The common problems in Africa related to water, environment and food security will be solved thanks to the consolidation of the three African values: resilience, solidarity and sharing; starting from interactive collaboration to reach pan-African unity.
At the closing of the second edition of the African Conference on Health Risk Reduction, the Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka, shared the Moroccan experience in the field of water resources management and its adaptation to climate changes that have impacted the country's water reserve.
In the health context, Baraka reported that 80% of the diseases spreading in Africa are caused by water quality, and that every day 650 Africans, especially children under 5 years of age, die from diseases transmitted by poor quality water.
Morocco like other African and Arab countries suffers from several problems such as water stress, which pushes experts and researchers to implement an efficient strategy in this field to achieve water justice by putting an end to the unequal distribution of this vital substance on the national territory, the minister pointed out.
The water highway
Within the framework of water resources management in the Kingdom, Morocco has managed to have 152 large dams (+19 billion m2), 18 under construction to reach 24 billion m2 by 2027, and 137 small dams in use, 17 water transformation and transport stations, and thousands of wells, in addition to 12 seawater desalination stations and 158 wastewater treatment plants. The water highway project linking the waters of the Sebou River to the Bouregreg to supply the country's capital, Rabat, and the city of Casablanca represents one of Morocco's major achievements in the water sector.
In this regard, Nizar Baraka stressed that water security occupies a strategic position for the State and is reflected in giving priority to a comprehensive water policy to overcome the water shortage crisis experienced by the Kingdom.
All this by implementing the instructions of King Mohamed VI to complete the construction of the scheduled dams and the networks connecting the water basins, the construction of the seawater desalination stations, ensuring the rationalization of water use especially in irrigation to avoid all forms of waste, exploiting wastewater and ensuring the quality of drinking water.
African Global Health
The President of African Global Health (AGH), Imane Kendili, confirmed that Morocco is strongly committed to work on water security and is today able to give lessons in the management of this vital matter, and share its knowledge and experience by relying on convergence and cooperation with its African counterparts.
Imane Kendili also underlined that the Marrakech 2022 declaration on health risks has traveled throughout Africa and has been adopted by several African countries, which makes this African Conference a historic initiative to mobilize African decision-makers where, for the first time, politicians discuss with experts and researchers the fundamental issues of concern to the societies and governments of the youngest continent on the planet.
Africa is today reaching out to the world to work together in the fight against climate change and its impact on food security and global health.
Health and social protection
Another challenge facing the African continent is health and social protection, where Morocco as an African country stands out as a pioneer in the management of health crises thanks to its proactive strategies and continental vision.
In this regard, the Minister of Health, Khaled Ait Taleb, highlighted, at the final press conference of the African Conference in Marrakech that the real will to reach continental health sovereignty; affirming that Africa can count on Africa.
Ait Taled explained how social protection and health insurance constitute a joint system initiated in 2002 and which is constantly being generalized to achieve its objectives of having a solidarity-based health insurance, where the young pay for the old and the rich pay for the poor.
This project requires bringing together the efforts of the private and public sectors and the intermediate sector to achieve the desired results in this area.
It should be recalled that there are three categories of beneficiaries of health insurance and social protection in Morocco, namely: the vulnerable class demanding solidarity insurance, day laborers with no fixed salary in the private sector and compulsory insurance for wage earners.
The major challenge facing the implementation of health insurance and social protection, the Minister of Health concluded, is the activity of the informal sector on the one hand, and the generalization of this system on the African continent on the other.
