Moroccans to modernise civil registry
2008-11-20
By 2011, Moroccan officials hope that millions of citizens will have registered in a new modernised civil registry system. "It will mean a higher quality of personal attention," they said.
By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat—20/11/08
 [Sarah Touahri] New computerised technology will make it easier for Moroccans to register and retrieve their official government documents. |
Morocco is integrating more technology in the day-to-day life of its citizens, starting with computerised civil records across the country. It is a long and complicated process, but it’s on track.
By 2011, the government hopes to have computerised more than 2172 civil registry offices in the country and processed tens of millions of documents. A pilot scheme conducted in Casablanca showed that it will be possible to process 70 documents per day per office.
The goal is to make it easier for citizens to register and retrieve government records. There will be an IT database that should improve services provided for the public. The computerised system will include birth certificates, residency certificates and others.
"Sometimes, you have to travel to your place of birth to get a birth certificate," said Samira Benahmad, a teacher. "You have to wait in long queues just to get a birth certificate. This is a problem in terms of time and money. With modernisation of the civil registry, they’ll be able to reduce the pressure on registry offices."
According to interior ministry records, more than one million Moroccans are not registered in stat’s civil records. There are marriage certificates that have not been prepared or recorded. The country's many abandoned children are also missing from the civil records.
With modernised registry system, the hope is to include all the citizens in one networked and reliable database.
"We have to raise public awareness," said Younès Sekkouri, the director of the modernisation project, "and explain that if people do not appear on the civil records, they cannot access education or receive their national identity card, be employed or vote."
To achieve its goals and organise the process, the government will create a national labelling centre, Sekkouri said. The centre will create and facilitate the process of loading the database on the computerised system.
Because it’s a new system, the government will provide training for registry offices staff and improve working conditions, said wali local authorities director Noureddine Boutayeb.
"It will mean a higher quality of personal attention," said Hamid Mbarki, who works at a registry office, "a more personalised approach and a reduction in the time taken to obtain services."
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Kabs Posted 2008-11-21
Bravo for modernising! Keep up the good work!
Allal Posted 2008-11-21
Meanwhile, the state’s civil services prohibit parents from choosing their children’s first names. This is indeed the modernisation of our infrastructure, but what we need is a modernisation of our mentality.
حسن مناش Posted 2008-11-22
In the records of names in the records of civil status and its annexes in Morocco, there are funny things which are painful and cause headaches more than queues and more than waiting. These obstacles will have a solution in the progress of technologies. But the problem to which we can’t find a solution to this day is the difference in writing the same name from one ignorant public servant to another public servant who is barely literate . For example, the name Mohamed is written Mouhamed and Mouhamad. In French there are four spellings. Laila is spelled Layla, Fatima as Fatema, the name Al Hassan is written in four different spellings and so on. This is caused by Morocco choosing local authority officers who are good in the profession of transmitting news and controlling people. It does not matter if he writes a name or report in a wrong way and full of mistakes. This disease will persist until this generation disappears or these ignorant and illiterate local officers disappear. The ministry in charge of civil status should issue a standard list of names especially Arab names. As to Amazigh names, Mhand or Mouhand, this is another problem. It is always civil status officers, Adouls, notaries and official writers who are always suffering from this. They have difficulties in looking for the right spelling more than in drawing an idea about the holder of the written name contrary to the requirements of our Arab language and culture. With the increase of civilization transmitted to us from Egyptian films, the illiterate calls his daughter Houdaifa and his son Boutaina. In all cases, the responsibility for these mistakes is that of officials from independence to this day. It is a shame to see the sons of the Arab country Morocco lost in writing names, they write it wrongly especially the name of the prophet Mohamed, peace and blessings of God be upon him and some eminent companions such as Hadifa Ben Al Yaman, may God bless him. Reducing waiting time and improve services are technical issues which require mechanisms controlled by alert consciences. Depriving the citizen of work or voting is unacceptable and illogical. The shame is in...
lemarocain Posted 2008-11-22
It is clear that, to parents, a newborn is nothing more than a doll they own because of their paternal status. The right to give a child the name they want without a care for the opinion of this human being is at once big and, at the same time, an obstruction to the rights of parents, who have as their aim the ability to choose a name—and to choose it alone—that their child will have. Therefore, this points to the child’s rights. Note, gentlemen, that the name “Cedra” should be given to a Muslim girl. Moreover, it is up to you to give your opinion.
