UfM, UN and Morocco: Fostering gender equality for stability and human development in the Mediterranean

• UfM Deputy Secretary General for Social and Civil Affairs, Delphine Borione, at the 60th edition of the Commission on the Status of Women: “Fostering regional cooperation initiatives in the fields of youth employability and women’s empowerment is paramount to effectively advance regional integration, stability and human development in our region”.
• The fight against violence was a key issue discussed at the event jointly organised by the UfM Secretariat, UN Women, and the Ministry of Solidarity, Women, Family and Social Development of Morocco and on 14 March, 2016, in New York.

New York, 14 March 2016. The UfM Secretariat participated at the 60th edition of the Commission on the Status of Women, where world leaders pledged measurable actions to tackle structural barriers and remaining challenges to the achievement of gender equality, one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“Although considerable progress has been made in the last years, changing the Mediterranean region, as elsewhere, into a world where women and men are equal isn’t happening fast enough”, stated Delphine Borione. “This is why the UfM has put women’s empowerment and gender equality at the heart of its mandate, by promoting the gender equality agenda as a key priority for stability and human development in the region, by supporting specific projects which currently target more than 100,000 beneficiaries, and by acting as a regional platform to foster synergies among all the stakeholders in the region”, added Ms. Borione.

DSG Borione met with high level representatives of the UfM Member States and briefed them on the developments of the Regional Dialogue on Women’s Empowerment, launched by the UfM Secretariat in May 2015. The Regional Dialogue on Women’s Empowerment  will prepare the ground for the next UfM Ministerial Meeting on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society, foreseen to take place at the end of this year or beginning of  2017. The next meeting of the regional dialogue will be held in Barcelona on 25-26 April, 2016.

Furthermore, the UfM Secretariat, the Ministry of Solidarity, Women, Family and Social Development of Morocco and UN Women jointly organised on 14 March 2016, a side event entitled “Enhancing implementation of laws to end violence against women in the Mediterranean region – Morocco’s experience”, which was attended by numerous representatives from UN and UfM Member States, International Organisations, NGOs and the private sector.  Among the participants were Bassima Hakkaoui, Minister of Solidarity, Women, Family and Social Development of Morocco; Mohammad Naciri, Regional Director of UN Women Arab States; Mervat Tallawy, General Director of Arab Women Organisation; and UfM DSG Delphine Borione.