The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara has begun shutting down. The Security Council did not renew its mandate, and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres confirmed the end of the mission, with the liquidation phase starting the next day. Equipment is being returned to the countries that contributed troops. The mission was set up in 1991 to watch over a ceasefire and prepare a vote on the territory's future, and it never held that vote. Guterres said he remains worried about the security situation and asked all sides to show maximum restraint. Morocco has treated Western Sahara as its own territory since Spain withdrew in 1975, while the Polisario Front seeks an independent Sahrawi state. Algeria said it deeply regretted the non-renewal.
Mission set up:1991Years of operation:35Headquarters:Laayoune
Why it matters for exams: MINURSO's full name, its founding year and the Western Sahara dispute are standard international-relations material, and the Secretary-General is a living fact.
MINURSOUnited Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara — Set up in 1991 to monitor a ceasefire and prepare a referendum that was never held.
Polisario FrontPopular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro — The movement that seeks an independent Sahrawi state in Western Sahara.
King Mohammed VI has appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as Head of Government and asked her to form the new ministry. She is the first woman to hold the post in Morocco and the third woman to serve as prime minister in the Arab world. She leads the Authenticity and Modernity Party, known as PAM, which she joined at its founding in 2008 and which won the most seats in the election. PAM took 97 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives, ahead of the National Rally of Independents with 66 and Istiqlal with 65, so she must build a coalition. El Mansouri was first elected mayor of Marrakesh in 2009, becoming that city's first woman mayor, and returned to the post in 2021. She has served as Minister of Urban Planning and Housing, with charge of reconstruction after the 2023 earthquake. She trained as a lawyer specialising in property and land law before entering politics.
Party:Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM)Seats PAM won:97 of 395Earlier office:Mayor of Marrakesh, first elected in 2009
Why it matters for exams: A first-ever office holder is a standard exam fact: Morocco's Head of Government is Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri of the Authenticity and Modernity Party, the first woman in the post.
Morocco's new government was sworn in at a ceremony over which King Mohammed VI presided at the Royal Palace in Rabat. It is led by Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, the country's first woman head of government. The team has 20 cabinet members and 11 ministers delegate. Nasser Bourita keeps the foreign affairs portfolio, which he has held through several governments. Abdelouafi Laftit stays as Minister of the Interior, the ministry that ran the September elections. Fouzi Lekjaa takes the Ministry of Economy and Finance; he was budget minister before and heads the country's football federation. The line-up follows the legislative elections that put the Authenticity and Modernity Party first.
Why it matters for exams: Office-plus-holder pairs are the most asked country facts: Morocco's Foreign Minister is Nasser Bourita and its Interior Minister is Abdelouafi Laftit.
Morocco's seventh place in the Ibrahim Index of African Governance is a ranking among African Union member states, so its membership of the body is worth knowing. The African Union's own list of member states records Morocco, under its formal name the Kingdom of Morocco, with two dates: 1963 for the Organisation of African Unity, and 31 January 2017 for the African Union. Morocco is grouped in the Northern Africa region of the Union. The African Union replaced the Organisation of African Unity and brings together the states of the continent. Membership carries a seat in the Union's Assembly and access to its specialised agencies, and it is the frame within which continental rankings and reports place a country.
Joined the OAU:1963Joined the African Union:31 January 2017AU region:Northern Africa
Why it matters for exams: Morocco left the Organisation of African Unity and rejoined the African Union in 2017; that break and return is the most asked fact about Morocco's continental membership.
Fouzi Lekjaa, who took the economy and finance portfolio in Morocco's new government this month, also heads the country's football federation, which makes Morocco's World Cup role worth knowing. An Extraordinary FIFA Congress appointed Morocco, Portugal and Spain as the hosts of the 2030 FIFA World Cup. The same Congress named Saudi Arabia as host of the 2034 edition. Three South American countries, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, will each stage one centenary celebration match in 2030, marking a hundred years since the first World Cup. The Congress was held virtually and all 211 FIFA Member Associations took part. The hosts were appointed by acclamation, closing a bidding process that had begun the previous year. It is the first time a World Cup will be shared across two continents in this way, and Morocco is the African partner in the bid.
2030 hosts:Morocco, Portugal and Spain2034 host:Saudi ArabiaFIFA Member Associations:211
Why it matters for exams: Who hosts which World Cup is asked every cycle: Morocco, Portugal and Spain share 2030 and Saudi Arabia has 2034, with FIFA's 211 Member Associations deciding.
Morocco has been in the news this month for the swearing-in of its first woman-led government, so its standing cultural credentials are worth fixing. The element named "Moroccan Caftan: art, traditions and skills" was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Morocco submitted the nomination, which carries file number 02077. The Intergovernmental Committee took the decision at its twentieth session, held in New Delhi, and the decision is recorded as 20.COM 7.B.33. The Committee found that the nomination satisfied all five inscription criteria, R.1 to R.5. Those criteria covered the craftsmanship and the passing on of skills, the contribution to sustainable development and inclusion, the safeguarding measures proposed, the participation and consent of the communities, and the element's place in Morocco's national heritage inventory. The Representative List is kept under UNESCO's intangible heritage machinery, separate from the World Heritage List of sites.
Element:Moroccan Caftan: art, traditions and skillsDecision:20.COM 7.B.33Session venue:New Delhi
Why it matters for exams: The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity is a standard UNESCO question, and the twentieth session that inscribed the Moroccan Caftan met in New Delhi.
With Morocco's new government taking office this month, the country's listed natural and cultural assets are worth knowing. The element named "Argan, practices and know-how concerning the argan tree" is on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Morocco is the country concerned, and the nomination carries file number 00955. It was inscribed at the ninth session of the Intergovernmental Committee, under decision 10.30. The argan tree is an endemic species of the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve in the south-west of Morocco, where it grows as a woodland tree. The listing covers the practices and the know-how that surround the tree, not the tree alone. A biosphere reserve is a UNESCO designation, which is why the argan woodland carries a UNESCO label of its own.
Element:Argan, practices and know-how concerning the argan treeWhere the tree grows:Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve, south-west MoroccoFile number:00955
Why it matters for exams: Endemic species plus a named biosphere reserve plus a UNESCO list is a three-in-one fact: the argan tree, the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve and the Representative List.
Morocco's new government was sworn in at the Royal Palace in Rabat this month, and the capital is itself on the World Heritage List. The property is inscribed under the name "Rabat, Modern Capital and Historic City: a Shared Heritage". The listing recognises a city where an Arab and Muslim inheritance and twentieth-century European town planning sit side by side. Rabat stands on Morocco's north-west Atlantic coast. The inscribed area takes in a new town planned under the French Protectorate in the early twentieth century, with royal, administrative, residential and commercial quarters and the Jardins d'Essais. It also takes in older quarters going back to the twelfth century, among them the unfinished Hassan Mosque and the Almohad ramparts and gates. Remains from the seventeenth-century Andalusian period form part of the same property.
Property name:Rabat, Modern Capital and Historic City: a Shared HeritageCoast:North-west Atlantic coast of MoroccoOldest quarters:Back to the 12th century, including the Hassan Mosque and Almohad ramparts
Why it matters for exams: A capital that is also a World Heritage property is a double fact: Rabat is Morocco's capital, on the Atlantic coast, inscribed as 'Rabat, Modern Capital and Historic City: a Shared Heritage'.