Morocco and UNHCR work to improve refugees' access to health care

Morocco signed an agreement in Rabat to improve refugees' access to health care through a partnership between the Noufissa Pharma 5 Foundation and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Moroccan Family Planning Association (AMPF). 

In the framework of World Refugee Day, Yassmine Lahlou Filali, vice-president of the Noufissa Pharma 5 Foundation, François Reybet-Degat, UNHCR representative in Morocco, and Abdellatif Maamri, executive director of the Moroccan Family Planning Association signed this tripartite partnership agreement that aims to strengthen the medical programme for refugees. 

The signing of the agreement marked a significant step in the ongoing commitment of the three parties to work together to create an inclusive and supportive environment and sustain refugee populations.  

Under this partnership, which comes into force in 2024 and runs until 2026, the Noufissa Pharma 5 Foundation undertakes to make a donation of medicines worth one million dirhams over three years for the benefit of refugees in Morocco, as part of the joint health programme between the AMPF and the UNHCR in Morocco. 

The tripartite agreement is the result of the framework agreement signed on 19 December 2023 to consolidate joint efforts to facilitate refugees' access to medicines, education and economic and social integration in Morocco.  

In addition to focusing on access to health services, education and employment, this partnership aims to provide refugees with the necessary opportunities to rebuild their lives and make a positive contribution to the Moroccan society that hosts them.  

In her statement to the press, Lahlou Filali, CEO and head pharmacist of the Pharma 5 laboratory, indicated that "through this tripartite agreement, the Foundation will support the integration of many refugees, particularly in terms of access to health care, by working for three years with the UNHCR and AMPR for the distribution of these medicines". 

For her part, Reybet-Degat underlined that "the signature is part of the theme of World Refugee Day 2024, for solidarity and inclusion", clarifying that "the national strategy of immigration and asylum in Morocco allows the inclusion of refugees in the health system".   

"This inclusion is based on the involvement of the Moroccan ecosystem working in partnership with the private sector represented by the company Pharma 5 and the civil society by the AMPE Association which is very committed to the inclusion of Moroccans in the health system, but also to the foreign populations residing on the territory of Morocco, migrants and refugees," added the UNHCR representative.   

In addition, the AMPE executive director pointed out that this agreement aims to guarantee medicines to refugees within the framework of the Association's health services in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and with the support of the Noufissa Pharma 5 Foundation.