A Participatory Approach to Building Human Capital : Morocco's National Human Development Initiative

From 2000 to 2020, Morocco made significant strides in improving both itseconomic and its social status. Compared to the growth rates it maintainedon average during the 1980s and 1990s, it increased its GDP growth rate anddiversified its economy by focusing on sectors that had growth potential, suchas the aeronautical, automobile, and solar energy industries. Encouraged by thepositive results and improved indicators, Morocco strove to close its economicgap quickly and join the ranks of upper-middle-income countries. From a socialstandpoint, the country’s performance was also sound. It significantly reducedoverall poverty and nearly eradicated extreme poverty.Over that 20-year period, Morocco also made progress in developing itshuman capital. A prominent national program driving the development ofthe country’s human capital was the National Human Development Initiative(NHDI). Launched in 2005 by King Mohammed VI, he described it as “a royalproject that places the human element at the center of national policies.” Themain goal of the NHDI was to address critical gaps in Morocco’s developmenttrajectory, such as high poverty in rural areas, social exclusion in urban areas,and the lack of opportunities and resources available to vulnerable populations(Benkassmi and Abdelkhalek 2020; World Bank 2017a). It was designed toimprove socioeconomic conditions in targeted poor areas through participatorylocal governance mechanisms. The government implemented the initiative at thelevel of rural and urban local governments (known in Morocco as communes)and in urban neighborhoods (Bergh 2012). The program was implemented inmultiple phases, adapting to changing circumstances as it facilitated projectsthat advanced human capital development.