COVID-19 Crisis Deepens Struggles for Single Mothers in Morocco

Aboard a van, a dozen volunteers from the charitable association are winding their way through the alleys of the economic capital to distribute food aid packages to this vulnerable social category.

Overwhelmed by the mandatory confinement, the lack of resources and social rejection, these women, often abandoned by their own families, find in Meriem Othmani, president of the Insaf association, a true support in this time of distress.

"The epidemic affects everyone, but single mothers are the most vulnerable: their families reject them and they have to fend for themselves with their babies without any support," laments the president.

Dedicated to the cause of these victims of "religious conservatism", the association accompanies more than 500 single mothers in the city each year, through medical and psychological follow-up, mediation with families and biological fathers, and assistance with professional integration.

Thanks to donations from private donors, the association hopes to address the emergency and reach as many single mothers as possible in remote areas of the country, where drought and confinement have contributed to the exacerbation of poverty.