VZCZCXRO6654
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHRB #1869/01 3541232
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 201232Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7924
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 3778

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 RABAT 001869 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/WI, DRL, MEPI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KWMN PHUM PGOV MO
SUBJECT: MOROCCO: WOMEN'S RIGHTS ADVANCING, BUT NOT ENOUGH 
 
REF: A. 06 RABAT 2189 
     ¶B. RABAT 1095 
     ¶C. 06 CASABLANCA 530 
     ¶D. CASABLANCA 10 
 
  ------- 
  Summary 
  ------- 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Women's rights have advanced in Morocco since 
the passage of the revised Moudawana (family code) in 2004, 
but challenges remain.  The Government of Morocco (GOM) is 
providing medical and legal assistance for domestic violence 
victims.  The Nationality Code has been changed to allow 
women to transmit citizenship to their children.  Women hold 
a record number of seats in the government, and a 
ground-breaking program is training women as religious 
leaders.  The GOM has integrated women's issues into its 
budgeting and planning process, but NGO representatives 
complain of a lack of coordination between ministries.  There 
is broad awareness within the judiciary about the reforms, 
but the laws are still not firmly rooted and gains could be 
lost as a result of a social backlash.  Judges and clerks 
require further training and technical assistance to achieve 
a uniform application of the laws.  The next significant 
reform issue may involve inheritance law.   A number of civil 
society interlocutors are pleading for more support from the 
USG. End Summary. 
 
¶2. In the fall of 2007, TDY DRL officer and PolFsn met with a 
variety of representatives from civil society and the GOM to 
gauge progress and challenges in the field of women's rights 
and in the implementation of the Moudawana (Family Code) 
since its passage in February 2004.  Moroccan civil society 
contacts described a variety of specific success and 
continuing areas of concern. 
 
------------------ 
Points of Progress 
------------------ 
 
¶I.  A National Strategy for Gender Equality 
 
¶3.  On May 19, 2006, the GOM adopted a national strategy for 
equality, integrating a gender-based approach in all 
development policies and programs.  Gender sensitive 
budgeting was included for the first time in the 2006 
national government budget.  This requires all Ministries to 
analyze budgets from the perspective of their impact on women 
and men, boys and girls.  At the local level, the GOM 
produced manuals and training courses to enhance local 
authorities' and communities' ability to factor gender issues 
into their planning and budgeting processes. 
 
II.  Nationality Code Reform 
 
¶4.  In January 2007, the Moroccan Government reformed the 
1958 Nationality Code, giving women the right to pass 
Moroccan nationality to their children.  Previously, 
nationality was transmitted only through the father.  This 
new bill was the result of intensive collaboration between 
the NGO Democratic Association of Moroccan Women (ADFM), 
several women's and human rights organizations, and the GOM. 
The change allows children of Moroccan mothers and 
non-Moroccan fathers to access the full range of educational 
and social benefits available to Moroccan citizens.  It also 
has implications for international custodial disputes 
involving bi-national couples.  Moroccan citizenship can 
still only be transferred to a child if both parents are 
Muslim and if their marriage is recognized by Moroccan law. 
A child born in Morocco has no claim on citizenship without 
citizen parents, even if the parents themselves were born 
here. 
 
III.  Women in Religion 
 
¶5.  In February 2006, in a move unprecedented in the Muslim 
world, the GOM trained 50 Mourshidat (spiritual guides) as 
part of a campaign launched by King Mohammed VI to undermine 
religious extremism by strengthening and promoting Islam's 
message of moderation.  Since its inception, the program has 
graduated three groups of 50 trainees.  Each Mourshida is 
assigned to one of the more than 33,000 mosques in the 
country.  While they do not lead prayers, a task still 
reserved exclusively for men, the Mourshidat give basic 
religious instruction in mosques and provide clerical support 
in prisons, hospitals, and schools.  Women also now sit on 
the High Council of Ulemas (the supreme religious authority) 
chaired by the King, and on local religious councils. 
 
