Women's Empowerment in Africa

Before empowerment begins, most women show signs of apprehension in going through this journey, as it is not easy for them and is considered a new experience. Everything new is rejected initially. Especially since the factor of distrust is strongly dominant in the first meeting, most women believe that empowerment training will strip them of their secrets and privacy, which is a challenge that we are working hard to correct. An objective of the empowerment workshop is to provide principles and a path forward.

In addition to this challenge, we note at the beginning that many women refuse to speak comfortably about themselves. We often find that most of them elect a leader who speaks about their experiences on their behalf. This is primarily due to our belief in a number of cultural and social factors that prevent the disclosure of women’s potentials, in addition to the fact that they need self-esteem that can only be achieved and completed through the respect of others.

All of these fears soon dissipate once they join a group in the self-empowerment workshop. Through this training, women begin building relationships with others who share the same concerns and aspirations.

The High Atlas Foundation has been working to pave the way for women to overcome the fears and limiting beliefs that stand in the way of change. One example of the great achievements of the empowerment program is that many women have embraced the desire to establish women’s cooperatives, which embody the goal of overcoming fear and apprehension and lay a foundation of self-responsibility.

Nine new cooperatives have been created. They represent a workspace for 106 members, indirectly affecting 18,875 people in the regions in which they were established. The cooperatives include four in the Al-Haouz region (comprising 41 members in total); three urban cooperatives in Boujdour (two women's cooperatives of 6 members each, and a male cooperative with 5 members); a village cooperative in Boutgharar, a province of Magouna (consisting of 18 members); and one village cooperative in Taroudant (comprising of 23 members). 

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), via the Farmer-to-Farmer program, provides support for agricultural cooperatives by engaging 70 American volunteer experts to provide technical consultancy assistance and capacity building trainings to 80 cooperatives. These cooperatives exemplify the positive impact of training as women gain confidence, motivation, communication, and leadership skills to make positive decisions and better their positions. The empowerment workshops also inspire them to train for literacy classes or obtain graduate degrees to complete their studies.

In evaluating the empowerment program, the results of the workshops that were conducted showed that a total of 106 people (103 women and 3 men) acquired job opportunities, most of which came about because of these cooperatives. Some women revealed that the cooperatives helped them cover their daily expenses, buy clothes for themselves or their children, and pay for water and electricity bills. The workshops also helped create more than nine job opportunities for teenage girls in the public and private sectors, making the total number of jobs created due to training workshops 115. Seven girls returned to school because of their participation in empowerment workshops.

The participants help empower other people. If each participant talks to an average of 25 people about their experience during the workshop, 18,875 people are directly affected. Reports indicate that at least 10 other people are indirectly affected by this growing network of community members who participated in the empowerment workshop. This increases the number of beneficiaries to 188,750.

The High Atlas Foundation has, since 2017, conducted 28 Empowerment workshops that are 32 hours each. A total of 755 participants, predominantly women, have benefitted from workshops in Marrakech, Al Haouz, Azilal, Boujdour, Essaouira, Mohammedia, Oujda, Taroudant, and Magouna. As a result, nine new cooperatives were established, which together include 106 members.

Evaluation results show that of the 106 jobs (in the agro-food, artisanal, and clothing sectors) that have been created, 103 (97 percent) are women. These women have said that the cooperatives’ economic activities help them cover their household expenses, such as food, clothing, and utilities. In addition, the workshops also created nine jobs for teenage girls in the private and public sectors. Seven girls returned to school due to their participation in the workshop.

At the heart of Moroccan society is family, and at the heart of the Moroccan family is women. With half of all incidents of violence against Moroccan women being committed by their husbands, it is imperative to prioritize support for them and engage with family members when necessary. For women who have sought to leave violent or other human rights violating conditions, the project will provide valuable support to explore options toward financial independence through community-based initiatives in addition to legal counsel.

Since 2017, of the 755 rural Moroccan women who participated in HAF’s 4-day empowerment workshop that utilizes a right-based approach (described below), one woman initiated divorce when she determined she will not be able to live in an unhealthy relationship. She first learned at the workshop that the updated family code permits a wife to initiate divorce proceedings—previously the exclusive right of the husband—when the husband does not fulfill any of the conditions stipulated in the marriage contract, or for harm caused to the wife such as lack of financial support, abandonment, violence, and other harm.