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The objective of this article is to propose a panel of management performance evaluation indicators at operator level. This panel would be the tool to be made available to an observatory that should be set up by regulation. The proposal comes at the right time given that Morocco is planning a major reform of the sector very soon. A framework law has already been promulgated for this purpose (Law 51-21 relating to the reform of public establishments).

The proposed panel is the result of (1) a review of the literature dealing with public management theories, in particular those relating to industrial and commercial public services and whose character is captive. The management of the latter requires a great deal of caution to preserve their economic balance and consequently their sustainability. (2) A review of experiences of countries is chosen because of contextual their similarities with Morocco like France having a similar legal background, Tunisia and Algeria chosen for geographical and economic similarities. The British experience is also discussed for what it represents as a liberal model in the management of public water and sanitation services, as opposed to the German model also studied and which stands as the only country where the management of public services has almost always been a communal prerogative. The analysis of these models has made it possible to identify management evaluation practices that could be adapted to the Moroccan context. (3) Research work by practitioners and reports from specialized international institutions (International Water Association [IWA]). (4) A critical analysis of a multitude of management and activity reports from 12 autonomous authorities and 4 private delegates covering 16 million inhabitants of the urban environment. A total of 15 indicators are developed. They aim to assess the effectiveness of management in terms of saving drinking water and preserving the natural environment from the pollution of water resources.

Approximately, 15 indicators for assessing water resource management in public water and sanitation services are proposed. These indicators relate to the efficiency of pipe networks, the performance of storage systems and losses in users' homes. Indicators specific to liquid sanitation systems, particularly with regard to the control of wastewater overflows into the public highway and their treatment before discharge into the natural environment, are also proposed.

The application of the results of this research could be confronted with its appropriation by the operators. Indeed, the investment involved in setting up the proposed evaluation system, as well as the conflict of interest that may arise in the process of formalizing and standardizing the system at the national level, may slow down the process of setting it up.

In practice, the implementation of a system for evaluating the performance of water resource management in public drinking water and liquid sanitation services would make it possible to optimize the volume of water to be mobilized. Substantial savings are expected both at the level of the resource itself and at the level of the investments that accompany the realization of the mobilization and distribution infrastructures. These savings will be very useful for the creation of other similar services and to serve more people.

The distribution of drinking water and liquid sanitation is a vital human need. These services are extremely captive. They are key factors in the socioeconomic development of the territory and the citizen. The impact is transversal and affects the lifestyle of the populations. On the one hand, it favors the sedentarization of the populations and on the other hand, preserves their health by fighting against the diseases of water origin. In addition, the comfort that it provides in the daily life of users is highly coveted when they are delivered in a modern way and arranged with modern technologies.

The regulation of public drinking water and liquid sanitation services in Morocco is the weakest link in the sector. The Ministry of the Interior is legally responsible for setting up a standard system for evaluating the management of these services to fill this gap (organic law 113-14 on municipalities). Unfortunately, this initiative is not yet underway. The opportunity to apply the results of this research is well timed. Morocco plans to launch a global reform of the sector starting in 2022–2023 (Law 50-21 on the reform of public institutions).

Muslims have several religious obligations; the payment of a defined sum to the deprived part of the society is one of their financial obligations called Zakat. The institutionalization of this obligation has been the focal point of several research studies, however the Moroccan context has been studied by very few researchers. Therefore, this research aims to study the institutionalization of Zakat in the Moroccan context.

In this paper, the authors try to drive focus to the determinants of the payment of Zakat to a specialized institution in Morocco (institutions whose main activity is the management of zakat funds), through 302 questionnaires that have been administrated on Moroccans and partial least square (PLS) approach.

The results show that the intention and payment behavior of Zakat by Moroccans depends on the quality of the zakat institution's quality of services, its location, the competence and availability of personnel, the use of technology, the shari'ah compliance of the institution’s activities and the trust by showing professionalism in the management of Zakat funds and disclose information.

The lack of relevant data covering the number of Zakat payers in Morocco, their potential contributions and the amounts paid each year, slows down the progress of this project as it hinders the ability of state officials and decision-makers to assess the potential zakat funds that are currently in circulation, and thus makes it hard for them to attribute financial support to such project. It also makes it hard for researchers to get direct access to Muzzakis.

The existing literature shows immense interest in the implementation of institutions who can manage the Islamic social instruments especially zakat. However, the lack of relevant payer data of Zakat in Morocco and other jurisdictions who have not yet institutionalized zakat slows down the progress of this project and hinders any progress. Thus, the initiating point of such institutions in Morocco and in other countries who have not yet launched this project, requires knowing what determines the behaviour of Zakat payers and their choice of paying zakat to an institution. The results of our research help give insights on the determinants of zakat institutionalization from zakat payers point of view. These results are useful to the state policy makers.

Like other neighboring countries, Morocco must introduce Zakat into its social system in order to better manage the funds that will enable the tackling of serious social problems such as poverty.

