Women
and sustainable development in Morocco
The
'Aït Sadden' Association for cultural and sustainable development
organizes the IRDAN Festival every year. This Festival is one
of the regional events aiming, inter alia, the enhancement of
the Heritage and of the potentialities in human and natural
resources of the Region of Fès. The Association organizes
this prestigious event in partnership with the Council and the
Region of Fès, municipalities like Bir Tamtam and Ras
Taboula, as well as economic factors of the Kingdom. This Festival
benefits from the participation of many actors (researchers,
artists, NGOs, businessmen) from different regions of Morocco.
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In
August 2013, in the framework of the activities of the Festival,
the Association made tribute to the international artist Fatema
Binet Ouakka. This artist, native of the region, is still attached
to her roots: the tribe of Aït Sadden represents the women
of Aït Sadden. The choice of this tribute is not due to
chance, but to the extraordinary artist’s career that
has been chosen by a multidisciplinary commission.
Fatema Binet Ouakka has been asked to participate in mentoring
and for the animation of a day for the benefit of the women
of the tribe. The meeting, organized with the assistance of
the National Council of Human Rights, and the Regional Council
of investment of the Fès Boulemane region - which had
for theme 'The rights of rural women to development' - had the
participation of a hundred of women from different douars of
the tribe.
Several goals have been the source of this encounter:
. Educating rural women to understand their rights to development
in general
. Raise awareness of rural women to the benefits of schooling
for their daughters, and to fight against illiteracy
. Raise awareness of rural women to the interest to organize
themselves in associations or cooperatives to benefit from financing
offers that are proposed by both national and international
organizations, with the goal to improve their framework and
their standard of living.
. Raise awareness of rural women in the gender approach
Artist
Fatema succeeded to the meeting with the rural women 'Aït
Sadden' a very concrete opportunity of awareness and of motivation
for those women to organize themselves into association. The
aim being, in one hand, to upgrade their artisanal production,
and, on the other hand, to put forward their contemporary creations.
Next April, the Association will organize the 'World Art Day'.
A first in Morocco, Fatema being named to be the representative
of the Association in charge of the International relations.