 
RABAT 00001869  002 OF 004 
 
 
----------------- 
Women in Politics 
----------------- 
 
¶6.  The September 2007 Parliamentary elections resulted in 
the selection of 34 women out of a total of 325 parliamentary 
seats ) a decline by one from the previous term.  Thirty of 
the 34 new female representatives were elected from a 
national list reserved for women candidates.  Moreover, Prime 
Minister Abbas El Fassi's new government includes a record 
seven women in key positions compared with two in the 
previous government.  Women now occupy other key political 
roles for the first time as well, the Mayor of Essaouira, 
Asma Chaabi, and Governor of a district in Casablanca, Fouzia 
Imanssar, for example.  Nevertheless, it is important to note 
that women's representation in political parties' decision 
making structures continues to remain low.  In August, 
however, the Democratic Society Party became the first party 
to be headed by a woman, Zhor Chekkafi.  In the private 
sector women are better represented in senior management 
levels than in the past. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
The GOM is Listening, Supporting and Counting 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  At the Ministry for Social Development, Families and 
Solidarity (MSFS), the Chief of the Women's Division, Najah 
Rhardisse, explained to us that the MSFS signed a partnership 
agreement with the Ministries of Health (MOH), Justice (MOJ) 
and Interior (MOI) to help implement the National Strategy 
for Gender Equity and Equality.  They are working with 
communities and civil society to create partnerships and to 
establish "listening centers," where women can obtain legal 
advice, counseling, and other assistance. 
 
¶8.  The MSFS set up a hot line, linked to the network of 
listening centers, in November 2005 for victims of domestic 
violence to call in order to receive immediate support.   The 
MOJ is offering legal assistance to the centers while the MOH 
provides medical assistance.  The Ministry of Interior 
circulated a notice to the Gendarmerie about the hotline and 
police stations have been instructed to gather monthly 
statistics and information on violence against women.  Police 
have received sensitivity training on the proper way to treat 
domestic violence cases. 
 
¶9.  In an effort to improve the quality and accuracy of 
statistics on violence against women, the MSFS recently 
signed a partnership agreement with the Office of the High 
Commissioner for Planning (the government agency in charge of 
tracking and publishing statistical data) to develop an 
institutional information system on gender-based violence in 
Morocco. 
 
---------------------- 
CONTINUING CHALLENGES 
---------------------- 
 
¶10.  Moudawana reform demonstrated how a religious law could 
be adapted to modern, secular, international standards.  A 
degree of social and bureaucratic inertia, however, still 
hinders progress. 
 
¶I.  U.S. Has Lost its Leading Role 
 
¶11.  Program director for international women's NGO Global 
Rights, Stephanie Bordat, said that in 2004, the USG was the 
undisputed leader in the field of Moroccan women's rights in 
terms of innovation and overall funding. "Now, people are 
asking where you (the USG) have gone," she commented while 
urging the USG to increase and re-invigorate its women's 
rights programs in Morocco.  She stressed the need for donors 
to continue working with local grassroots NGOs to provide 
them with training on how to monitor and document progress or 
slippage on Moudawana implementation in the courts and 
broader judicial system. 
 
¶12.  Bordat stated that there was as great a need now for USG 
funding as there was in 2004. "Passing the law was the easy 
part, ensuring that it is enforced and accepted will take 
years."  She fretted that international donors believe that 
Morocco has crossed a threshold and no longer needs financial 
and technical support in the area of women's rights.  "The 
gains are not yet strong enough to weather a political, 
cultural or religious backlash; we need the U.S. government 
to stay engaged." 
 
II.  A Need for Coordinated Long-Term Funding Among Donors 
 
 
RABAT 00001869  003 OF 004 
 
 
¶13.  President of the NGO Women Lawyers in Action, Nadia 
Oulehri stressed to us the need for foreign donors to support 
activities and projects through coordinated long term 
strategies, rather than through short-term "budget cycle" 
funding.  "I attended much training," she said, "but we 
really need a coordinated strategy in order to have a lasting 
impact." 
 