Kerim Posted 2008-11-23
Touahri- You are not being objective.
gol Posted 2008-11-24
The truth is that choosing a baby’s name is not a trivial act: it will be brought to life by it and it seems that it is even forbidden in Islam to change your name. So, given your child a complicated name is simply irresponsible. It means condemning your child to start life with a disability.
aharrat brhim Posted 2008-11-24
Bravo! Bravo! Encore! Encore for the Moroccans! Finally, we have the country we dreamed of one day having!!! A thousand bravos for tomorrow’s generation! I have a small question to ask: What job can a young Moroccan with four years of higher education and still has no work get???!!! Can we neglect to mention this in such documents as the National Identity Card and so on?
abdlahadkhaddar Posted 2008-11-24
Civil state.
bitchouche Posted 2008-12-01
Bravo Allal! I am of the same idea: modernisation and mechanisation are very good things, especially nowadays, but it is rather necessary that we modernise our minds and change our mentalities. This is urgent.
adil meknes Posted 2008-12-16
The comment of Hassan Menach attracted my attention, especially about issuing a standard model of names by the competent ministry. I want to mention that this model exists and it is operational. Maybe rural areas do not have such models, but they exist in towns. Concerning the mistakes made by civil status service employees, the condition is catastrophic by all standards. Sometimes we have to suffer the consequences of errors for which we aren’t responsible. From this platform, we hope that the services of the civil status offices will improve.
jil Posted 2009-03-30
I thank you, Magharebia, for having opened this door for me to give my opinion on this subject. Indeed, everything our compatriots working for the civil government offices in Morocco say is true. It has not yet been correctly handled because whenever an elected official gets a spot in the city council, he hires all of his family up to the very last, illiterate relative. So, what does this automatically do to the civil registry office? This is where the serious mistakes begin - with Mr or Mrs John Doe who does not even have a primary-education diploma, has not had an internship and does not have anything at all. An employee in the civil government needs to be qualified, not illiterate. This is the most important service to people’s daily lives. In short, there is a lot to be said on this important subject.
علي السوسي Posted 2009-07-08
What I don't like about this programme is that they impose on citizens the day and month 1/1 instead of letting them choose the date suiting them. It beggars belief for example that 10 people are the sons of the same person and they were all born on 1/1, this is funny. There are also obstacles encountered by individuals who want to add the day and month to the date of birth. For example, a person who is born in Agadir and who works in Oujda should go in person to Agadir to add the day and month. So why does the government not think about the problem. Instead of 50 dirhams paid in court in his town, he might pay 100 dirhams in the city where he lives. The court can then communicate with the other court and the case would be solved. And why this day and month exactly? This is illogical. Or is it just a waste of time and disturbance of the citizen? Or is it a project to make a profit?
Belkacem Posted 2009-07-26
A thousand and one cheers to this modernisation! I had the opportunity to meet Mr Younès Sekkouri, and I would like to assure you that he will spare no effort in making this giant project succeed. Congratulations to the new Minister of the Interior, under whom everything is well managed. Our country is on the right path, so keep up the good work. I will conclude this with a famous quotation from John F. Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." A word to the wise!!!
razzouk Posted 2009-09-20
Well-done for the change.
ابو علي Posted 2009-10-20
What hinders the work in the civil status offices is not illiteracy and favouritism, it is the excessive intervention of illiterate advisors who don't care about serving the public interest as much as they care about serving themselves. Finally, it is us who vote for them and thus have the responsibility of what we face in these offices.
ابو علي Posted 23 days ago
The importance of the civil status service in the social life of individuals and society is well-known by officials. Therefore, it and its employees should be treated as important, so as to avoid problems into which workers fall, while citizens face the consequences.
COURCELLES Posted 12 days ago
Hello- I would like to know what the established practice is in Morocco when Moroccan nationals provide only their birth years and marital statuses. I would also like to know about extending the delivery time of this provision to, for example, 15 May. Is the person reported to be born 1 January or 31 December? –Thank you.
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