Single Mothers in Morocco Abandoned Thousands of Babies Each Year
29 November 2010
Abandoned children sleep in an orphanage in Morocco
At this center for abandoned children in Marrakech, kids play and sing with caretakers.
The home currently has about 60 children, between four-days and seven-years old. Many of them were born to single mothers who abandoned them at a young age.
Experts say it is a growing phenomenon in Morocco, where aid agencies estimate that more than 6,000 babies are abandoned at birth each year, roughly one in 50 babies born.
Having a child outside of marriage carries heavy stigma in the moderate Muslim country. Single mothers find it hard to turn to their friends and family for support, but a German-based group, The League for Child Protection, is seeking to change that.
The League runs this home for abandoned children in Marrakech and others like it around the country, but it is also working with single mothers and their families to try to prevent children from being abandoned in the first place.
The League's Director, Lamia Chrabi Lazreck, says they are making headway.
Lazrek says they have been doing mediation work with some of the parents of single mothers. He says sometimes they have also been able to mediate with the father of the child. He says they have found work for these women and offered to care for their babies temporarily at the center for three or four months so they may have some time to sort themselves out.
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