Morocco

IBBY Morocco is a new National Section established in January 2024.

It was formally presented at the first Casablanca International Children’s Book Fair in November 2023, in the presence of representatives of the Ministry of Culture and several invited IBBY colleagues. Behind the emergence of the Section lies the efforts of Ms. Amina Hachimi Alaoui, founder of Yanbow el Kitab publishing house. Besides its publishing activities to provide locally produced and high-quality content for Moroccan children, Yanbow el Kitab is experienced in running well-established and long-term reading promotion initiatives that have successfully reached remote and deprived areas of the country:

• “One Child, One Book” (2007 onward): distribution of one free book to Moroccan school children. Up till now, over 160,000 pupils have benefitted from this action.

• The Inclusive Reading Caravan (2017 onward): wide-scale distribution of books at an accessible price (10 Moroccan Dirham, i.e 2.5 US$); 240,000 copies circulated across the country.

• One Family, One Library (2020 onward): distribution of a box set of books to Moroccan families.

These projects have been developed in close partnership with local NGOs, including Amis des Écoles, Shams, AED (Kareen Mane), l’Oum c’est la vie, and Oum El Ghaït. IBBY Morocco will be a meaningful addition to this solid associative network in a difficult time during which all efforts are needed to alleviate the aftermath of the dramatic earthquake that hit Marrakech and its region back in September 2023.

• Presentation of IBBY Morocco, in English
• Introduction à IBBY Maroc, en français