Morocco

Publications

Situation and Priorities

Social protection situation

The Framework Law number 09.21 on social protection, adopted on March 15th of 2021, constitutes one the most relevant milestones on social protection extension of Morocco, with has the following goals:

  • The generalisation of the compulsory health insurance (AMO) by the end of 2022, by broadening the base of beneficiaries of this insurance to include vulnerable categories benefiting from the Medical Assistance Scheme (RAMED) and the category of self-employed and non-salaried professionals, so that an additional 22 million people benefit from AMO, which covers the costs of treatment, medicines and hospitalisation.
  • The generalisation of family allowances by 2023/2024, enabling households not receiving these allowances to receive benefits covering child-related risks, or lump-sum benefits for protection against child-related dangers (school drop-out) for 7 million school-age children. 
  • Broadening the pension schemes coverage in 2025 to include around 5 million people who are employed and not receiving a pension, through the inclusion of self-employed professionals and informal economy workers. 
  • The generalisation of unemployment benefit scheme (Indemnité pour pert d’emploi-IPE) in 2025 to cover all persons in stable employment through the simplification of the eligibility conditions and the extension of beneficiaries.

The generalisation of these four social protection branches is based on the one hand on the extension of the contributory schemes and, on the other hand, on contributions’ subsidization for people living below a certain income level. The Moroccan government estimates that by 2025, the generalisation of social protection will require a total annual amount of about 5 billion dollars, of which 2.3 billion dollars will be financed by the general state budget.
Prior to the law, in November 2019, the Integrated Public Policy Project for Social Protection 2020-2030 was released by the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Administration Reform, comprised by six areas of intervention: 1. Create a supportive environment for children's development; 2. Strengthen protection against the risks associated with working age; 3. Progressively generalize coverage of risks related to old age; 4. Expand and unify health coverage in a sustainable manner; 5. Strengthen support and assistance programs for people with disabilities; and 6. Strengthen and diversify social assistance responses for people in vulnerable situations

COVID-19 and other crises

In March 2020 the government of Morocco created a special fund dedicated to the management of the COVID-19 pandemic which enable support to numerous socio-economic support measures addressed to households and businesses. Among the support measures implemented, the compensation system for informal workers reached nearly 5.5 million households in a short period of time and by largely digitizing the process. As for employees registered to the Social Security National Fund (Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale), they benefited from a lump-sum compensation during the first three months (April to June 2020), in case of total or partial cessation of activity.

Government and social partner priorities
  • The generalization of the basic compulsory health insurance for the years 2021 and 2022
  • The generalization of family allowances during the years 2023 and 2024
  • Expanding the pension plan by 2025 to include those who are employed and not entitled to a pension
  • The generalization of job severance compensation by the year 2025
     

ILO Projects and Programmes

Funding gaps / Support the ILO

US$ 400,000

Support the government to develop and adopt tools for monitoring the financial balance of the reform

Impact: N° of persons effectively covered (related SDG 1.3.1)
US$ 150,000

Support the integration of active labour market policies and the unemployment insurance

Impact: N° of persons with higher benefits (adequacy)

Support the ILO

Multimedia

ILO Experts

IMG
Pascal Annycke
Social Security Specialist
Samia Ouzgane
National Officer