In late February, the French Institute for Demographic Studies (INED) and the High Commission for Planning (HCP) of the Kingdom of Morocco signed a partnership framework agreement that will bolster scientific cooperation between the two institutions in the area of public statistics and population studies. The core of their cooperation is scientific use of Morocco’s statistical sources, particularly civil register data, which will serve as the source for research on mortality and the HCP’s new Family Survey 2025. By combining INED’s internationally renowned expertise in methodology and demography in general with the HCP’s experience in producing and analyzing social and demographic data in Morocco, the partnership opens up new perspectives for research on changes in the family, mortality dynamics, and international migration.
Michel Guillot (Ined) and Ayache Khellaf (HCP du Maroc)
Strengthening international cooperation
The aims of the partnership include joint development of research projects, training programs and the use, diffusion, and valorization of scientific studies on fundamental contemporary demographic questions. The two institutions intend to produce new in-depth analyses of changes in family structure, trends in mortality and health conditions, international migration dynamics, and social and gender-related inequalities. For the High Commission for Planning of the Kingdom of Morocco, the aim is to reinforce scientific use, diffusion, and valorization of the statistical data the institution produces through detailed analyses of demographic and social changes and trends in Morocco. For the French Institute for Demographic Studies, the cooperation agreement constitutes an opportunity to widen international comparisons and to conduct new collaborative studies that draw on Moroccan statistical sources. By combining INED’s methodological expertise in demographic analysis and the HCP’s experience in producing and using national statistical data, the partnership will open the way to a better understanding of transformations underway in Moroccan society while providing new material for international comparative analyses.
Some scientific collaboration projects already agreed upon
The framework agreement was signed following a meeting in Rabat between two INED researchers and teams from Morocco’s HCP and Center for Demographic Studies and Research (CERED). Several specific areas of collaboration were identified, including a training program in life history analysis and an analysis of mortality in Morocco, in addition to theme-based research analyses drawing on data from household surveys conducted by the HCP in 2025 and other such surveys already underway in connection with the 2027-2028 research plan.
