Changing mindsets and instilling Human – rights approach in the perception of disabilities in Morocco

Start DateOngoingEnd Date

28 Mar 201831 Jul 2021

Programme Status

Closed

Programme Budget

US$ 399,694

Financial Information

Thematic focus: Access to Health, Awareness Raising, Disability Policy and/or Law, GBV & Sexual and Reproductive Health, Political participation

Implementing Partners

UN Agencies

WHO
UNDP
UNFPA
UNESCO

Government Organizations

Ministry of Family
Solidarity
Equality and Social Development
Ministry of Health
Ministry of Education
Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Justice
National Council for Human Rights

Organizations of Persons with Disabilities

National Federation for the Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The Programme

Morocco has made significant progress in improving the conditions of people living with disabilities (PWDs).
Some major achievements have been made in relation with the normative frameworks, public policies, and governance of the disability issue.[1] However, PWDs are still facing barriers in terms of social acceptance, and access to services, social participation and inclusion. This is mainly due to deep-rooted social stigma and discrimination, and a lack of a human rights-based understanding of the disability issue by the general population.

[1] (i) Ratification of the CRPD in 2009; (ii) Recognition in the new Constitution (2011) of the political, social, economic and cultural rights of PWDs on the basis of non-discrimination; (iii) Adoption of a multispectral public policy for the Promotion of the Rights of the PWDs (2015), backed with an Inter-ministerial Commission under the chairmanship of the Head of Government ; (v) Adoption of a framework-law strengthening the rights of PWDs (97-13 Framework Law, 27 April 2016) ; (vi) Public funding for PWDs under the social cohesion support fund (“Fonds d’appui à la cohésion sociale”)

Approach

Building upon the momentum, the national partners’ demands, and the current UNDAF 2017-2021, this project aimed at:

Changing the cultural norms by reversing stigmas, prejudices and negative stereotypes in the general mindsets. This will help build a common right-based vision on disability, thus facilitating dialogues between the national institutions, the PWDs, civil society organizations, and the public;

Enhancing the capacities of the national institutions in elaborating right-based and inclusive policies on disability at the national and local levels, laying grounds for positive governance mechanisms and services provision on disabilities;

Improving the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services and the strategies fighting against gender-based violence within specialized institutions (non-residential), with the active participation of PWDs;

Improving access to health services by mainstreaming PWD’s rights in the design of sectoral strategies, and by defining delivery modalities of health services in schools as a pilot case.

Using the twin-track approach, the project combined targeted and mainstreaming interventions, in showcasing complementarities of scopes and the interdependence of rights.