The next Amazigh New Year, which corresponds to January 13, 2024, i.e. the year 2974 of the Berber calendar, will for the first time be declared a public holiday and paid for in Morocco, a country which thus joins neighboring Algeria and Libya.
The king of Morocco decided on Wednesday to establish the Amazigh (Berber) New Year as an official paid holiday, according to a statement from the royal cabinet, a decision long demanded by activists from the Amazigh community, an indigenous ethnic group in North Africa. .
King Mohammed VI “has decided to establish Amazigh New Year’s Day, an official paid national holiday”, said the royal cabinet.
“This Royal initiative comes to devote the High solicitude of which His Majesty the King, may God preserve Him, continues to surround the Amazigh as an essential component of the authentic Moroccan identity rich by the plurality of its tributaries and common heritage in all Moroccans without exception,” the statement read.
The Amazigh New Year ( Yennayer ) is celebrated every year in mid-January in this country which has the most Berbers in all of the Maghreb.
The next New Year, which corresponds to January 13, 2024, i.e. the year 2974 of the Berber calendar, will therefore be the first day of the Amazigh year declared a public holiday and paid for in Morocco.
In an open letter addressed to King Mohamed VI in January, 45 Moroccan and diaspora NGOs asked King Mohammed VI to declare the Amazigh New Year a holiday.
“In addition to its strong symbolism, the Amazigh New Year will consecrate and restore the revival of Amazigh in accordance with the spirit and philosophy of the Constitution and in harmony with the speeches of His Majesty”, can we read in the letter signed by the President of the Amazigh World Assembly, Rachid Raha.
The Amazigh language was recognized in 2011 as an official language, alongside Arabic, in the Moroccan Constitution, after decades of struggle by activists for this cause.
Use of the Amazigh language in the administration
In 2019, an organic law for the generalization of the Amazigh language was adopted. This text defines its use in the administration, local authorities, and public services, its teaching in schools, and its use in cultural life.
One of the most notable consequences of this formalization was the appearance of the Tifinagh alphabet on public buildings, in addition to Arabic and French.
Since 2010, a Moroccan public television channel, Tamazight TV, has been dedicated to promoting Amazigh culture.
During the celebration of the Amazigh New Year last January, the head of government, Aziz Akhannouch, announced the use of Amazigh in public administration.
On the same occasion, the Minister for Digital Transition, Ghita Mezzour, had indicated that “one of the most important projects is that there are today 460 auxiliaries in all the regions of the Kingdom who speak the three dialects [ Amazighs]”, to facilitate communication with concerned citizens.
Amazigh activists, however, criticize the slowness of the deployment of this language, especially in education.
The Amazigh New Year is officially recognized as a public holiday by other countries in the region. In Algeria, a 2018 decree by former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika made Amenzu n Yennayer (the Amazigh New Year) an official non-working and paid holiday.
Libya in turn formalized the status of Yennayer the following year to include it in its calendar of national events. In Tunisia, the authorities have not yet given any special status to the Berber New Year.
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