood us. They are beginning to take Morocco for a weak state, upon which they can pressure and take advantage of human rights and the freedom of expression, trying to put our national consistency and the integrity of our territory in doubt. Some journalists and human rights defenders even want to take advantage of our democracy to devalue it. So, to all these profiteers, I tell them once and for all that Morocco is a strong, independent and sovereign state. We are above any pressures. If we have chosen the path of democracy, then it is by our own will and for the happiness of all Moroccans. Morocco will have zero tolerance for those who think of taking advantage of our democracy and human rights to weaken us.
Habli Mohamed Posted 2009-10-16
The UNPD index, contested by Morocco, is based on the per capita GNP, health and education. This is a fair indicator. Morocco’s population is 40% illiterate. Medical care is not accessible for the whole population. It is not unusual that Morocco would receive a low rank. Morocco’s developmental model only affects the privileged part. Most of the rural population is still living in deplorable conditions.
moroccan patriot Posted 30 days ago
It is great to see how Democracy is a name misused by every despotic independence movement in the world. Some of the worst war crimes have been committed by the Democratic republic of Congo militia and govt. troops. True democracy has never existed. In the societies that had the greatest value for democratic principals, let us not forget... they had slaves in 1776 during the signing of the declaration of Independence and many of the signatories to the Bill of Rights owned slaves... Even the Greeks owned slaves... that tradition has continued uninterupted into modern day North Africa... In Egypt, Hosni Mubarek considers all Egyptians to be his slaves as he lives the life of a Pharoe eager to pass on the reigns of his kingdom to his son.
H A L I M Posted 29 days ago
Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you. First of all, I would like to thank you for this topic, which is taken from the heart of the event. Secondly, I thank all of the readers who commented or just read the article. I am an Algerian citizen. I came to the brotherly Morocco by a Moroccan airplane, Royale Air Maroc, to express my love for the country, the people, its leadership, and as an expression of my goodwill. My visit was for 15 days. I spent most of the time sightseeing from Casablanca, where the plane took us to Marrakech, which I will never forget. I wish to visit it again. It has huge resources. I was surprised at first sight by all the buildings I saw. I thought I was in one of the provinces of the South of Algeria, Ilizi, to be precise. But when I entered the city and slept there, I saw fantastic things in its buildings, and easy and flexible interaction between tourism and economic institutes. But the problem of motorcycles hinders the comfort of the tourist. But to tell the truth, it is a model city. Long live the king.
no gain no pain Posted 23 days ago
you know what,guys? you're just talking nonsense.I just am wondering where the problem is as long as everybody is happy with that nice comfortable rank. Everyone WANTS to get money without pain. Have a look at lotto/kino ... agents and you'll be shocked to see gamblers of all sorts(from nicely necktied guys to flea-market buttock-holed trousered guys. Everyone wants it EASY. Human development is everyone's concern; it's not just the government's affair. Are we really the kind of people who want and intend to develop? To my knowledge, I DON'T THINK SO. Everyone, somewhere, in a way is negligent, selfish, time-wasting and irresponsible. This gives way to organised anarchy that all of us practise but no one accepts once he feels targeted or victimised. "Surely Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change their own condition."
Moroccan Patriot Posted 13 days ago
I guess that old saying, "the people only get the government they deserve" is very popular these days. Based upon this saying, the people must deserve humiliation, degradation, sodomy, rape, and murder. Moroccans must take responsibility for the mess they have created, but without the help of certain governement agencies, it would be impossible to explain the reverse mode of advancement that grips the country. Morocco and Spain were at more or less the same socio economic levels in the 60's and early 70's... Now Morocco is licking Spains boots, too afraid to even attempt to liberate Moroccan land, Ceuta and Mellilia from Spanish control. If Morocco had courage, it would liberate its own land inside Morocco proper... But with the populations dignity gone, their wills broken, the lack of pride and manhood shines clear for all to see... and the Colonialism continues.
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