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• The Maghreb has high rates of child institutionalisation. • Fragmented child protection systems prioritise cultural norms over child welfare, with limited resources and transparency. • Limited alternative care such as foster care contributes to high rates of child institutionalisation. • Research is urgently needed to develop evidence-based interventions to reduce child institutionalisation in the region. The Maghreb (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco (including Western Sahara), Tunisia) has high rates of child maltreatment and child abandonment, leading to high rates of child institutionalisation. This review aims to provide an estimate of the prevalence of children in institutions in the countries of the Maghreb and to compare and contrast the child protection systems in the region. Using a scoping review approach, we identified 44 relevant studies from databases including Academic Search Premiere, Africa-Wide Information, Policy file Index, Google, and Google Scholar. Estimated children in institutions were as follows: Algeria 550,000, Libya 80–145,000, Mauritania 45,850, Morocco 471,006, and Tunisia 140,000. Common elements included limited child protection resources, lack of transparent databases, limited separation between religion and state, Shariah's influence on social and cultural norms, and a kafala system, an Islamically prescribed from of permanent guardianship for abandoned children. Mauritania and Tunisia had dedicated child protection codes, and all countries except Libya reported to the CRC. The literature indicates that components of the child protection systems in the countries of the Maghreb are fragmented with competing purposes, prioritising existing communitarian cultural mores over child protection. High rates of child abandonment and institutionalisation in the region result from inadequate child safeguarding structures and the stigmatisation of unmarried mothers and their children. Kafala, is a common element of Maghrebian child protection systems, with little alternative care provision, such as foster care. The scoping review highlights the opportunity to develop and adapt existing child safeguarding and alternative care structures and practice between countries of the Maghreb. Intra-regional research is urgently needed to facilitate changes and reduce rates of child abandonment and institutionalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the distribution of cardiovascular risk factors in Maghreb's countries., Methods: It is a systematic review including articles and reports that applied the WHO "STEPwise" approach, or a similar approach, studying cardiovascular risk factors in the Maghreb countries: Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Mauritania between 2004 and 2018., Results: We selected five articles, a report for each country. The prevalence of smoking was between 13.4% (12.2-14.6) in Morocco and 29.4% (28.3-30.4%) in Tunisia. 50.6% of the population of Mauritania had insufficient physical activity. The prevalence of high blood pressure was highest in Libya (40.6%) The prevalence of obesity was up to 41.1% (37-43.3) for women and 21.4% (19-23.8) in men in Libya. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus was between 10.6% (9.7-11.6) in Morocco and 16.4% (14.7-19.1) in Libya., Conclusion: The distribution of cardiovascular risk factors in the Maghreb countries shows that the level of cardiovascular risk is high, particularly in the central Maghreb. This attests to the fairly advanced epidemiological transition related to the rapid modernization of the Arab countries, hence the importance of launching an integrated project for the fight against cardiovascular diseases based on the global experience.

Objective: To determine the prevalence, risk factors as well as consequences of exposure to violence among youth in Maghreb countries., Methods: This is a systematic review. The documentary request was done on 2 October 2019 and no filters were used. It examined all scientific publications indexed in Medline database via Pubmed using the following search equation: ("Violence"[Mesh] OR "suicide"[Mesh] OR "crime victims"[Mesh] OR "Child abuse"[Mesh]) AND ("Young Adult"[Mesh] OR "Adolescent"[Mesh] OR "Child"[Mesh]) AND ("Tunisia"[Mesh] OR "Algeria"[Mesh] OR "Morocco"[Mesh] OR "Libya"[Mesh] OR "Mauritania"[Mesh])., Results: A total of 16 articles were included. Most of them (68.7%) were published in Uganda, United States and England. The most common type of violence was physical abuse (43.8%). Adolescent boys were mostly affected by physical violence. However, girls were more exposed to emotional violence (63% vs 51%). The suicide rate increased after the social and political Tunisian revolution in 2011. Parental conflicts, school failure and social problems were more frequent among victims of violence. In addition, tobacco and alcohol use, substance abuse and suicide attempt (ranging from 5% to 38%) were higher., Conclusion: Exposure to violence, especially emotional and physical, is becoming more frequent among youth in Maghreb countries. There is an urgent need for future survey to provide temporal data about violence, especially sexual abuse, in order to implement more effective prevention strategies.