Gender Equality, Women’s and Girl’s Empowerment

In keeping with the Sustainable Development Goals Quality Education and Gender Equality, ACF’s objective is to increase the status of traditional and non-traditional rural Moroccan girls and women through programs that increase access to education, health care and decent work.  ACF outcomes strive to improve the income and economic well being of underserved women and young girls in the regions where we work. ACF launched the program in 2017 – the program is year round.

This project has succeeded in:

• empowering illiterate women in their domestic work and traditional family roles
• providing vocational skills training
• educating women and girls on female-specific health topics
• supporting girls to continue education past primary school
• providing a safe and comfortable environment for discussions
• explaining human rights and family law
• introducing women and girls to sport and outdoor activities

Access to education in rural Morocco has improved and the majority of families support the education of their girls and young women. However, the majority of girls are faced with insurmountable gender-specific obstacles to their education including:

Additionally, there is a large population of uneducated young women who want to work and need trades and skills to become contributing members to their communities.

The Girls’ and Women’s Education and Empowerment Program addresses the obstacles to education and supports two populations of women and girls:

1. Non-traditional Education (trades and skills) – Young women who did not go to school or stopped their education before graduating from high school.
2. Traditional Education (modern educational institutes) – Girls who are currently enrolled in middle school and high school.