Moroccans call for more and better-funded youth clubs

2009-08-07

Despite funding shortfalls, Morocco's youth clubs play an important role in providing young people with a place to go and activities to enjoy.

Text and photos by Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat — 07/08/09

Young people find a place to learn and grow in Morocco's youth clubs.

Samira M., a working mother in the Moroccan city of Temara, says the local youth club is the only place where she's comfortable letting her two children, ages 13 and 15, go to hang out.

"There's nowhere else here in Temara where my children can have fun in complete safety while being well supervised … [and] take part in cultural activities like acting," she says.

For working-class young people, Morocco's 467 youth clubs remain virtually the only places they can go to have fun and develop talents through activities including drama, music, art, sport, dance and film. And while the clubs come in for their share of criticism for shortcomings in supervision and facilities, they still enjoy a high level of support from people like Samira.

In fact, many people would like to see the government invest in improving and opening more of the clubs, which operate under the Ministry of Youth and Sport and serve more than 6 million young people annually.

"Since these clubs have an important role to play, officials ought to develop them more and build more to meet the demand," says Samira's friend Marwa, who believes that without the youth clubs, young people would spend their time wandering the streets or sitting in cafés. "It would be nice if the club had more money," she adds.

Marwa's views are echoed by sociologist Jamila Berdai, who says the current clubs, which number 177 in rural regions and 259 in urban areas, are not enough to satisfy public demand. She advocates government measures to provide more clubs.

Youth clubs offer NGOs an opportunity to run their activities at a community level.

"These clubs are an ideal place to find out the real concerns of our young people as well as their aspirations," says Berdai. "We could guide them better in arts, cultural and educational activities, but this doesn't always happen."

For his part, Aouad Dahbi of the NGO Mon Avenir (My Future) says the youth clubs offer NGOs an opportunity to run their activities at a community level. "However, [the clubs] often face the thorny problem of a lack of funds," he adds.

The ministry is responding to such concerns with a plan to increase the number of clubs to 656 by 2012. To meet its goal of serving all of the country's young people, officials are also considering strengthening the role of youth clubs in terms of supervision, programmes and facilities.

But expanding the number of clubs, which also offer training to complement school curricula and vocational programmes, will not necessarily get at the issue of funding those that exist, or criticism of the activities they offer.

Mourad Marrakchi, a secondary-school pupil from Sale, says that the youth club in his area offers young people few opportunities to flourish.

"There aren't many organisations there," he says. "I think it's a place that isn't really focused on the needs of young people, who need to express themselves and practise their hobbies in an organised environment."

The clubs initially supervised young people and enabled them to thrive, sociologist Ali Chaabani told Magharebia, but now they are shunned because they offer little of interest. The clubs have not kept pace with the development of Moroccan society, he says, because they were created by the French during the colonial era.

"Youth clubs have remained static. They no longer play the role that was assigned to them, either in terms of space, infrastructure or supervision," says Chaabani. "Some people who live near these clubs don't know what goes on inside them, and they have lost a lot of their influence."

But the clubs are doing the best they can and do not deserve such criticism, maintains one youth club staff member, who wished to remain anonymous.

"Cultural, arts and sporting events are organised all year round for young people," he told Magharebia. "Our doors are open to organisations willing to add to the activities we provide."

Experts like Berdai point out that the opportunities offered by youth clubs vary depending on the activities run by local organisations, which provide, in some areas, good supervision of young people. And Chaabani blames the situation on the government, which he says is not doing enough to develop and provide funding for the clubs.

Chaabani says that a detailed study should be carried out on the subject of youth clubs to find out what the public, and young people in particular, expect from them.

"This study should look at the role of these youth clubs in our era as well as looking to the future," says Chaabani. "These institutions should also be opened to all age groups."

In the meantime, Berdai says that officials and civil society must work together to find the most effective ways of ensuring that youth clubs can fight social problems such as intolerance and immorality.

"Through these clubs, we can convey messages to our young people, knowing that we will achieve our desired goals," she says.