A/HRC/41/54/Add.1 B. Amazigh 32. As previously mentioned, the preamble to the Constitution commits the Kingdom to a unified but culturally diverse national identity, which centrally includes Amazigh culture and language. 28 In consultations, Moroccan authorities acknowledged the importance of Amazigh heritage, but seemed not to consider issues related to Amazigh from a racial equality perspective. Notwithstanding important constitutional, legislative and policy commitments on the part of the Government, the Special Rapporteur heard from representatives of many who identified as Amazigh and Moroccan but who had experienced discrimination, structural exclusion and even racist stereotyping and related intolerance on the basis of their Amazigh language and culture. Amazigh women reported that they often experienced multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination on account of their gender and their Amazigh identity. 1. Cultural rights 33. The adoption of a new Constitution in 2011 has made important contributions to the promotion of the Amazigh language and Amazigh culture. Article 5 of the Constitution grants the Amazigh language status as an official language of the State. There are dialects (Tarifit, Tashelhit and Tamazight). In this way, Morocco has implemented an important recommendation previously issued by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.29 Article 5 of the Constitution also provides for the creation of a National Council of Languages and Moroccan Culture mandated to protect and develop the Arabic and Amazigh languages and the diverse Moroccan cultural expressions. The Special Rapporteur welcomes these important developments, noting that it remains to be seen how these provisions will be enforced and applied in practice. She regrets that, more than seven years after the adoption of the Constitution, Morocco has not yet passed the implementing legislation (organic law) required in order to give effect to these constitutional provisions. As a result, the elaboration and implementation of policy reforms that are urgently needed in order to ensure that the equality of all Moroccans that is guaranteed in the Constitution becomes a practical reality, are also being delayed. This delay is unacceptable and the Government must make every effort to bring it to an end. 34. During her visit, the Special Rapporteur learned about the steps Moroccan authorities had taken, in cooperation with the Institut Royal de la Culture Amazighe, to promote the Amazigh language in education and the media. Amazigh language teaching was officially introduced into the education system in 2003. Since then, Morocco has worked to gradually strengthen the position of the Amazigh language, inter alia by hiring and training Amazigh language teachers. By 2017, the Government had hired 294 specialized teachers to provide Amazigh language classes to approximately 400,000 pupils in 4,000 primary schools. 30 In 2018, 498 specialized teachers provided Amazigh language classes to more than 600,000 pupils. Although the Special Rapporteur acknowledges these efforts, she is concerned that progress remains slow and inadequate. According to information received, only 13 per cent of primary school students receive Amazigh language classes, and it is estimated that approximately 100,000 teachers would be needed to cover the 4.5 million students enrolled in primary schools. 35. In addition to the lack of sufficient numbers of specialized teachers, the Special Rapporteur learned of persistent shortcomings regarding the adequacy of the teaching of the Amazigh language at all levels of education and in all regions, the promotion of the use of Amazigh as the language of instruction, and the mainstreaming of Amazigh language and culture in school curricula. Concerning the representation of Amazigh language and culture in the media, the Special Rapporteur learned about progress made in relation to the availability of Amazigh programmes, training for journalists, and the daily hours of broadcasting in Amazigh. Despite these developments, Amazigh remain underrepresented in the audio and visual media. Interlocutors noted that only one out of nine public television 28 29 30 10 Preamble to the 2011 Constitution. CERD/C/MAR/CO/17-18, para. 11. A/HRC/WG.6/27/MAR/1, para. 88.