In contrast to the widespread and extensive literature available in analyzing the determinants of donations and volunteering from a conventional perspective, the parallel analysis of these same concerns in social Islamic systems is still in its infancy and so is the implementation of institutions related to zakat and other traditional Islamic social instruments such as waqf.

The Arab world is made up of 22 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. These countries are subjected to many social, economic, political and geographical vulnerabilities contributing to increased risks or ineffective emergency and disaster management. This paper examines these vulnerabilities, how they may impact the country's ability to face disasters, and how they can improve disasters' overall management.

The author selected Qatar, Oman to represent the Arab oil-rich countries, while Jordan, Egypt and Morocco to represent non-oil rich countries. The research was conducted in a qualitative, inductive systematic literature review based on a well-established systematic literature review methodology. Selected literature was based on its recency and the countries in question.

The review reveals population gaps that could threaten the social system in the event of a disaster in countries like Qatar and Oman. The majority of the countries lack community engagement and pre-planning for emergency preparedness due to social and cultural barriers. Other nations like Jordan, Egypt and Morocco are prone to long-lasting economic challenges due to lack of resources, mismanagement or corruption. The paper also highlights the need to raise the educational attainment among citizens to understand disaster risk reduction.

This study utilized the research method developed by Williams et al. (2017) to present a comprehensive systematic and comparative review of disaster management in the Arab world. Considering that disaster and emergency management has remained disproportionately unexplored in the Arab world, this paper reviewed several vulnerabilities and how those vulnerabilities may affect disaster and emergency management efforts in the Arab countries.

The current study investigated the effect of internal marketing practices, specifically the training and rewards system, on job satisfaction, affective commitment and employee turnover intention.

Structural equation modeling analysis was conducted on a sample of 288 responses from employees working in different organizations and diverse industries in Morocco.

The findings revealed that internal marketing positively affected employee job satisfaction and affective commitment and negatively affected employee turnover intention.

The current investigation extends our understanding of the effects of internal marketing practices, especially training and rewards, on an emerging country context and contributes to the organizational behavior and management field. The results may be of interest to organizations and managers who should consider the importance of internal marketing in enhancing job satisfaction, affective commitment and decreasing employee turnover intention.

The current study is the first of its kind to investigate the impact of internal marketing practices on job satisfaction, affective commitment and employee turnover intention in Morocco.

The importance of sovereign bond as a source of financing revenue deficit, benchmarking for corporate bonds and debt management in Africa, calls for continual monitoring of its volatility dynamics. This study evaluates the nature of sovereign bond volatility interaction between African countries using bivariate BEKK-GARCH (1, 1) model. Based on a sample of eight African countries, the results show evidence of unidirectional volatility spillover from Morocco sovereign bond to Egypt sovereign bond. Next, the results show absence of volatility interaction between Ghana and Nigeria sovereign bonds. The results further show the existence of bidirectional volatility transmission between Uganda and Kenya. Finally, the results indicate evidence of bidirectional volatility interaction between Botswana and South Africa. Overall, the results show existence of full interaction between Uganda–Kenya and Botswana–South Africa sovereign bond returns, partial interaction between Egypt and Morocco sovereign bond returns and no interaction between Ghana and Nigeria sovereign bonds markets. Thus, these results provide valuable implications for sovereign and corporate credit risk management, as well as strategy for monitoring and minimising negative effect of sovereign bond volatility spillover in Africa.

This paper aims to evaluate the impact of the “Postliteracy” program on the qualification of beneficiaries for socioeconomic integration. This qualification is achieved first through the consolidation of the achievements of individuals freed from illiteracy, and then through their support in creating income-generating activities by providing them with technical, economic, legal and institutional knowledge to ensure their conscious and responsible participation in local and regional development efforts.

To evaluate the impact of the “Postliteracy” program, this paper uses quasi-experimental methods with a control group (participants of the “Literacy” program 2020 / 2021) and a treatment group (participants of the “Postliteracy” program 2021 / 2022). Skill acquisition is measured through pretest and posttest evaluations using a questionnaire aligned with the National Agency for the Fight Against Illiteracy (ANLCA)-adopted curriculum. The survey occurred at the beginning and at the end of the program, providing sufficient time for skill development. The questionnaire includes three sections covering socioprofessional characteristics, technical and economic domains and legal and institutional aspects. These sections contribute to a score reflecting the acquired skills for successful socioeconomic integration.

The results of the study demonstrate that the “Postliteracy” program has a positive impact on the acquisition of competences necessary for improved socioeconomic integration of the beneficiaries. The various matching techniques reveal a score difference ranging from 12 to 14 points in favor of program participants compared to those who did not participate. The Difference-in-Differences method confirms the positive and significant impact of the program.

The findings highlight the importance of the “Postliteracy” program in national literacy policy, underlining the need to further strengthen its presence within the programs deployed by ANLCA, notably by increasing the number of beneficiaries targeted by this program. To achieve this, it would be advisable to increase the funds allocated to it within ANLCA's budget.

