Two Months after the “Earthquake of the Century” in Morocco

Mechanisms of Response and Child Protection 

It has been over two months since the destructive earthquake hit Morocco on September 8, 2023. The region of Al-Hoceima was particularly affected alongside five other provinces. According to the National Institute of Geophysics in Morocco, it was the most powerful earthquake in a century, claiming 2,946 lives, including hundreds of children, and injuring over 6,000, including thousands of children.

According to local authorities, 2,930 villages were affected, accounting for approximately one-third of the villages in the region, with a population of 2.8 million people. The United Nations estimated that more than 300,000 people were affected in Marrakech and the High Atlas Mountains due to the earthquake, including at least 100,000 children, representing around one-third of Morocco’s population (31.5%), per estimates from 2022. In primary schools, 23 children were killed, five were injured, a teacher was killed, and seven others were seriously injured.

The earthquake also led to the collapse of about 60,000 buildings, including 50,000 homes that were completely or partially destroyed, as well as archaeological and historical buildings. This resulted in the displacement of thousands of families, now homeless. Schools, hospitals, and other health and educational facilities were also damaged or destroyed by the earthquake, causing a significant impact on children in various aspects—health, education, social, economic, and psychological.

First: Responses

The main challenges in response included providing shelter, sufficient food supplies for months, safe drinking water, appropriate sanitation, and emergency search and rescue services. The risks of landslides and the vastness of affected areas posed obstacles to rescue and relief efforts, making it difficult to reach those in need.

The disaster prompted responses at various levels—local, regional, and international—especially those related to children, families, and caregivers. At the local level, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated that Moroccan authorities led national response efforts and activated rescue mechanisms.

The government announced the implementation of an emergency plan to support earthquake victims, including a plan for housing reconstruction, rebuilding destroyed homes, rehabilitating infrastructure, health and education centers. Additionally, tangible items such as tents, blankets, and mattresses were distributed to affected families, along with food and medicine, and psychological support for children who experienced psychological trauma.

1- The government’s program focused on the following steps:

• Opening a special account with the Treasury and the Central Bank of Morocco to receive solidarity contributions from citizens as well as private and public entities.
• Launching an agency called the “High Atlas Development Agency” responsible for implementing the general reconstruction and rehabilitation program for the affected areas.
• Providing 2,500 dirhams (250 dollars) monthly to each earthquake-affected family.
• Offering direct financial assistance of 140,000 dirhams (about 14,000 dollars) for owners of fully collapsed homes.
• Providing 80,000 dirhams (about 8,000 dollars) to cover rehabilitation work for partially collapsed homes.

2- Moroccan Red Crescent:

The Moroccan Red Crescent continued on-the-ground response, coordinating with local authorities to assess the situation and provide support to affected individuals. This included first aid, psychological and social support, assistance in transporting the wounded to hospitals, replenishing blood supplies, and providing healthcare for mothers.

3- Royal Armed Forces:

The Royal Armed Forces (the army with its various units) constructed military hospitals in affected cities to receive the injured, such as in the cities of Taroudant (central) and Amzmiz (north).

• Providing approximately 82,000 medical services.
• Providing around 262,000 meals to the affected population until October 30.
• Providing tents for nursery and the three educational levels (elementary, middle, high school) for children and students from affected families.
• Setting up study halls and providing 500 beds to accommodate students.
• Providing 556 tents of various sizes and capacities for housing the affected population.
• Establishing 4 field hospitals in Marrakech, Taroudant, and Chichaoua.
• Deploying 405 medical and paramedical personnel and medical assistants.
• Providing a technical search and rescue team.

4- Royal Gendarmerie:

• Enlisting approximately 6,832 personnel to contribute to relief efforts, maintain public order, and protect the population’s properties.
• Accomplishing 178 flights with helicopters and planes, including participation in rescue operations, distribution of supplies, transporting rescuers, and conducting search and rescue operations.

5- Civil Society Actors:

Civil society organizations quickly mobilized to the affected areas, providing assistance to the disaster victims by:

• Providing villages with internet access.
• Supplying electricity through solar power.
• Offering food, clothing, and essential necessities to affected families.
• Conducting national campaigns under the name “Operation Atlas.”
• Utilizing social media platforms to raise awareness about the needs of the affected.

At the regional and international levels, in addition to the emergency humanitarian response in the form of financial aid from several countries, tangible assistance was provided. This included sending search and rescue teams, specialists, emergency response teams, medical teams, military units, and trained dogs. Advanced monitoring devices to detect victims under the rubble and rescue equipment were also dispatched.

