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North African women at forefront of legal reform: by fatima Sadiqi
North African women at forefront of legal reform
by Fatima Sadiqi
10 November 2009
Fez, Morocco - Women in North Africa have made tremendous progress in promoting and upholding their rights. Women in this region—commonly known as the Maghreb—are at the forefront of the Arab world in terms of individual rights and gender equality, and constitute models for other Arab women to follow. A number of lessons may be drawn from the inspiring experience of women in North Africa, especially in Morocco and Tunisia.
Access to justice has been greatly facilitated by the new Family Courts in Morocco as necessitated by the Moroccan Family Code of 2004. When women marry, they are now able to retain ownership of their property thanks to Article 49 of the code, which allows for a separate contract on property alongside the marriage contract. This is in accordance with Islamic law, in which women may remain the sole owners of their property and have no legal obligation to share it with their husbands.
In addition, mothers married to foreign nationals in Morocco and Tunisia can now pass on their citizenship to their children—a privilege previously allowed only to men.
The countries of the Maghreb have made significant headway in combating violence against women. Almost all Arab countries have signed the most important international convention that bans such violence, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), with exceptions to articles that clashed with a literal interpretation of the Islamic law. But Morocco has recently agreed to the convention in full.
Women are also more visible in economic and academic spheres than before in the Maghreb. Nationwide youth literacy is gradually becoming a reality with women demanding accessible and standardised educational opportunities. And women often spearhead business ventures, are increasingly choosing their professions freely and feeling safer at the workplace as a result of laws that combat sexual harassment, and have better access to clinics and more independence in making decisions about their reproductive health.
Fertility rates have dropped considerably in the region, from well above six children per women in the 1970s to approximately two per woman in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, according to the Journal of African and Asian Studies. This reduction is impressive: the Maghreb accomplished in 25 years what took almost 200 years in France.
Women in the Maghreb have also progressed when it comes to exercising their political rights and civic voice, with more and more women becoming members of their nations' parliaments (43 in Tunisia, 34 in Morocco and 30 in Algeria) and local governing councils (no less than 3,406 in Morocco).
Non-governmental organisations have played an essential role in pushing women's rights forward in the Maghreb region. Networking between associations at national and grassroots levels ensures that activists can disseminate information and rally multiple groups to help promote new legislation or initiatives that help women.
Support networks, such as Anaruz, a network of Moroccan women's associations, are getting stronger despite the society's conservative social norms. Women's rights organisations and individual activists have helped the government to improve the rights of all women, which the state sees as a way to improve society as a whole.
Another lesson that the Moroccan and Tunisian experiences offer is the importance of the place given to gender and women studies in some universities. These academic programmes have proved instrumental in changing social perceptions, attitudes and structures that obstruct gender equality.
One of the main reasons for the slow progress in women's rights in the rest of the Arab world is an unfounded fear among conservatives that granting full equality to women constitutes an imposition of Western values and a deviation from Islamic norms. Proponents of women's rights in the Maghreb, however, have made every effort in their thinking and action to show that it is patriarchy and social norms, and not Islam itself, that constitute the roots of their problems.
Women's rights are indeed congruent with the spirit of Islam and with universal ideals. Islamic jurisprudence has a tradition of ijtihad—an independent and contextual interpretation of the Qur'an and hadith, the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad—which allows consideration of culture as a changing concept.
The countries of the Maghreb strive to reinterpret Islam in modern social contexts through their revised family codes, which secure women's rights without compromising Islamic values. Tradition and modernity are not lived as mutually exclusive. The future of women's rights in the Maghreb greatly depends both on the work of civil society activists and continued Islamic legal reform based on universal human rights.
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* Fatima Sadiqi (www.fatimasadiqi.on.ma) is a professor of linguistics and gender studies and a UN expert on gender. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 10 November 2009, www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission is granted for publication.
