A/HRC/32/43/Add.1 being implemented in Marrakech.8 In parallel, in 2015 the Ministry began working with UNDP to develop an integrated public policy for the promotion of the rights of people with disabilities. A similar example was given of a joint project with Finland to share good practice and strengthen capacity for providing adequate assistance to older persons. The Ministry is also receiving assistance from the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), including in reviewing the family code. 25. The Ministry of Handicraft and the Social and Solidarity Economy heads the efforts to promote a solidarity-based economic model by developing an environment that is conducive to the realization of economic and social rights for members of cooperatives and economic associations. The Ministry has worked towards developing a framework bill on a social and solidarity economy with the help of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The promotion of a social solidarity economy in Morocco is perceived as a means for developing local economies that foster development at the community level and empower small producers, and for regularizing the informal economy. Cooperatives promote economic innovation at the grass-roots level and at the same time strengthen solidarity and the implementation of democratic economy. Solidarity among producers in the milk industry has enabled their cooperative to achieve autonomy and offer products at accessible prices in the national market, benefiting both producers and consumers. 26. The Ministry is also implementing programmes with foreign partners for functional literacy, with a view to empowering peasants and handicraft workers, in coordination with the International Labour Organization (ILO). Additionally, with the help of ILO and the Ministry of Labour, a programme has been implemented to combat child labour in this particular sector, among others nationwide. The Independent Expert was informed that, as a result, child labour had decreased drastically from 600,000 concerned children in 2009 to less than 60,000 at present. The ILO confirmed that the programme had been discontinued in 2015 owing to its success in drastically reducing child labour in Morocco. C. Solidarity towards migrants and refugees 27. Morocco has been commended for its groundbreaking policy on refugees and migrants in the region, developed as a result of the 2013 National Human Rights Council report presented to the King, which drew attention to the vulnerability of migrant populations, including asylum seekers. That report recommended that the national legal framework be amended to conform to the international standards to which Morocco had committed. The same report further advised that an adequate institutional framework should be established to implement a policy of integration that would also allow the migrant population to have access to basic services that were part of their fundamental human rights. The report of the National Human Rights Council also recognized the need to strengthen the country’s cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Furthermore, it called on the Government to facilitate a permanent dialogue with national and international civil society, in order to exchange information, mobilize humanitarian assistance and legal expertise, disseminate good practices and provide assistance in return. The Council highlighted that recognizing the limited economic capacities of Morocco, and the role of international organizations, including relevant United Nations agencies, and partner States, including European countries, as well as the European Union, was paramount in the design and implementation of a new migration and asylum policy in Morocco. It was further stressed that assistance 8 See www.social.gov.ma/fr/content/programme-de-coop%C3%A9ration-avec-la-banque-mondiale (accessed on 9 March 2016). 9