Source: TRTWorld
Morocco has launched an ambitious action plan with emphasis on gender equality, a move that it hopes will provide a framework for a meeting point of policies pertaining to women, peace and security.
The National Action Plan 2021-24, the first-of-its-kind in the northern African nation, was unveiled online on Wednesday on the sidelines of the United Nations' 66th Session of the Committee on the Status of Women.
"Morocco's National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security is a part of the momentum created by the high vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI for the development of a just, democratic and egalitarian society," Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita said at the launch event.
The project is part of a series of measures aimed at promoting gender equality at all levels — and it is not just mere statements of intent, Bourita added.
'Inclusion, innovation, holistic approach'
Morocco says the plan is the result of its commitment to implementing the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which in 2000 provided the international community with a framework for the protection of women’s rights in conflict and peace-building settings.
"...No development can be sustained if it's not inclusive...peace cannot be achieved if it does not include women...security cannot be complete if it does not address the needs of women," Bourita said in the context of the African Union's Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda.
Morocco says in view of new threats, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the action has adopted an integrated approach to security, looking beyond the military dimension. Overall, it aims for the integral development of men and women, and their protection.
Bourita said three "fundamental principles have guided Morocco's implementation" of the WPS Agenda: inclusion, innovation and holistic approach.
Further, the action plan adopted last August has three priority areas: preventive diplomacy, mediation and peacekeeping; promoting a culture of peace; and women's economic participation, Bourita added.