Weeks after the earthquake, the Moroccan Ministry of Equipment announced the full reopening of the major damaged roads, with the rate of reopening of secondary roads reaching over 90%. Currently, Morocco is working on restoring heritage buildings severely affected by the earthquake.

Despite the efforts in this context, there remains a need for long-term interventions, as the reconstruction plan, including infrastructure updates, is expected to take five years, according to Moroccan authorities, with an estimated expenditure of $11.7 billion.

These steps come amid significant pressures imposed by the earthquake on the Moroccan economy. The country experienced economic growth during the first quarter of the current year before the earthquake, with a slowdown compared to the 3.5% growth in the first quarter. This slowdown was due to drought affecting the agricultural sector and the repercussions of the war in Ukraine, among other reasons. However, the Moroccan Central Bank, in contrast, anticipated economic improvement by the end of September, expecting continued inflation decline to 2.6% next year. It noted that data related to the earthquake’s impact on public finances and debt levels will only be available in December.

Second: Mechanisms for Child Protection

Wards of the Nation:

In any emergency situation, young children always stand as the most vulnerable. In Morocco, the earthquake sounded the alarm for the need to revisit existing plans for them or construct new, more effective and sustainable ones.

In this context, the Moroccan House of Representatives unanimously approved Bill No. 50.23 concerning granting earthquake-affected children the status of “Wards of the Nation” according to Law No. 33.97. This aims to provide immediate care for orphaned children who lost their families due to the earthquake. According to this law, children under the age of twenty recognized as “Wards of the Nation” have the right to benefit from moral and material care provided by the state taking care of them, within the framework of the directives of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.

Support for Early Childhood in Affected Areas:

The Moroccan Foundation for the Advancement of Early Education, as a non-profit organization caring for children’s interests and serving as a reference for early childhood in Morocco, took the following steps after the destructive earthquake:

• Reopened and equipped 497 damaged sections for early education in the regions of Chichaoua and Taroudant.
• Rehabilitated 327 units in the regions of Chichaoua, Al-Hoceima, and Taroudant.
• Provided a safe and favorable environment for the emotional and educational growth of children by creating child-friendly and safe spaces, installing appropriate flooring coverings (carpets, artificial grass, etc.).
• Established a listening cell composed of psychological specialists and representatives of the Moroccan Foundation for the Advancement of Early Education to provide psychological and social support to children, their families, and educators.
• Contracted psychological and social specialists to assist educational staff in overcoming the shock.
• Provided collective and individual support for educators to help them overcome the earthquake-related shock (field visits to affected areas).
• Provided financial support to educational staff affected by the earthquake (educators, supervisors, and their families).
• Developed a guide for activities dedicated to educators to accompany children and educators in overcoming the effects of the shock and gradually returning to their daily routine, especially since the earthquake coincided with the beginning of the school year.
• Adapted the educational program to the post-earthquake conditions in the affected regions to offer enjoyable and reassuring activities for children.
• Launched periodic psychological assessments to monitor the emotional status of children throughout the challenging period, focusing on their recovery and well-being.
• Prepared a psychological and social support program based on play pedagogy for early education in response to the difficult conditions in earthquake-affected areas.

Third: Needs and Intervention Areas

The key needs and areas of intervention to assist children, parents, caregivers, and protect them can be summarized in the following points:

• Ensure adequate and sustainable shelter for families and their children throughout the reconstruction and infrastructure rehabilitation period.
• Provide tents to create a safe and suitable environment for educational activities.
• Ensure safe and clean drinking water, health assistance, and medical teams capable of supporting the injured and those affected by the earthquake.
• Sustainable support in securing appropriate nutrition.
• Supply schools with educational materials to ensure the continuity of education in affected areas.
• Equip preschool classrooms with educational games to support children’s learning.
• Reintegrate children into schools.
• Ensure that the reconstruction plan includes the construction of earthquake-resistant buildings and houses.
• Provide psychological and social support for children, parents, and caregivers to help them overcome the painful experiences they went through during and after the earthquake, especially addressing post-traumatic stress disorder, particularly in children.
• Protect children, especially young girls and orphans, in the affected areas from human trafficking, physical and sexual exploitation, early marriage, and mistreatment, especially following the spread of reports and videos on social media about their vulnerability to such attacks.
• Develop a long-term recovery plan.