Leadership Training Program for Rural Moroccan Women

In 2013 a group of volunteers implemented a woman’s empowerment and leadership training program called “Taking the Lead: Empowering Women in Rural Morocco.” This program was re-purposed for rural Morocco from “Taking the Lead”, a program originally created by Woman's Leadership Partnership.

“Taking the Lead: Empowering Women in Rural Morocco” sessions are designed to help young Arab women overcome current gender boundaries by helping them believe in themselves, believe in there abilities, and empower them to become leaders in their communities.  The sessions require a strong female counterpart to lead the sessions.  The counterpart facilitates difficult and complicated discussions, and serves the purpose of providing the young women with a positive female role model.

This program was originally led in the Tata region by Margaret Bridges, and implemented by: Kate Gray in Akka, Anastasia Fagan and Laura Evans in Tata, Melanie Warning and Elizabeth Ardent in Tissint, Margaret Bridges and Meredith Stilwell in Issafen.  Recently, Eva Canan implemented the program in Massa, Agadir region.  Below are the experiences and comments of Kate Gray and Eva Canan on “Taking the Lead: Empowering Women in Rural Morocco.”

Want to try this out in your community? Resources for implementing "Taking the Lead" can be found here.

Eva Canan

Massa, Agadir Region

Taking the Lead was a valuable program for the 14 girls and women who participated here in Massa. It provided a space for them to discuss the challenges of being female in their community and society and to see how other leaders throughout the world have faced similar problems and worked toward solutions. They found the examples of leaders such as Asma Khader and Muhammad Yunus inspiring.

While planning, I would recommend reading each of the twelve lessons carefully in order to decide which ones to include. In retrospect, I wish we had done more than six of the twelve sessions. The second half of the program fosters following through on solving problems that were discussed in the first half. Instead of just forming a personal vision statement, they can find common goals and values they share and work on a common project.

The group cohesion and confidence that develop are fun to observe.  During the first session, most of the participants were shy and didn't share their opinions confidently. Soon, however, a group rapport developed and they felt comfortable talking about their shared challenges and experiences. As always, work with a counterpart. The participants really respected and trusted my counterpart, who was the main leader of the sessions. Many of them chose to confide in her about important issues in their lives.

Kate Gray

Akka, Tata Region

This leadership program is a powerful tool for young women. It shows them that it is possible to become a female leader within a community. The Leading to Choices manual and the stories are a great takeaway for young women; it will be something for them to look back on and to reflect upon as they grow into female leaders! The program is also a really great way to engage Moroccan counterparts in leadership. They have the opportunity to play an active role in the planning and implementation of the program, and they have the opportunity to be a leader themselves while inspiring leadership in others.

Overall the program was very successful.  This is because I had two amazing Moroccan female counterparts.  Having a good counterpart is essential to this program.  The program must be taught in Arabic by a women who can lead a group well. My main counterpart was a teacher at the Lycee, so leading a group came natural to her.  I had a second counterpart attend sessions and help with logistics, and when my main counterpart could not lead a session, my second counterpart subbed in.  So having a secondary counterpart will help you manage the program better.

The main problems that arose were typical problems: attendance, starting on-time, and ending on-time. The first week only half of the group showed up, but by the second week we had a full class (I recommend having a group of less than 20 girls). I created an attendance sheet and took attendance each week. I offered an incentive for constant attendance: those girls who missed only 1 session received a prize at the end.  Showing up on time was also a problem.  Our class was every Saturday for 6 weeks from 4-6pm.  Most weeks the girls would show up between 4:15 and 4:45.  We usually started at 4:30. Because we started late most weeks it was difficult to get through each session (we only did the first 6 session out of 12 from the book). The girls wanted to or needed to leave by 6pm. Time management was difficult, and sometimes the sessions were rushed at the end.

Some other tips:

Print out the sessions you will do with the women and make them into a booklet.  Give the girls a booklet inside of a folder, and have then write their names on the folder.  Do not let the girls take the folders home (as they may not bring them back the next week). They can take the folder and booklet home at the end of the program. Also provide pens so that the girls can take notes. Remember to collect the pens at the end of each session.

Have a party at the end and give out attendance prizes and the folders for the girls to take home.  Have some cake, tea, soda, music, and maybe do a creative project together.