Morocco Faces Child Abandonment Crisis: 5,000 Kids Left Annually, Activist Reports

"5,000 children are abandoned annually" in Morocco, not counting infants, 24 of whom are "thrown in the trash cans" every day, reveals Aïcha Chenna to the Spanish website Mujer Hoy.

This statement sheds light on the fragile state of children. The other equally worrying aspect of this situation remains the total absence of official figures concerning single mothers in Morocco.

For nearly 40 years, Chenna and her association have been working alongside single mothers, widows and the excluded, to ensure them a certain recognition, as well as a better daily life, within society.

All in all, "the association," Aïcha Chenna recalls, "has handled the cases of 7,000 single mothers" and currently has a multidisciplinary team of 35 people, not to mention cooperative relationships with other associations in Marrakech, Fez and Tangier.

It should be remembered that Article 490 of the Moroccan Penal Code provides for a prison sentence for anyone who has had sexual relations outside of marriage and a recourse to abortion. A provision that further complicates the situation of these many "single mothers" who, as a result, find themselves without social protection.