Welcome to Washington Moroccan - American Club
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Forum des organisations de jeunes by USAID Morocco
Time August 28 · 9:30pm - 11:30pm
Location Théâtre National Mohammed V
Dans le cadre du Forum des Organisations de Jeunes qui se tient du 22 au 28 août 2010 à Rabat, l’Agence Américaine pour le Développement International (USAID/Maroc) honorera, le 28 août au Théâtre National Mohammed V, des jeunes et des personnalités ayant contribué au développement de leurs secteurs respectifs, et offrira des trophées d’amitié maroco-américaine aux personnalités et aux associations de jeunes ayant œuvré de maniè...re remarquable à promouvoir l’amitié entre les peuples marocain et américain
Morocco on the road from Washington DC, USA to Laayoune, Morocco
The Washington Moroccan American Club Invites You to Participate in its Mobile Conference :
March / April 2011 USA & June / July 2011 Europe and Morocco
In Morocco, Visions of a Silicon Valley Campus, By Ursula Lindsey
Noureddine Mouaddib left Morocco to pursue his university studies in France over 30 years ago. He became a professor of computer science at the University of Nantes and a member of the French national council for higher education and research.
Defense Of Human Rights In Western Sahara-Morocco
Dear Senior Program Manager of Middle East and North Africa,
Katie Zoglin ,2325 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington D.C. 20515
Sport TV Show by El Muhajer about the International Symposium on "Moroccan Sportsmen of the world, history and current issues
Participants in this event will include national and foreign sports historians, retired and active Moroccan athletes, specialized journalists, and representatives of national federations of various sports.
CCME to organise an International Symposium on "Moroccan Sportsmen of the world, history and current issues
CCME to organise an International Symposium
The Council of the Moroccan Community Abroad (CCME) is organizing on 24 and 25 July 2010 in Casablanca the International Symposium on "Moroccan Sportsmen of the world, history and current issues”. Participants in this event include national and foreign sports historians, retired and active Moroccan athletes, specialized journalists, and representatives of national federations of various sports.
Morocco religious tolerance'
Morocco, 'a rare beacon of religious tolerance'- US paper says
Washington
Assaadi Family on 2M Les Marocains D'Amerique
L'Amérique est pour certains la destination de rêve, une deuxième patrie pour d'autres. Le pays de l'Oncle Sam est le pays d'accueil pour des millions de personnes de différentes origines et cultures. Parmi eux, des Marocains. «Les Marocains d'Amérique» est allé à leur rencontre. Dans ce volet, nous découvrirons les portraits de Nacir Assaadi member actif de Washington Moroccan Club
Hassan Samrhouni leading the Moroccan American Community by Alison Lake
Hassan Samrhouni: A bridge to Morocco
A Moroccan emigre and business owner, Hassan Samrhouni has been a good-will ambassador in Washington D.C. for two decades. “We try to empower our community and teach them they can do anything," he says.
Les Marocains D'Amerique
Les Marocains d'Amérique
L'Amérique est pour certains la destination de rêve, une deuxième patrie pour d'autres. Le pays de l'Oncle Sam est le pays d'accueil pour des millions de personnes de différentes origines et cultures. Parmi eux, des Marocains. «Les Marocains d'Amérique» est allé à leur rencontre. Dans ce volet, nous découvrirons les portraits de Hassan Samrhouni et Saïd Ouadghiri.
WMC 20 /20: Women's empowerment in Morocco by Norman L. Greene
A provocative and fast-moving four-hour discussion of women's empowerment in Morocco, including "past and projected legal reforms affecting women's rights and on how best to empower Moroccan women to achieve social, economic, and political equality," was held in two separate panels before a packed room at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C. on March 17, 2010.
TOP TEN Reasons to Think of MOROCCO on Global Earth Day
Leading up to next week's 40th anniversary of Earth Day, the following are ten good reasons to keep Morocco in mind — and visit online or in person — to mark Global Earth Day.
It is my pleasure to extend congratulation to The Washington Moroccan American club, on the occasion of your 20th Anniversary. Mr. Andrian M. Fenty, Mayor, District of Columbia
As Mayor of the District of Columbia, it is my pleasure to extend congratulation to The Washington Moroccan American club, on the occasion of your 20th Anniversary.
Ambassador Mr. Aziz Mekouar note to Washington Moroccan Club
It is my great pleasure to congratulate the Washington Moroccan American Club (WMAC) on its twentieth Anniversary.
On the footsteps of Zemmouri by Driss El Yazami, CCME- WMC 20/20
The celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the Washington Moroccan American Club is an event in more ways than one. It owes its richness to the program prepared for the population of the U.S. capital, which reflects primarily the profound changes experienced by Morocco. On all fronts (gender, ethno-cultural pluralism, rule of law, etc...) Morocco has opted for the path of modernity and reform. The road is still long, but both Moroccan society and Moroccan government are forging their own history.
