Consultation recommends a balance between religion and modernity in the management of women's rights in Morocco

 

Saturday 10 June 2023 - 02:00

Interesting recommendations were made in a consultation carried out within the framework of the project "Young Girl's Voice in the Reform of the Penal Code and the Family Code", where participants in the consultation called for the criminalization of the marriage of minors under the age of 18, the criminalisation of fraudulent forms such as contra marriage and the marriage of the cheque, the revision of the inheritance system in the aspect of innervation, and the stipulation of the right not to mention the amount of dowry.

The recommendations contained in the consultation, carried out by the International Centre for Diplomacy with the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Embassy of Canada in Morocco, not only criminalized the marriage of minors;

Abdelilah Yacoubed, UNFPA Deputy Resident Representative in Morocco, said that child marriage is widespread in the world, with 650 million underage girls marrying in the world, representing 16 percent of the total number of women in the world.

Yacoubd noted that UNFPA recommends focusing on schooling and access to the right to health, in order to improve the lives of girls, especially those belonging to the vulnerable group, and thus prevent them from marrying as minors.

The Deputy Resident Representative of UNFPA in Morocco stressed that UNFPA is ready to contribute to the legislative and legal reforms initiated by Morocco, especially with regard to the reform of the Family Code, with the aim of developing an action plan to improve the situation of women and girls in the Kingdom and enable them to exercise their fundamental rights.

Karima Ghanem, president of the International Centre for Diplomacy, said that among the proposals included in the consultation were "a balance between religious legitimacy, openness to modernity, and the establishment of equality and parity between men and women".

Among the recommendations made by the participants in the consultation were the allocation of a section on the marriage of persons with disabilities and the rights that it entails, the review of the amount of alimony for the foster mother, and the scrutiny of the legal capacity of persons with disabilities.

The consultation also recommended guaranteeing the right of access to the judiciary by providing access to sign language and corridors for people with disabilities, ensuring that mothers with disabilities have custody, and providing training courses for those about to marry, with the aim of having the ability to manage marital problems.

Fadwa al-Rih, head of the women's affairs department at the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication, stressed that the government is working to empower women with their rights and improve their status through a series of measures, such as improving the role of women in society, positive discrimination for women, advancing the status of vulnerable groups, and achieving gender equality.

In the same context, Anas Saadoun, representative of the National Council for Human Rights, stressed that the Council attaches great importance to the promotion of women's rights, both in terms of protection through intervention when there are complaints and in terms of formulating a number of recommendations related to various legislative reforms.

Saadoun added that the National Human Rights Council is working on preparing an opinion on amending the Family Code.