1GzuFGC

“Everything I personally did, and we achieved in governmentwas a homage to the groups fighting for women’s rights.”Rabéa Naciri, former president of the AssociationDémocratique du Femmes du Maroc (ADFM), explainsthat women’s rights groups were central to introducing theconcept of GRB.“Women’s groups have been behind practically everyreform made in Morocco. We didn’t just demand - wecame up with solutions - and after, we mobilized in order toget reforms,” she says.Rabéa urges other women’sgroups around the world tofocus on GRB as a tool forpromoting gender equality.“Budgeting is not technical“Budgeting is nottechnical – it is political.”- it is political,” she says. “People make you think it’s toocomplicated - that’s not true. It’s a mechanism for holdinggovernments to account - so it is incredibly important.”The next frontier for Morocco is to measure how time isspent in each household, so women’s unpaid work can betaken into account in policymaking. “It’s a fundamentalproblem that part of society is working and yet not beingpaid,” says Mohamed.In Morocco women form only 27 per cent of the labourforce. “That’s not to say they don’t work, but their workis not recognized. How canwe hope to catch up withdeveloped nations? Only byunleashing the earning andeconomic potential of thosewomen.”Photo: UN Women/Hassane Ouazzani ChahdiStory: Alexandra Topping. For more information on Gender responsive budgeting in Morocco see UN Women 2014c.233