The local socio-sports centres and other sports infrastructure, inaugurated on Monday and Tuesday by H.M. King Mohammed VI in the province of Berkane, particularly in Ahfir, constitute the best bulwark against school dropout, delinquency and illicit activities such as smuggling. These projects, carried out in implementation of the provincial development programme for the sports and youth sector or within the framework of the National Initiative for Human Development (INDH), play an eminently important role in encouraging young people to continue their studies, to emancipate themselves and to showcase their sporting, artistic and intellectual skills. This is the best way to succeed in their integration into social life and to fight against all forms of marginalisation and exclusion from which this important segment of society suffers and which are the source of all vices and evils.

The provincial development programme for the youth and sports sector in the province of Berkane, endowed with a budget of 90.5 million dirhams, significantly strengthens sports infrastructure for the benefit of young people, by providing them with quality equipment, which is the pride of the region's inhabitants. The integrated local socio-sports complex in Ahfir and the athletics track in the city of Sidi Slimane Chrâa, inaugurated on Tuesday by the Sovereign, proceed from this royal will aimed at offering young people the best conditions for emancipation and socio-cultural integration to contribute to the effort of building their country.

Other projects have emerged in recent years in the province of Berkane, notably the "H.R.H. Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan" indoor sports hall and the "H.R.H. Princess Lalla Meryem" local socio-sports complex.

The INDH has also been a valuable contribution to the sports sector in the province by financing the construction of several sports fields, youth centres and local socio-sports complexes in rural communes and under-equipped neighbourhoods.

These various projects promote the integration of young people and other vulnerable groups and contribute at the same time to improving the living conditions of the province's inhabitants, by reducing the poverty rate and fighting against marginalisation, social exclusion and precariousness.

The integrated local socio-sports complex of Ahfir, inaugurated on Tuesday by the Sovereign, has a strategic dimension, insofar as it will immunise young people against illicit activities such as smuggling.

Indeed, this city is located a few metres from the Algerian border and in the absence of this type of socio-cultural animation structure and prospects for integration into active life, young people would be tempted by these activities, especially after Algeria's closure of its borders with Morocco.

The construction of the Sidi Slimane Chraâ athletics track is part of the national athletics infrastructure development programme, endowed with a budget of 578 million dirhams and involving the realisation by the Royal Moroccan Athletics Federation (FRMA) of the Mohammed VI International Athletics Academy of Ifrane, five regional athlete training centres, a sports medical centre in Rabat and 21 synthetic tracks in different cities of the Kingdom.

Beyond the strengthening of sports infrastructure and the contribution to the emergence of new athletes capable of representing the Kingdom in various competitions, this project will allow the integration of the province of Berkane into the national sports fabric. This joins the philosophy of the INDH, launched in 2005 under the impetus of H.M. the King, concerned with reducing the disparities and dysfunctions of Moroccan society.

The first phase of the INDH in Berkane (2005-2010) made it possible to carry out several large-scale projects in the fields of health, sport, youth promotion, women's emancipation, the creation of income-generating activities and the fight against poverty, particularly in rural areas. The second phase (2011-2015) will broaden the scope of intervention of these programmes as well as the beneficiary areas and layers. Thus, sixty-five INDH projects were programmed just during the 2011-2012 period for a total investment of 58.3 MDH, which will have a great impact on the daily lives of the inhabitants and will fundamentally change the face of their province.

Whether within the framework of the INDH, urban upgrading, sport or the development of the craft sector, the projects launched or inaugurated by H.M. the King during his tour in Berkane aim to consolidate this province in its place of choice in the great development project of the Oriental. Since its launch by the Sovereign in 2003, the Royal Initiative for the Development of the Oriental has indeed been advancing by leaps and bounds with the realisation of major structuring projects: the Fès-Oujda motorway, the Berkane agropole, the industrial park and the Saïdia tourist resort and many other projects, called upon to make this region a major development hub both in Morocco and in the south of the Mediterranean.