Fez – The ISIS Centre for Women and Development and South-North Centre organize the International Symposium on “The Marriage of Minor Girls: Legal and Socio-cultural Perspectives” on May 5-6 at Palais des Congès, in Fez.
The international Symposium, which is organized in partnership with the National Union of Women’s Organizations and Vital Voices Organization, intends to shed light on the social, cultural, and economic reasons behind the marriage of minor girls, as well as the complications that this phenomenon can have on the child, the family and the society as a whole.
Various institutions, youth organizations, NGOs, judges, lawyers, and government and parliamentary officials will also participate in this event to emphasize the urgent need for the adequate implementation of the Family Code to eliminate the marriage of underage girls and to fight all sorts of violence against women.
The program of the International Symposium on “The Marriage of Minor Girls: Legal and Socio-cultural perspectives” is as follows:
Saturday, May 5, 2012
8: 30: Welcome to the participants
9:30: Opening Session:
-Speech of Mr. President of Fès-Boulemane Region
-Speech of Ms. the Minister of Family and Solidarity
-Speech of Mr. the President of Fez City Council
-Speech of Mr. the Director of the Symposium and Chairman of South-North Center
-Speech of the President of ISIS Centre and the National Union of Women’s Organizations.
10: 00- 10:15: Reception and Exhibition Visit
1st Plenary Session: Marriage of Minors: Legal Aspects
Moderator: Moha Ennaji (South-North Centre)
10.15: Inaugural Conference: Zhour Alhorr (President of the Family Division at the Court of Casablanca, Member of the Commission for Moudawana Reform)
The Marriage of Minors between the Text and Reality
10.30: Malika Benradi (Professor, Law Faculty Rabat Agdal, Lawyer at the Bar of Rabat, Approved by the Supreme Court)
Child Marriage in Morocco: What Judicial Practice?
10.45: Oum Banine Lahlou (Member of the Parliament, National Union of Women’s Organizations)
11.00: Malika Benaouda (Blida University, Algeria)
Early Marriage: The Obstacles to Identify the End of Childhood Age in the Arab Countries.
11.15: Fatima Maghnaoui (Centre d’Aide Juridique et Union de L’Action Féminine)
Marriage of Minors: stories from concrete cases
11.30-12.00: Debate
Afternoon:
2nd Plenary Session: The Marriage of Minors: Legal and Social Aspects
Moderator: Khadija Elmadmad
15.00: Gbadamosi Olaide (Head, Department of Public and International Law, Osun State University, Nigeria)
The Role of Judges and Lawyers in Combating Underage Marriage
15.15: Zhor Houti (Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University)
The Marriage of Minors between the Legal Text and the Practice
15. 30: Nadia Lachiri (Moulay Ismail University, Meknes)
The Minor Girl between the Violence of Reality and the Inadequacy of Law
15.45: Anissa Bouanane (ADFM, Casablanca)
Underage marriage in Morocco: Between state and perspectives
16.00-16 :30: Debate
16.30-16:45: Break
3rd Plenary Session: Marriage of Minor: Comparative Perspectives
Moderator: Fatima Sadiqi (ISIS Centre)
16.45: Ousseina Alidou (Rutgers University, USA)
Regimes of Marriage and Women’s Rights Activism in Changing African Muslim Societies
17.00: Mohamed Raoudi (Observatory on Women’s Integration in the political Life, Casablanca)
Causes and consequences of child marriage in Morocco
17.15: Yanserha (Consultant, Social Affairs, Children and Family, Nouakchot)
Barriers to the application of the Code of Personal Status (Mauritania model)
17. 30: Khédija Arfaoui (Tunis University)
Early Marriage : The Case of Tunisia
17.45- 18 :15: Debate
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Morning:
4th Plenary Session: Marriage of the Minor: Socio-cultural Component
Moderator: Souad Slaoui (Study and Research on Women Group)
9.00: Mina Sougrati (University Researcher, Casablanca)
It is time to repeal the article 20 of the family code
9.15 : Fatima Outaleb (Union de l’Action Féminine)
Marriage of Minors in Morocco : Expérience de l’UAF
9. 30 : Asma Ennebet (National Union for Women’s Organizations)
Marriage of minors or the culture of death
9.45-10 :15: Debate
10.15 -10.30: Break
5th Plenary Session: Marriage of Minors: What Solutions? – field study
Moderator: Ousseina Alidou (Université de Rutgers, USA)
10.30: Moha Ennaji (South-North Centre, Fez)
The dilemma of marrying underage girls and the circumvent of the law
10.45: Hakima Hatri (Al Qarawiyyine University, Fez)
Procedures for marrying a minor within legal regulations and the reality of life
11.00: Souad Slaoui (Study and Research on Women Group, Université Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez)
Marriage of minors: Causes and Challenges – A field study
11.15: Siham Fadil (Minister of al Habous and Islamic Affairs, Rabat)
Early marriage in Imilchil : A Case study
11.30: Rym Asserraji (Doctorante, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University)
Attitudes Towards the Application of the Mudawana and Under-Aged Married Women in the Regions of Fez, Meknes and the Atlas Mountains
11.45 -12.15 : Debate.
