Visit of the Learning Community for a Gender Equality Public Territorial Policy in Arbaoua City

Visiting the Arbaoua Commune is one of the activities scheduled as part of the project “Promotion of gender equality and regional alliances for the incorporation of women’s participation in the local political agenda and their economic empowerment in Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia”, sponsored by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation -AECID-, and implemented jointly by FAMSI in partnership with the ANMAR Federation and the Directorate General of Local Authorities -DGCT- of the Ministry of the Interior of the Kingdom of Morocco.

UCLG Africa, as an institutional partner of FAMSI, took part in the work of the Seminar on Local Public Policies for Equality from November 20 to 23, 2023 and in the 5th ANMAR Forum of Local Authorities of Northern Morocco and Andalusia. The Secretary General of UCLG Africa was represented by Ms. Rahmatouca SOW, Advisor for Political and International Affairs, on November 21-22, 2023 in Tangiers. The REFELA Secretariat of UCLG Africa was invited to take part in the visit to the Commune of Arbaoua organized during the day of November 23, 2023.

The project aims to achieve three main objectives: building women’s capacities and supporting the role of local elected women in gender-focused territorial development policies in the three countries: Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia. The aim is also to support the action of local authorities and their networks through decentralized cooperation and exchanges of experience. The third objective is to take joint action to achieve equality and gender mainstreaming between the local governments of the three Maghreb countries (Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia) and their networks.

The visit to the Commune of Arbaoua was part of a process of sharing experiences, particularly in the field of local strategic planning and participatory local governance, based on a gender mainstreaming approach.

The field visit enabled participants to see concrete, successful examples of local policy tools deployed to integrate the gender perspective into local action.

PARTICIPANTS

The delegations taking part in the visit to Arbaoua included members representing the General Directorate for Local Authorities and its Decentralized Cooperation Department, local officials from Mauritania and from the Moroccan cities of Chefchaouen, Martil, Tétouan and Mdiq. The project team included representatives from FAMSI and ANMAR. As for the REFELA Secretariat, the team was made up of two members of the Gender & Youth Department.  Mrs Fatna El Khiel, Mayor of Arbaoua, was accompanied by her Communal team and representatives of the Commission of Equity, Equal Opportunity and Gender Approach to welcome the delegations and coordinate the activities related to the visit.

Course of the visit

Participants were welcomed at the Cooperatives’ product marketing area in the center of Khdadra, Arbaoua, followed by a cocktail reception featuring local products.

The Mayor then gave a tour of the Communal Laundry Project, an exemplary project for rationalizing the use of water sources.

Members of the delegations then went to the center of the Commune of Arbaoua to visit the local Socio-Sports Complex open to young people, with an area reserved for children’s games, followed by a visit to Dar Taliba 1, home to 60 female students, and its annex currently being finalized.

The Mayor of Arbaoua, Mrs Fatna El Khiel, explained that these social spaces are open to residents and enjoy autonomous management delegated to the Commune’s civil society players, guaranteeing a participatory approach to territorial governance.

At the headquarters of the Commune of Arbaoua, the Mayor welcomed the various members of the delegations and thanked the representatives of the FAMSI-ANMAR project team for their support and guidance in promoting gender mainstreaming in local development policies. Another highlight of the visit was the presentation of the Commune’s strategic planning process, based on a participatory and consultative approach.

At the end, participants were invited to a working lunch in the green space of the Arbaoua International Campsite, which opened in October 2023.