The U.S. State Department announced that the launch of the network is in line with the signing of the Abraham Accords in September 2020.
Rabat- Businesswomen, and entrepreneurs from several countries, including Morocco, participated in the virtual launch of the United Women’s Economic Development Network on Thursday.
Women from the United States, Bahrain, Morocco, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Uzbekistan, and Kosovo participated in this virtual event.
In an official statement, the U.S. State Department said the launch of the network complements the signature of the Abraham Accords in September 2020.
The economic empowerment of women is central to diplomatic accords. The cross-national cooperation of women entrepreneurs facilitated through this network contributes to lasting peace in the region. The Abraham Accords refer to the joint agreement between Israel, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, and Bahrain. The agreement marked the public normalization of ties between the Gulf countries and Israel.
The U.S State Department’s statement declares that women’s economic empowerment holds a prominent place in achieving greater economic regional cooperation and realizing a “warm peace” that is “inclusive-of-all.”
The United Women’s Economic Development Network will serve as a platform for cross-country cooperation among women and promises to advance women’s economic empowerment and entrepreneurship, explains the diplomatic statement.
Prominent members of US diplomacy spearheaded the event. In particular, US Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues Kelley Currie, US Special Envoy for Economic Normalization, Aryeh Lightstone, and the Director of the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) for Global Women’s Issues Charity Wallace.
The launch of the network contributes to the latest developments in US-Moroccan partnerships for the advancement of women’s economic status.
Less than a week ago, ambassador Currie met with Moroccan female leaders, including the manager of the Millennium Challenge Account-Morocco (MCA-Morocco), Ikrame El Houdal, and Samira Mizbar, the gender and inclusion manager at MCA.
The meeting which took place in Rabat discussed new paths of cross-country cooperation. These events come soon after the launch of the 2X MENA Initiative in December 2020. The project will mobilize $1 billion in investments for projects that advance women’s economic empowerment in the Middle East and North African region (MENA).
The economic advancement of Moroccan businesswomen and entrepreneurs is at the heart of US-Moroccan cooperation. In June 2020, the US embassy in Rabat launched a new program called the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE). This one-week entrepreneurship “boot camp” would provide approximately 50 emerging female entrepreneurs with the skills needed for founding their businesses.
In addition, the two countries were set to host a Women in Science (WiSci) camp in the summer of 2020, supported by Google and Intel. The camp was delayed due to the COVID-19 crisis.
In November 2019, Ivanka Trump visited Morocco as part of the launch of Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP), an initiative aimed at empowering women throughout the world. During her visit, she chaired the signing ceremony between Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and Morocco’s Ministry of Interior. The signed agreement seeks to support new laws related to the ownership of communal lands by women. The objective is to improve Moroccan women’s right to access and exploit land in order to further empower their economic independence.
