Morocco, UNDP sign women promotion agreement

Morocco and the United Nations Development Program signed in Rabat Wednesday a cooperation agreement called "Gender and Development" providing for several measures to promote women's status.

The two-year-long program is crowning efforts by the government and associations to promote the status of women, children, youth and elderly, said the UNDP representative in Morocco.

For the Moroccan secretary of state in charge of social protection, family, childhood and women, Said Saadi, the convention will be an important support to the government's plan to integrate women in the country's development. He stated that the plan includes legal measures to ensure a wider protection for women against violence, larger participation in decision-making and combat all forms of social, administrative and cultural attitudes that limit women's participation in development.

The UNDP hopes that this initiative to promote women and family through an approach of good governance and human rights will be followed by other countries.