Women in Morocco can benefit from the development expertise of their sisters overseas, according to participants in a recent forum in Marrackech.
Moroccan women living abroad should help their female compatriots at home by sharing their knowledge, according to participants in a recent forum on women and migration.
Some 400 delegates from 20 countries attended the forum in Marrakech to discuss how Morocco's female expatriates can best assimilate in receiving countries while still helping their homeland's development efforts.
"All of the Moroccan women overseas won't return to Morocco, but they should retain their ties with this country while integrating into the countries they live in," said Yasmime Abd al-Fadel, a Canadian resident who still works to help her country of origin.
"Personally, I regard myself as both Moroccan and Canadian," Fadel told participants in the two-day event, the second of its kind, which wrapped up December 20th.
The main goal of the forum, which met under the banner of "Feminisation and Migration: International Trends and the Moroccan Situation", was to prepare women who are considering emigration and to assist those working on development projects in Morocco.
Many forum participants advocated the creation of a centre that they said would enable Moroccan women at home and abroad to share their knowledge and facilitate the creation of a forum for young female migrants.
"Communication networks between emigrant Moroccans and women still living in the country should also be developed so that expat women can pass on their expertise," said Fadel.
Some participants also called for the creation of a similar forum for female Moroccan investors and politicians, as well as a new database to track female Moroccan migrants in their adopted countries.
Moroccan women living overseas "are often treated as stereotypes", Moroccan Minister of Social Development Nouzha Skelli told those present at the event.
"Migration has diversified and there are now migrants of different social statuses and with a range of needs and expectations," added Skelli. She encouraged Moroccan expatriates to become more involved in research, studies, monitoring and analysis.
"It is now essential to change the stereotyped images that overseas Moroccans have of their homeland, and vice versa," the president of the Council of the Overseas Moroccan Community, Driss El Yazami, said at the forum.
"This will require media support for the work of the overseas Moroccan community and civil society organisations in Morocco," Yazami added.
Yazami lauded the progress made after the first meeting of the forum, which he said had led to the provision of legal assistance for vulnerable Moroccan women at their consulates overseas and special assistance to female migrants living in Gulf countries.
By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Marrakech
© Magharebia.com 2009
