Morocco NGO gives emergency supplies to sole mums in lockdown
12 April, 2020
A little van zips through the streets of Casablanca to deliver food to single moms, as economic paralysis due to the coronavirus crisis puts pressure about Morocco's poor.
"We have to stop wasting time," says Bouchra, a coordinator from NGO INSAF who is supervising the day's rounds.
The lockdown to curb the spread of the COVID-19 disease, and a lack of work and funds, are creating tensions in the working-class neighbourhoods of the country's economical capital.
Each year, INSAF helps more than 500 young women who have fallen pregnant away of wedlock -- seen as a "sin" by a society marked by religious conservatism.
The business usually supports the mothers with medical and psychological assistance, tries to mediate between them and their own families and helps find jobs for the women that are pregnant.
But that all changed when the coronavirus pandemic struck, with the first distress calls arriving some 15 days after the government declared a well being emergency around mid-March.
"The epidemic touches everyone, but single mothers are the most vulnerable", INSAF brain Meriem Othmani says.
"Their own families reject them plus they have to manage alone with their baby, without the support."
The organization phones a couple of minutes before the van's arrival to set up a pick-up point on the road near to the women's homes. It stops quickly, and the supplies are swiftly offloaded.
At each end, passers-by ask if indeed they can acquire assistance too.
The single mothers try to avoid being noticed, ashamed of their social status and afraid of the envy of others.
"Many thanks," murmurs Habiba before disappearing straight down an alley with two big hand bags of supplies.
"Many manage doing odd jobs in hairdressing, cleaning, or found in the textiles industry or hospitality," INSAF's Latifa Ouazahrou says of the single mothers who have now found themselves without do the job or a back-up.
A lot more than three million people out of Morocco's human population of 35 million inhabitants are poor, according to official figures. The monthly bare minimum wage is around $260 while three-quarters of personnel have no social security cover.
The World Lender says around 10 million in Morocco could find themselves in difficulty as the pandemic hits and further pressure mounts because of a drought.
In a large bedroom normally used as a kitchen, INSAF teams load bags with couscous semolina, lentils, potatoes, rice, oil, tea, flour, soap and sanitary items.
A good leaflet detailing virus safety measures can be included.
Emergency deliveries also head to families found in isolated hamlets found in the central Atlas location, where a drought found in the agricultural sector is exerting further pressure.
State aid as high as 1,200 dirhams (around $120) has been allocated to needy households to climate the crisis, portion of an emergency package also funded by corporate and individual donations.
In recent times, the first beneficiaries were able to withdraw money from ATMs after obtaining a text from the authorities, because of a fresh payment system create with help from regional banks.
But supporting the poorest is a problem, and the united states lacks a public register to recognize the needs of the population.
"Some [single mothers] can't even purchase milk because of their baby any longer," Ouazahrou says. "It is rather important to bring them basic necessities."
By Sunday, the coronavirus had claimed 111 lives found in the North African region from a declared total of just one 1,545 cases. Just around 7,000 assessments have been conducted.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com