A diverse group of North African women with the potential to be leaders in their countries convened in Rabat, Morocco, last week as part of a collaborative program, unprecedented in the region, to shape future roles for women in political and civic life.
The “Youth of Today, Leaders of Tomorrow” conference brought together 25 women, aged 22 to 34, from Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. They are writers and artists working to create after-school programs for children and end violence in schools, business women raising money and awareness to fight the rise of HIV/AIDS, and students running micro-credit programs on campuses for rural women.
From June 15 to 19, NDI, with support from the U.S. State Department’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), launched a year-long program for this selective group of women representing countries, communities and causes. The program will continue to nurture the group’s leadership skills over the next year through a series of interactive training sessions, online discussions through www.Aswat.com, peer mentoring, and sharing of global experiences and perspectives.
Each came to Morocco with a vision for improving her community and a commitment to build a network of young women leaders in North Africa who will work on the most pressing social and political problems. . For many of the participants, this was the first time they had met women from neighboring countries, providing the foundation for a dialogue to begin pulling together common experiences, problems and solutions.
They also had the opportunity to work with experts, such as Cathy Allen, president of the political consulting firm Connections Group, and Taleb Salhab, national outreach director of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS). Allen and Salhab led participants through the fundamentals of community organizing: strategic planning, advocacy, networking, image and self-confidence building, on-camera presentation, time management, fundraising and the use of technology.
Despite the diversity of sessions, all were focused on the message that young women can be leaders in any context, but they must first realize the “power of their potential.”
The message was supported by personal accounts of success and struggle from a group of guest speakers, including Nouzha Skalli, Moroccan minister for social development, family and solidarity; Diane LeBlanc, former Canadian member of parliament; Kinda Hattar, Jordanian human rights activist; and Dr. Amal Obeidi, a respected Libyan academic.
Conference participants had the opportunity to meet Moroccan Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi and celebrate the history made in the June 12 Moroccan municipal elections, which saw 3,406 new women councilors voted into office. Minister Skalli hailed the Leaders of Tomorrow participants as the region’s “next generation of women leaders” with opportunities for empowerment and the success it can bring.
Following the conference, the women returned home with written strategies they developed for providing the leadership needed to carry out their community programs. Over the next several months, they will work on their projects with ongoing guidance and technical assistance from NDI, international experts who will act as mentors and each other.
The slideshow below features photographs taken during the conference. To read more about the people pictured, click on the images.
NDI-Morocco will host the program for the next year. The Institute has worked to strengthen democratic institutions in Morocco since 1997. Its programs aim to reinforce civic engagement in the political process, increase the responsiveness of political parties to citizen needs, strengthen representative institutions such as the parliament, and promote expanded political participation of women and youth.
Pictured above: “Youth of Today, Leaders of Tomorrow” conference brought together 25 women, aged 22 to 34, from Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia for five days in Rabat, Morocco.
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Published on June 23, 2009
