Morocco/Fahs-Anjra: The Women’s Education and Training Center, a Driver of Socioeconomic Empowerment in Rural Areas

The Women's Education and Training Center, located in the municipality of Khemis Anjra, in the province of Fahs-Anjra, serves as a model for a community-based social organization dedicated to building women's skills and promoting their socioeconomic empowerment, particularly in rural areas, thanks to support from the National Initiative for Human Development (INDH).

To mark the graduation of a new class of beneficiaries and the 27th anniversary of Throne Day, the National Union of Moroccan Women (UNFM), Fahs-Anjra chapter, organized a ceremony on Monday attended by local stakeholders, representatives of civil society, members of the Union, and beneficiaries of the center.

This event provided an opportunity to highlight the center’s achievements in support of women in the region, as well as the progress made nationwide under the enlightened leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.

After successfully completing various training programs—which opened up opportunities for them to enter the job market and launch income-generating projects—the new graduates were presented with their certificates, attesting to the skills they acquired in several promising trades.

In a statement to MAP, Jamila Aaribten, president of the UNFM’s regional association in Fahs-Anjra, noted that the training programs offered by the center—covering specialties such as sewing, hairstyling, cooking, baking, and computer skills, aim to equip rural women with professional skills that enable them to enter the workforce or launch their own ventures.

She emphasized that the center has helped strengthen the role of its beneficiaries as agents of sustainable development, fully in line with the objectives of the INDH, described as a pioneering Royal initiative, highlighting the center’s contribution to building the capacity of rural women, as well as to strengthening their economic empowerment and their professional and social integration.

For her part, the head of the support service for people in precarious situations at the Social Action Division (DAS) of the province of Fahs-Anjra, Soumia Slaoui, stated that the INDH actively contributes to the support and management of this center, in partnership with Entraide Nationale and the Port of Tangier Med, as part of an approach based on the convergence of efforts aimed at improving the socioeconomic conditions of women in the region.

For her part, the center’s director, Khadija Mrihi, noted that this ceremony, bringing together staff and beneficiaries, marks the culmination of a full year of hard work and dedication, and she praised the constant support received by the institution, which helps ensure the sustainability of its initiatives and the quality of the services it provides.

Inaugurated in October 2019, this center, which covers a total area of approximately 1,500 m², is an integrated facility offering training in four main fields: sewing and textiles, hairdressing, cooking, and computer science. It also includes a space dedicated to preschool education, as well as gyms and literacy classrooms.

Built at a total cost of approximately 6.3 million dirhams, thanks to funding from the Agency for the Promotion and Development of the North (APDN), in partnership with the INDH, the Fahs-Anjra Provincial Council, and the UNFM, this center serves nearly 300 women each year. Its mission is to improve their living conditions and strengthen their empowerment by enabling them to fully exercise their economic and social rights.

Source: www.mapexpress.ma/