Opening the second seminar in the programme on supporting newly elected women in Moroccan territorial councils, on 18 February 2022, Congress Vice-President and Rapporteur on the South-Med Partnership Xavier Cadoret welcomed the positive dynamic in Morocco in strengthening women’s political participation as elected representatives, following the September 2021 elections. "Gender equality and women's participation are essential conditions for any democratic, just and peaceful society, and I can only applaud this development, notwithstanding the many challenges that remain," he stressed. 

Organised in a hybrid format in Casablanca (Morocco) from 18 to 20 February 2022 by the Congress, in the framework of the South Programme IV, in partnership with the International Organisation of the Francophonie (OIF) and in co-operation with the Moroccan Women's Democratic Association (ADFM), Moroccan associations of local and regional authorities and the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior, this seminar focused on leadership, advocacy, communication and networking as key factors in strengthening the role of women elected representatives at territorial level, both in Morocco and beyond, and in combating sexist attitudes as well as gender-based discrimination and violence.

It presented an opportunity to increase the knowledge of newly elected women through expert presentations, peer testimonies and exchanges of experience among some 60 participants from Morocco, Tunisia and European countries, including Congress member and Councillor of Somme Zohra Darras (France, SOC/G/PD), Deputy Mayor of Strasbourg (France) Soraya Ouldji, representatives of the Network of women municipal elected representatives in Tunisia Rabeb Hammami and Soumaya Ouerfelli, as well as Simone Susskind, founder of the association “Actions in the Mediterranean” and former member of the Brussels-Capital Regional Parliament (Belgium).

The seminar was also opened by Head of the Council of Europe Office in Rabat Carmen Morte-Gomez, OIF Representative for North Africa and the Middle East Haoua Acyl, President of the Moroccan chapter of the Network of Local Elected Women of Africa (REFELA) Fatna El K'hiel, representative of the Directorate General of Territorial Authorities in the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior Mostafa Ameur, as well as ADFM President Dalila Loddy and ADFM representative Khadija Errebbah who facilitated the exchanges over the three days and summed up recommendations for the follow-up action.

 

 

The South Programme IV is a joint programme of the Council of Europe and the European Union, financed by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.