Yasmina Baddou

A politician in Morocco, Yasmina Baddou has been a tireless advocate for children’s rights.

The Secretary of State during the government of Driss Jettou, which was from 2002 until 2007, Ms. Baddou brought into public discourse the topic of using children in domestic servitude and in other labor sectors. While this had been a practice for a long time, no one talked about it. Ms. Baddou changed that, by spreading awareness of the problems. She was instrumental in initiating a Plan of Action to combat child labor, and used a public awareness campaign to launch the plan and spread the word about this issue. She also has made efforts to help street children, by forming rescue units that were meant to stop children from being exploited as much as possible. She was re-elected in 2007, and was appointed to the position of Minister of Health, which she held until 2012. She is still active in politics today.

In the 2014 TIP Report, Morocco was placed on the Tier 2 Watch List. It is a source, transit, and destination country for both forced labor and sex trafficking. The practice of using children, sometimes as young as 6, as domestic servants continues, although it has decreased since 2005. Undocumented migrants also present a large problem for Morocco in regards to trafficking.