“It is evident that the economy cannot fully develop without increased participation of women in the labor market. It is therefore necessary to actively increase the number of employed women, as their contribution is essential to overall economic development,” he said. he explained during a meeting organized by the CGEM and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) under the theme “Promoting the employment of women in Morocco: solutions to support businesses”.
Mr. Tazi, in this sense, mentioned the women’s activity rate which is, according to him, “a crucial indicator of economic development”, recalling recent statistics which “reveal a decline in the proportion of women’s participation, falling from around 26% 15 years ago to just 19% today, while the level of unemployment among women has almost doubled in ten years to reach 20%.
In this regard, he noted “certain deeply rooted socio-cultural norms which limit the employment of women and often lead them to sacrifice their careers”, believing that it is imperative to make a precise diagnosis in order to identify the main obstacles to women’s activity and to remedy them effectively.
For his part, the director of the IFC for the Maghreb and Djibouti, Xavier Reille, highlighted the importance of global mobilization, involving the government, civil society and the private sector, in order to create a real impact and promote women’s participation in the economy. “If the activity rate of women equaled that of men, Morocco could benefit from a significant increase in its gross national product (GNP),” he said.
And to maintain that promoting the level of participation of women in the labor market is especially advantageous for businesses, because it promotes innovation, competitiveness and overall performance, and contributes to strengthening social equity and promoting emergence of a prosperous middle class.
However, Mr. Reille considered that to meet this challenge, “it is crucial not to consider this approach as a simple component of corporate social responsibility, but rather as an essential practice of good business management.”
He therefore called on the various stakeholders concerned to support initiatives such as the “Morocco4Diversity” platform aimed at creating a favorable environment for increased participation of women in the labor market, which would contribute to economic growth and social equity.
In this regard, the president of the CGEM CSR and Diversity Commission, Saadia Slaoui Bennani, recalled that the “Morocco4Diversity” platform, launched by the CGEM and the IFC, aims to provide women with the necessary tools, promote them in terms of skills, with the aim of generating a significant and transformative impact on their inclusion in business.
Furthermore, Ms. Slaoui Bennani pleaded in favor of mobilizing all stakeholders, particularly business leaders, to bring about a concrete and positive transformation with regard to the employability of women.
This meeting was an opportunity to underline the imperative of increased participation of women in the labor market in order to promote the economic development of Morocco, and to reiterate the commitment of the IFC and the CGEM in favor of female inclusion.
It brought together a diverse panel of business representatives, some of whom shared their experiences, perspectives, and challenges in terms of inclusion and diversity, as well as their best practices in promoting diversity within their teams and of their recruitment policies.