HIBAPRESS
The Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch, affirmed that the direct social support system constitutes a qualitative shift in addressing the needs of vulnerable groups, by transitioning from circumstantial approaches to an institutional system based on precise targeting, social justice, and efficiency in directing resources.
Mr. Aziz Akhannouch emphasized, on Wednesday in Rabat during his chairmanship of the Board of Directors of the National Agency for Social Support, the importance of the direct social support system, as a central building block in the strategic royal project related to the generalization of social protection, which is sponsored by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God protect him. A statement from the Prime Minister's office stated that the Council approved the agency's action plan for the year 2026, highlighting that this agency was established to develop and implement social support policies, especially the direct social support project, which was launched at the end of 2023, in implementation of the directives of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God protect him. During this meeting, the Director-General of the Agency reviewed the work of the year 2025, which was marked by the implementation of the work program as approved by the Council in its first session, including establishing the practical foundations to enable the Agency to directly manage, evaluate, and enhance the impact of direct social support. The most important stages of implementing the social support program during 2025 were also reviewed, including the increase in the value of support amounts, and the activation of special aid for orphaned and neglected children residing in social care institutions. The Board of Directors also addressed the opening of a territorial representation by the Agency in the province of El Jadida, which falls within a vision based on consecrating the human and territorial dimensions to ensure proximity to beneficiaries, and aims to make direct social support a lever for empowerment and productive social and economic integration, through the activation of a number of accompanying programs, which respond to the characteristics of the socio-spatial reality of families. In addition, the statement added, the Agency adopted a tracking mechanism, aimed at measuring program performance indicators related to reducing poverty and vulnerability, and through this approach seeks to adopt a new approach in managing the direct social support system, contributing to the advancement of human development and enhancing the socio-economic impact of financial transfers. After deliberation, the Board of Directors approved a number of agreements between the National Agency for Social Support and a number of ministerial sectors, public institutions, and international institutions, mainly concerning the management of the support system and the encouragement of children's education, supporting employment among people in vulnerable situations, as well as enshrining the principles of good governance. It is worth noting that about 3.9 million families benefit from the direct social support program, which is more than 12.5 million citizens, including 5.5 million children who benefit from it from birth until they reach the age of twenty-one, in addition to 1.7 million elderly people who have exceeded the age of sixty. These families benefit from monthly and supplementary aid ranging in value from 500 to 1,350 dirhams per month.
