Research & Action Report, Spring/Summer 2011

by Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, S.J.D.

Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, S.J.D., the director of international human rights policy programs at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW), partnered with the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior, The Kingdom of Morocco, to present a seminal program, “Rabat Roundtable: Women Leading Change in the Muslim World,” May 16–17, 2011, in Rabat, Morocco. This critical Roundtable was originally organized in partnership with the Hon. Dr. Moushira Khattab, the former Minister for Family and Population of Egypt, to be held in Cairo under the auspices of the Ministry of Family and Population, Egypt with whom de Silva-de Alwis has partnered with in her work with the Legislative Reform Initiative along with UNICEF. The political changes sweeping Egypt and other countries propelled WCW and its partners to seize the transformative potential of these historic movements and to reconvene the program in Rabat this May. The Roundtable brought together leading women’s rights advocates from the Muslim World for high-level discussion and debate to ensure that women are part of the important reformist and decision making processes. Over two dozen local, women government officials from Morocco joined the Roundtable initiating a global-to-local exchange.

This partnership was made possible by the gracious support of Dr. Najat Zarrouk, the distinguished Governor, Director of Training for Local Government, Ministry of the Interior with whom de Silva-de Alwis has worked as part of the Women’s Democracy Network. Zarrouk is at the forefront of women’s leadership in Morocco and has championed women’s political participation through training programs and mentoring initiatives around Morocco and the world.

Rabat served as an ideal location for the Roundtable. The Moroccan women’s movement sparked a historic millionsignature campaign that mobilized reform of the family code for Mudwana in 2004. Morocco’s revised family law has been held up as a model by feminists throughout the Muslim world and catalyzed reform in countries across the region. Family law is often the litmus test of women’s equality and the landmark initiative galvanized movements around the world including the women’s movement in Iran. In particular, the million signature campaign is at the heart of Iranian feminists’ efforts to reform their country’s family law.