Gender equality and women’s empowerment at the heart of Morocco’s new development model

THE Kingdom of Morocco has made, and continues to make progress in terms of women’s participation in public life thanks to the determination and wise Leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.

More so, Morocco will keep supporting African women and defending their right to the kind of development that meets their expectations and aspirations, while continuing to share its expertise in the field with its sisterly African states.

These have been unveiled by the ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to Tanzania Zakaria El Goumiri, just few days after completion of the Fourth African Women Leaders’ Network Intergenerational Retreat (IGR) of the African Women Leaders Network (AWLN), that held in Zanzibar between 2 and 4 December this year.

Held under a theme; “African Young Women Lead-Mobilizing Partnerships and Pathways for Economic Empowerment, Sustainability, and Financial Inclusion” the event was  hosted by President Samia Suluhu Hassan, AWLN pioneer and Champion of Women in Trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Cognizant of the centrality of women’s participation and leadership for Africa’s peace and prosperity, the Kingdom of Morocco has made a remarkable contribution to this continental event, notably by co-sponsoring it through the OCP Group– a state-owned world leading fertilizer producer.

This important participation is mainly aimed at supporting a praiseworthy initiative that places the African woman entrepreneur at the heart of the discussions, all the while sharing Morocco’s homegrown model of women’s empowerment with the rest of the Continent.

Gender equality and women’s empowerment are central to Morocco’s New Development Model, a major structuring project launched in May 2021 under the Leadership of His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, which defines the country’s development priorities and how to achieve them by 2035.

Since His accession to the Throne, His Majesty King Mohammed VI has ensured the promotion of women and girls, offering them all opportunities for development and granting them their rightful place.

Among the major reforms undertaken under His Enlightened Guidance are the promulgation of the Family Code and the adoption of the Constitution of 2011, which enshrines equality between men and women in terms of rights and obligations and, consequently, establishes the principle of parity as an objective that the State must seek to achieve.

The Royal Initiatives have been the biggest boost for women’s rights in Morocco. Moroccan women have notably been able to assume positions of responsibility in political bodies, thanks to the adoption of a set of laws aimed at increasing the representation of women in the House of Representatives, territorial councils and professional chambers.

These achievements have led to significant results. Following the legislative, regional and local elections of September 8, 2021, women’s representation in the regional councils has increased to reach 35.6 per cent (against 4.5 per cent in 2015).

The representativeness of women in the House of Representatives (lower house of Morocco’s bicameral Parliament) has also recorded a remarkable evolution: their number increased from 81 (20.5 per cent) in 2016, to 96 (24.3 per cent) in 2021.

The Government also has 6 women Ministers with key portfolios (instead of one in 2016). The allocation of strategic dockets to women in the new Government reflects the political will to ensure their effective participation in political life and decision-making.

Women’s economic empowerment is also one of the priorities of the Moroccan Government. This commitment draws its essence from the Constitution, which envisages the economic, social and political empowerment of women as a determinant of the Moroccan social State.

This has been translated into a set of commitments for the 2021-2026, including achieving more than 30% women’s activity rate by 2026– in line with Morocco’s New Development Model, which sets the percentage of women’s activity at 45 per cent, to be achieved by 2035–, by fostering equitable and fluid access to decent work.

In 2020, Morocco launched a national program aimed at increasing women’s participation and empowerment in the labor market: “the National Integrated Program for the Economic Empowerment of Women and Girls by 2030, Maroc-Attamkine”.

This program is based on three strategic axes: access to economic opportunities, education and training, and the establishment of a sustainable environment for women’s economic empowerment.

In 2022, the institutional framework has been strengthened by the promulgation of a decree establishing the “National Committee for Gender Equality and the Advancement of Women”, as one of the main governmental institutional mechanisms in the area of women’s empowerment in the economic, political, social, cultural and environmental spheres.

The Kingdom is also striving to establish a unified framework for concerted action with all actors, through the integrated national program for the economic empowerment of women and girls “Al Jisr for Empowerment and Leadership”, which constitutes a multidimensional framework aimed at supporting coordination, consolidating achievements and reducing gender gaps.

In the same vein, the Government of Morocco is implementing other measures to support women in training and employment, in particular, under two programs namely Awrach and Forsa.

While Awrach is aimed at creating 250,000 jobs between 2022 and 2023, in the form of ‘work contracts ‘concluded by civil society, cooperatives and contractors; Forsa stands  as an ambitious and innovative program for anyone over the age of 18 with entrepreneurial ideas or projects.

This year’s event was  also attended by  a number of  high profile leaders including  President Sahle-Work Zewde, President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of Liberia and  Joyce  Banda who is the former President of the Republic of Malawi.

A list also has Dr Catherine Samba-Panza, Former President of the Central African Republic, and Amina Mohamed, the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations (UN).

The writer is an Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Republic of Tanzania