Outcome MAR_D_2.1

An enabling environment is established to promote economic empowerment and decent employment for women

Significant progress has been made towards the achievement of outcome 2.1 in 2022. During 2022, the Ministry of Solidarity and Social Inclusion, National Women's Machinery, continued the operationalization of Maroc-Attamkine – the National Integrated Program for Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) , developed in 2019 in partnership with UN Women Morocco CO, at the national and territorial levels. The National Commission for Women's Economic Empowerment, chaired by the Head of Government and coordinated by the national women’s machinery, formed as a result of Maroc-Attamkine. Fourteen (14) ministerial departments and national entities developed actions plans that include measures aligned with the areas of interventions identified in the multi-stakeholders National Program for WEE. This helps formalize the commitment of the different stakeholders towards WEE and facilitates the monitoring of Maroc-Attamkine. The women’s machinery, with the technical support of UN Women, enabled the inclusion of these WEE measures. . Two MoUs, developed with the support of UN Women, were signed at regional level to initiate the implementation of Maroc-Attamkine at the territorial level. Regarding gender-responsive sustainable finance , The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) began a public-private partnership through the signature of an MoU on financing equality with the Women's machinery, the Moroccan Banking Association (GPBM) and a public guarantee fund (Tamwilcom). The aim of the MoU is to accelerate realization of governmental objectives on WEE and engage the private sector to commit to increasing women's economic inclusion in Morocco. The MoU constitutes an integrated multi-partner framework (PPP) for promoting financing for gender equality in Morocco. UN Women provided technical and advisory support to the development of this partnership and associated advocacy for the establishment of a national sustainable finance mechanism. Significant progress has also been made in the area of the care economy , a necessary part of the economy for women's employability and economic inclusion. Five (5) relevant ministerial departments increased their prioritization of the care economy as an intrinsic factor for WEE in their strategic planning following exposure to preliminary findings from two strategic studies. These studies highlighted the need for inclusive recovery policies and the potential of care economy, particularly the early childhood education and care (ECCE) sector. UN women carried out these studies in the reporting year. Building upon this momentum, a third study will be conducted in 2023, exploring the budgetary spaces available for public investments in the care sector. This will generate quantifiable data to further advocate for WEE through care economy. The MoU on gender-responsive sustainable finance is expected to be operationalized in 2023 and will develop a gender-sensitive guarantee mechanism as well as a gender-sensitive financial debt instrument that will have a real impact on women’s lives and significantly contribute to improving women’s economic participation. The production and use of data on the care economy will support advocacy initiatives aimed at enhancing women’s economic empowerment and inclusion through the care economy.

An enabling environment is established to promote economic empowerment and decent employment for women

In an aim to support the implementation of gender-responsive macroeconomic policies, UNW Morocco CO engaged into a joint initiative with ILO to support the Ministry of Finance in adapting existing analytical tools and conducting evidence-based country assessments to evaluate gender-sensitivity of macro-economic policies and recovery fiscal stimulus and demonstrate economic returns of investment in the care economy. The objective of the joint initiative is to improve the analytical capacity of economic policy decision-makers to integrate gender considerations into macro-level policy.