Happy Anniversary; with my best wishes for success in your initiative, which strengthens the position of those Moroccans living in the USA. HE Mohamed Ameur - WMC20
It is with great pleasure that I congratulate the "Washington Moroccan American Club" on the occasion of its 20thth Anniversary.
Les "Hommes Bleus" s'invitent à Washington -Par Nadia Hachimi-
Les "Hommes Bleus" s'invitent à Washington
Washington- La place historique de "Dupont Circle" au nord-ouest de Washington s'est transformée, jeudi, en une grande scène musicale, avec à l'honneur les "Hommes Bleus" et le patrimoine culturel des provinces du sud du Royaume. En effet, cette place a agréablement surpris ses habitués avec une prestation musicale inédite du groupe de Guedra "Mnat Azaouan", venu spécialement de la région de Guelmim-Assa pour célébrer le 20-ème anniversaire du Washington Moroccan Club (WMC).
Une rencontre à Washington met en exergue l'essor de la presse écrite au Maroc
Une rencontre à Washington met en exergue l'essor de la presse écrite au Maroc
Washington, 27/03/10 - Une rencontre sur le rôle des médias dans le développement du monde arabe, organisée vendredi à Washington, a mis en exergue l'essor que connaît la presse écrite au Maroc, grâce notamment aux nouvelles technologies de communication et d'information.
"La presse écrite au Maroc a connu une grande avancée qualitative et quantitative qui lui a permis de se développer de manière significative au cours des dernières années", a souligné Mohamed Dourrachad, consultant médiatique et ancien directeur adjoint d'Abou Dhabi TV, qui modérait cette rencontre organisée dans le cadre de la célébration du 20ème anniversaire du Washington Moroccan Club (WMC).
Pour M. Dourrachad, le développement de l'outil Internet au Maroc est à même de permettre une avancée considérable dans le domaine de l'information au Royaume, ainsi que pour ce qui est de la promotion de l'image du Maroc à l'étranger.
De son cô
Soirée de Gala à Washington pour marquer le 20ème anniversaire du WMC
Washington- Une soirée de Gala, marquée par une magnifique prestation de la troupe folklorique de Guedra "Mnat Azaouan" des provinces du sud, a été organisée, dimanche à Washington, pour célébrer le 20ème anniversaire du Washington Moroccan Club (WMC).
Mr Ahmed HAJJI, Directeur Général L'Agence pour la Promotion et le Developpement Economique et Social des Provinces du Sud -WMC20
Mr Ahmed HAJJI, Directeur Général L'Agence pour la Promotion et le Developpement Economique et Social des Provinces du Sud
"It is for me a pleasure to wish a happy anniversary to the "Washington Moroccan American Club", and to congratulate you for the rich programs started for the celebration of its 20th anniversary. It is an initiative which can only be encouraged, being based on promoting Morocco , the bilateral, US-Moroccan, relations and our national cause.
All Articles
Forum des organisations de jeunes by USAID Morocco
Time August 28 · 9:30pm - 11:30pm
Location Théâtre National Mohammed V
Dans le cadre du Forum des Organisations de Jeunes qui se tient du 22 au 28 août 2010 à Rabat, l’Agence Américaine pour le Développement International (USAID/Maroc) honorera, le 28 août au Théâtre National Mohammed V, des jeunes et des personnalités ayant contribué au développement de leurs secteurs respectifs, et offrira des trophées d’amitié maroco-américaine aux personnalités et aux associations de jeunes ayant œuvré de maniè...re remarquable à promouvoir l’amitié entre les peuples marocain et américain
Moroccan newspapers
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- Al massae
- AL akhbar
- Wydad Athletic Club site
- Al Ahdath
- Le Matin
- Nichane
- Al Bayane
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- Al Ittihad Al Ichtiraki
- Bayane Alyoume
- Al Sabah
- Attajdid
- ALmaghribia
- Aujourdhui
- L'economiste
- Le Repoter
- La Gazette Du Maroc
- La Nouvelle Tribune
- La Vie Economique
- Tel quel
- Maroc Hebdo
- Aufait Maroc
- La Chronique on-line
- Al Watan AL An
- Al Mountakhab
- Annoukhba Sport
- Le Monde diplomatique
- Haraka
- Sharq Aawsat Arabic
- sharq Aawsat English
- Morocco sport
- Morocco Daily
- Morocco Star