Morocco association launches project to combat violence against women

2007-11-23

An educational plan in central Morocco will teach young people about gender equality and women’s rights.

By Naoufel Cherkaoui for Magharebia in Rabat – 23/11/07

[Naoufel Cherkaoui] Lahcen Afkir said his association's approach focuses on prevention through education.

A project to spread a culture of gender equality and combat violence against women began Tuesday (November 20th) in the central Morocco region of Fez-Boulmane. As part of the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights, the EU-funded program will offer law, civic education and women’s rights workshops to some 4,620 middle school and high school students and 3,900 women in poor areas.

President of the Chourouk Association for Social Development, Lahcen Afkir, told Magharebia, "We have chosen young people who study in two middle schools located in the same area where our association headquarters is based, and also from two other middle schools located in villages on the outskirts of the city, where we've been operating since 2001. As for the women, they have been selected from some of the neighbourhoods where we've run programs to combat illiteracy."

"We have created a methodology and identified our vision," he added. "We have also drawn up an action plan extending to 2012 because we want to be more accurate and professional."

The Chourouk Centre has been operating in the Fez region for seven years to enhance the status of women and young people. The centre started with combating illiteracy, Akfir explained, then moved on to legal and civic education.

"Our aspiration is to combat violence against women in a new way, not to wait until violence has taken place. We do this by spreading a culture of gender equality and promoting women's rights. We have chosen the category of young people on purpose because we wanted to deal with the roots of the problem. We hope to eradicate the problem once and for all by educating young people to respect women from an early age."

Akfir’s group also created a network of associations to shed light on the new family law and strengthen co-ordinated efforts in the Fez region. The centre receives contributions from the British embassy in Rabat and Oxfam-Québec, a Canadian non-governmental organisation working in the field of sustainable development.

The Cherouk Association contributes about 10.32% of funding for the 109,843-euro education project.

"The preparations for the project, which will extend over a three-year period, started last September by forming the project team, preparing workshops and attracting boosters," Afkir added, saying that through a partnership with the Ministry of National Education, the group will be allowed to use school halls from 6:00 to 8:00 PM daily.

Fatiha Hassouni of the EC Mission in Rabat commented, "Since 2004, the EU has been funding several projects aimed at raising awareness about women's rights and equal opportunities for women in political fields."

"Moreover, gender equality is basically a part of human rights and represents a social justice issue."