¶14.  Nouzha Ameziane, a member of Union Action Feminine 
(UAF), complained to us that short-term funding makes 
sustainability difficult.  Ameziane added that logistical 
expenses are usually not covered by funders, which forces 
many NGOs to pursue purely advocacy based programs since they 
require less money.  She recognized the value of advocacy, 
but argued that there is also a need for more costly, 
project-based initiatives to analyze the Moudawana's impact 
and develop future strategies.  UAF president and lawyer, 
Nezha Alaoui, explained that residents of rural, semi-urban, 
and Berber speaking areas still lack awareness about the new 
Moudawana.  Illiteracy remains a significant obstacle to 
legal education and reform, and requires a significant 
investment of funds and skills to be overcome.  A USG-funded 
program to teach women to read using the Moudawana has been 
effective, but is limited in scale. 
 
III.  Poor Ministerial Coordination 
 
¶15.  Oulehri also explained that despite rhetoric, there is a 
lack of coordination between government ministries on women's 
issues.  The general women's portfolio is housed in the 
Ministry of Social Development, Families and Solidarity, yet 
Oulehri argued, "The specific problems that women face need 
more attention and call out for a separate ministry devoted 
to women's affairs." 
 
IV.  Judiciary Still Needs Support 
 
¶16.  Implementation remains a key concern because it largely 
depends on the judiciary's ability and willingness to put the 
Moudawana into practice.  Due to its controversial nature, 
the law was written in such a way as to provide broad 
interpretive latitude to individual judges, not all of whom 
agree with its intent.  Corruption among working-level clerks 
in the courts, and a lack of knowledge about the code's 
provisions among many lawyers also constitute obstacles. 
Bordat, of Global Rights, explained that there is no 
continuing education for lawyers, especially regarding the 
Moudawana, and that this "forgotten population" badly needs 
training. 
 
¶V.  Women's Shelters have no Legal Cover 
 
¶17.  The Ministry of Social Development, Families and 
Solidarity's Women's Division Chief Rhardisse argued for the 
creation of more government sponsored battered women's 
shelters.  Morocco only has three shelters; one each in 
Rabat, Oujda and Fez.  She would like to work with the 
Ministry of Justice to establish more.  There is currently no 
clear legal protection for shelters or their staffs.  Unless 
the existing law is changed, a spouse can enter any shelter, 
remove his or her partner, and legally bring charges against 
the staff for kidnapping or interference in marital life. 
Rhardisse explained, "Setting up shelters throughout the 
country will help extend our hand and offer support to women 
throughout Morocco."  The Violence against Women Act, 
currently pending in the Parliament, augments protections and 
provisions for women, and addresses the shelter issue in a 
comprehensive fashion.  Rhardisse was confident that it would 
be passed in 2008. 
 
---------------------------- 
NEXT BIG ISSUE: INHERITANCE? 
---------------------------- 
 
¶18.  Nadia Oulehri explained that in Morocco, current 
inheritance laws favor male family members and heirs. 
Inheritance laws are applied unevenly in different regions, 
and judgments are often affected by local cultural practices. 
 For example, in the Souss region, when a woman becomes a 
widow, she is considered her husband's equal partner.  In the 
anti-Atlas area of Errachidia, however, a woman's inheritance 
is not hers to dispose of, but is held in trust by a male 
relative. Oulehri stressed the need to continue working on 
public awareness on the inheritance issue, and suggested 
creating a network of women's lawyers' groups to focus on the 
issue.  Union Action Feminine, however, believes the time is 
not yet right to lobby for additional rights, and instead 
advises continued work on consolidating existing gains. 
 
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RABAT 00001869  004 OF 004 
 
 
Comment: 
-------- 
 
¶19.  In recent years, Morocco has made significant 
institutional advancements in the area of women's rights. 
However, in order to see these changes implemented to the 
fullest extent, continued engagement and support is needed 
from the international community.  The new laws are just a 
step in a long effort, one that will require cultural as well 
as institutional changes.  Post suggests that the USG may 
want to consider additional assistance to the law 
enforcement, judicial and legal sectors to improve their 
capacity to address women's issues.  End Comment. 
 
 
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