The originality of this work is a unique research of the case of Morocco based on a microeconometric study for which the authors evaluate the impact of adult education by applying impact evaluation methods in the field of adult literacy.

Universities are large, complex and highly hierarchical organisations with deeply engrained gendered values, norms and practices. This chapter reflects on the experiences of two universities in initiating structural change towards gender equality as supported by the TARGET project. A common aspect thereby is the lack of a national policy in higher education and research providing specific support for implementing gender equality policies. The process of audit, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the first gender equality plan (GEP) in each of these universities was conceived as a first step in a long journey, providing a framework for engaging different institutional actors and fostering reflexive, evidence-based policy making. The analysis deals with reflexivity and resistance and seeks to draw lessons from bottom-up and top-down experiences of GEP implementation. It is the result of shared reflection between the GEP ‘implementers’ in the two universities and the team who provided support and acted as ‘critical friends’.

The present study aims to bring out the impact of consanguinity on spontaneous pregnancy loss (SPL) and on descendants’ health, among the population of north Morocco.

Convenience sampling was used for collecting data. A questionnaire was randomly administered to 385 couples represented by either the husband, the wife or both. The study lasted for three months, from January to March 2015.

In total, 238 valid questionnaires were analysed. The results showed that the consanguinity rate was 45.23% and that most consanguineous unions were between first cousins (91%). Data analysis revealed that SPL risk was similar in consanguineous and non-consanguineous couples (OR = 1.6; IC95% = 0.9–2.9). Also, no significant difference was observed in terms of SPL type (OR = 1.6; IC95% = 0.7–3.9) and frequency (p = 0.81). However, late SPL frequency was significantly lower in consanguineous couples (p < 0.001), whereas no significant difference was registered in terms of early SPL frequency (p = 0.73). On the other hand, consanguineous couples displayed a significantly higher risk of descendants’ health disorders in comparison with non-consanguineous ones. Moreover, the consanguineous couples had a significantly higher number of children with health disorders (p < 0.001). The risk analysis also showed that consanguineous couples displayed a significantly higher risk of congenital malformations (OR = 7.23; IC95% = 3.52–14.84) and multifactorial diseases (OR = 3.72; IC95% = 1.46–9.49), but no significant difference was observed in terms of behavioural disorders risk.

The population awareness regarding the negative effects of consanguinity should be raised through education programmes and premarital, prenatal and genetic counselling services.

The practice of consanguinity has been culturally preferred in most Arab countries, including Morocco. This behavior leads to an increase in genetic abnormalities, such as hypertension and diabetes. This paper examines the prevalence and determinants of first-cousin marriages and their impact on diabetes among offspring.

Data on 882 couples were collected through face-to-face interview via a pre-established questionnaire based on the variables selected within the objectives of this study. The authors used the multiple logistic regression modeling procedure in this study.

The results of the study indicate that the prevalence of first-cousin marriages were 15% among students’ parents. From the multiple logistic regression modeling, the authors found a significant effect of paternal and maternal grandparents’ first-cousins marriage on that of parents (aOR = 3.27 and aOR = 3.36, respectively). However, an 11-fold higher risk of first relative marriages among parents once the paternal and maternal grandparents were first-cousins and the father was illiterate (aOR = 11.01). Moreover, the authors reported a diabetes risk of more than 14 times when the effects of first-cousin maternal grandparents and parents and the hypertension among mother or her sibling were combined (aOR = 14.48) or when the effects of first-cousins maternal grandparents, first-cousin parents and mother’s age at marriage between 21 and 29 years were combined (aOR = 14.56).

First-cousin marriage depends on the father’s illiteracy and the consanguinity of grandparents’ factors. The cumulative effect of first-cousin marriage among grandparents, parents and a family history of hypertension among mother or her sibling increase the risk of diabetes among these mothers.

In Morocco, universities have opted for online courses as a national effort to contain the coronavirus since the early stage. This article aims to analyze university students’ satisfaction with their distance learning experience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This article is based on the statistical analysis of a survey conducted in 2020 at the national level among 800 university students from all disciplines enrolled in open access and regulated access institutions in Morocco. Econometrically, the authors used the ordinal logistic regression model after checking several conditions justifying its use.

Findings from analysis reveal that students lacking basic computer skills have a negative perception of this new mode of learning. The results also show a certain sensitivity of the students to the way in which the courses are taught. The satisfaction of the learners largely depends on the duration of the courses, the interactivity, and the teaching methods adopted. In designing, developing, and delivering distance education courses, students’ needs should be taken care of.

This article suggests that for public policies, professional training for teachers should equip them with the pedagogical skills so that they can adjust their teaching according to students’ levels. Training in digital tools must also be provided to bridge the digital divide and accelerate positive change and adaptation to this new mode of training. In addition, this article highlights the role of interactivity in increasing adaptation to distance learning.