Gender equality at the heart of the World Human Rights Forum in Marrakech

Barcelona, 2 December 2014 – UfM Deputy Secretary General for Social and Civil Affairs, Delphine Borione, represented the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean in the 2nd World Human Rights Forum (WHRF), which was hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco from 27 to 30 November in Marrakech.

Delphine Borione moderated a session on “Gender Responsive Budgeting through the prism of human rights”, organised by the Moroccan Ministry of Finance, and delivered the closing speech in the session entitled “What are the dynamics of women’s rights in the Mediterranean area?”, organised by the Franco-Moroccan Public Administration Forum.

“Gender equality has to be at the heart of the global agenda of human rights. Equal rights between men and women and elimination of all forms of gender-based discrimination constitute an essential precondition for advancing human rights achievements”, stated UfM Deputy Secretary General Delphine Borione. She highlighted the role of the UfM Secretariat in promoting concrete regional programmes and projects to foster human, social and economic development to the benefit of the women and men in the Mediterranean region.

Through its participation in the World Human Rights Forum, the UfM Secretariat aims to regionally contribute to the emergence of a universal platform for dialogue among governments, national human rights institutions and civil society organisations, working together to meet aspirations for human respect, dignity, equality and justice. The World Human Rights Forum brought together 7,000 participants from 94 countries, hundreds of local and international NGOs and dozens of experts to assess progress and challenges in the human rights arena.