In order to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and slow down its spread, Morocco has taken strict and rapid health and security measures, accompanied by extensive financial efforts to support the Moroccan population, with mitigation measures, particularly in the formal and informal economies. However, beyond a health emergency, the COVID-19 crisis has created a historic global recession that primarily affects the most vulnerable population.

In this context, the Moroccan High Commission for Planning (HCP), the United Nations Development System (UNDS) in Morocco and the World Bank jointly developed a Policy Brief in order to understand the social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Morocco. This is a unique, inclusive and collaborative approach, that presents strategic and evidence-based recommendations, in order to leave no one behind.

This Policy Brief covers the pandemic in Morocco until the date of its publication and sets out the analysis of the evolution of the economic and social impact on the country since the beginning of the crisis, taking as a reference the results of surveys and analyzes carried out by the HCP, as well as reports on the economic outlook of Morocco from the World Bank. This note also presents the actions undertaken by Morocco and highlights the main recommendations of the UNDS agencies to support an integrated and effective response to the economic and social repercussions of the crisis. It calls for finding opportunities to be seized in the crisis for a recovery aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), well informed and inclusive that leaves no one behind. Its recommendations call for greater attention to monitoring multidimensional poverty, to innovation in the collection and analysis of contextualized data, to investment in the continuity of public education and health services during and after the crisis, as well as to the strengthening of regionalization and the role of civil society.

This Policy Brief and its various recommendations, can thus be used as a working tool towards an immediate, medium and long-term socio-economic response to COVID-19 in a collaborative spirit of shared responsibility to meet the needs of vulnerable people, protect jobs and livelihoods, and enable a gradual and sustainable recovery of the economy.

Indeed, the decisions taken in the coming months will certainly be crucial in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This joint Policy Brief shows that the crisis calls for a recovery that is more equitable, inclusive and respectful of the environment, towards sustainable economies and more resilient societies, particularly in the face of pandemics and climate change.

The electronic version of this Policy Brief will be distributed from August 17, 2020, on the websites of the HCP, UNDS agencies and the World Bank as well as on their respective social networks.