05/07/2021 Parliamentary Support
As part of the project “Support for the development of the role of parliament in the consolidation of democracy in Morocco 2020-2023”, funded by the European Union and implemented by the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is organising a conference on Tuesday 13 July 2021, in partnership with the Moroccan Parliament, on the theme “Women in politics: how to progress towards equality?”.
The representation of women in the political arena has made remarkable progress, particularly in Parliament, since Morocco adopted a quota system in 2002, through a national list dedicated to women in legislative elections. In the 2016 elections, the number of female deputies in the House of Representatives rose to 81 compared to 61 in 2011. They are distributed as follows: 71 elected on national lists and 10 on local lists. Despite this evolution, this figure represents only 21% of the total number of parliamentarians, which amounts to 395 and, consequently, access to parliament remains difficult for Moroccan women.
To this end, the conference will allow Moroccan parliamentarians to exchange views with their counterparts from the PACE Equality Committee and international experts on the need and importance of increasing women's involvement in political life.
The conference will mark the official launch of the project and will be attended by Rick Daems, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Habib El Malki, President of the House of Representatives, Hakim Benchamach, President of the House of Councillors and Claudia Widely, Ambassador, Head of the European Union delegation to Morocco.