Modernising Morocco

SBS-23/10/06.
CUTTING EDGE -Documentary.

MODERNISING MOROCCO
In recent years, the government of Morocco, led by the young Western-educated King Mohammed VI, has unleashed what some regard as the most sweeping peaceful political and social reforms of this decade in the Arab world. Moroccan women, in particular, have achieved some important victories, playing an increasingly active role in politics, and successfully lobbying for a new family law which now grants them equal rights in marriage, divorce and the ownership of property. But Morocco, like countless Muslim nations across the globe, is teetering in a delicate balance between a reformist spirit and a resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism. According to this documentary, over the past decade, significant research has demonstrated what many have known for a long time – women are critical to economic development, active civil society, and good governance, especially in developing countries. Gender disparities hit women and girls the hardest, but ultimately all of society pays a price for them. Achieving gender equality is now deemed so critical to reducing poverty and improving governance that it has become a development objective in its own right. This documentary investigates what are the possible outcomes of the increased participation of women in Moroccan society. (From the US, in French, English and Arabic, English subtitles) CC WS SMS Alert Code: 4268