HIBAPRESS – A. Mahyawi
In an urgent humanitarian response to the severe cold wave the region is experiencing, the prefecture of Meknes launched, on Thursday evening, a large-scale field campaign for homeless people and the elderly in street situations, within the framework of activating the program to support people in vulnerable situations under the third phase of the National Human Development Initiative.
This social initiative was implemented in close coordination with the Regional Directorate of National Cooperation in Meknes, the local authorities, and with the active support of civil society actors, in line with the contents of the ministerial circular of the Minister of Interior No. 18972 dated December 22, 2025, which frames proactive interventions to protect vulnerable groups during periods of severe cold. The campaign included the mobilization of social reception structures that were established within the framework of the National Human Development Initiative, headed by the "Ibtissama" social complex in the Basatin neighborhood, which was established in 2008 in partnership with the Ministry of Solidarity and Social Integration and Family, and is concerned with sheltering women in difficult situations, abandoned children, the elderly, and people in street situations. The social complex located on the "Sifita" road was also utilized, with the elderly residence being one of its main components. On a practical level, during this campaign, immediate care is taken for people in street situations, by placing them in the emergency shelter center of the social complex, in order to secure and protect them from the dangers of the cold, while subjecting their situations to an in-depth social study aimed, at a later stage, at returning them to their families or directing them to appropriate social care institutions. As for the homeless elderly, they are directed to the elderly residence at the educational social complex, where they are provided with integrated services that include accommodation, nutrition, medical care, and social and psychological support, within an environment that preserves their dignity and ensures their safety. This process witnessed a wide mobilization of human resources, which included the cadres of the National Cooperation sector, members of the "Ibtissama" social complex support association, and the Islamic Charitable Association in Meknes, in a model that reflects the strength of participatory work and institutional solidarity.
