Updated
Women’s participation in elections, “very strong indicator” of Morocco’s democratic progress (Observer) | MAP
Morocco’s recent election increased women’s political involvement – with over a million new registered voters, 46% were women:
Women participation, along with men, in the Moroccan electoral process is a “very strong indicator” of the democratic progress achieved in Morocco, said Sabra Bano, head of mission at Gender Concerns International (GCI) that deployed an observer delegation to monitor September 4th communal and regional polls.
During a press conference to present first results of the election observation report from a gender perspective, Bano noted that the organization was present in five large cities and neighboring regions to get a precise and accurate idea on the presence of Moroccan women in elections.
She stressed that women headed in large number to the polling stations, either in groups, with their families or by themselves and had free access to the polling stations. “No sign of pressure on them was observed”, she said.
She congratulated the interior ministry, the National human rights council and all components of the Moroccan society for this “historical polls”
The team, deployed at the invitation of the Moroccan national human rights council, will issue an election observation report with recommendations for gender-based electoral reforms based on collective data compiled by observer teams.
Based in The Hague, Gender Concerns works to promote women as agents for change and development through capacity building, lobbying and advocacy work, facilitating training and supporting women’s organizations and supporting women in civil society organizations efforts especially in fragile states to improve the (political, legal, social and economic) position of women…[ORIGINAL STORY, SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED]