Women representatives in local communities very insufficient, says NGO

The number of women representatives in local communities in Morocco does not exceed 0.34 per cent, compared to men, a percentage deemed "too much low" by women groups and human rights organizations.

Figures published recently by the "Groupe national pour une pr?sence r?elle des femmes dans les collectivit?s locales" (made up of female and cultural organizations as well as human rights-advocacy NGOs) show that out of 300 representatives, only one is a woman and that only 65 women hold a seat in the urban communities (1.13 percent), and 18 in the rural communes (0.10 percent.

The survey, called "Our communities need women potentials," notes that no woman chairs a local council, while only 5 women are among the 1,189 elected in the provincial and prefectorial councils and only one woman is member of the upper house of parliament, while 35 are sitting in the lower chamber.

It shows little progress from 1960 to 1997 as regards the participation of women in local councils elections, and a slight increase in the number of women candidates, a progress that had no considerable impact on the number of elected women, says the survey.