27 and 28 May 2015, School of Governance and Economics, Mohamed VI Polytechnic University in Rabat

This seminar is framed within the context of current crises (political, economic, social and geopolitical) in which the lack of security is multiple and vulnerabilities are increasing. Many studies show that women are mostly affected and that inequalities between women and men are widening in terms of rights, access to economic, political and social resources, and control of these resources.

Although in the last decades the schooling of women has become widespread, in many Mediterranean countries there is a notable gap between the growing entrance of women graduates in the labour market and their access to employment.

Women’s employment, an essential indicator of the achievement of real equality, is a key factor for the promotion of their status. However, it is necessary to point out that the level of women’s participation in the national economies is still very low and undervalued, notably in the southern Mediterranean countries. This reflects unequal relations between genders and the strengthening of relations of power between women and men.

In Morocco, feminist associations strongly criticise the government plan, called “Ikram” ("alms" or “charity”), launched for the period 2012-2016, through which the current government asserts its aim to institutionalise gender equality in all governmental policies. Along with the reference to “charity” and “alms” that Moroccan feminists reject, they notably emphasise the lack of a reflection and process based on gender that hinders discriminations and inequalities that have an impact on women being effectively taken into account.

Women’s economic empowerment calls, on the one hand, for a questioning of the concept and, on the other, a deconstruction of the restraints and obstacles blocking it.

This seminary is part of the Axis 1 "Strengthening the capacity of equality actors”, of the project “Women for the future in the Mediterranean” funded by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, and the project “Developing Women’s Empowerment”, labelled by the Union for the Mediterranean.