Rabat – King Mohammed VI has approved Najwa Koukouss as a member of the new government led by Head of Government Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri. Koukouss will now lead the Ministry of Family, Social Development, and Equality.
Koukouss is a member of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), the winner of Morocco’s legislative elections with 97 seats in the House of Representatives.
The electoral victory paved the way for El Mansouri to become Morocco’s first-ever female head of government, with several ministers from her party, including Koukouss, taking charge of ministerial portfolios in the new cabinet.
Born in the Derb Sultan neighborhood of Casablanca, Koukouss is a Moroccan parliamentarian, prominent politician, and a leading figure in the PAM. She studied law at Hassan II University and pursued further studies in international law. She is a lawyer registered with the Casablanca Bar Association.
In 2015, at only 25, Koukouss became the first elected president of the PAM’s youth organization and was also elected to local municipal councils in Sidi Othmane and Casablanca.
Koukouss was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2021, representing PAM through the Casablanca-Settat regional list. She then chaired the thematic working group dedicated to equality and parity, specializing in reviewing legal frameworks to enhance women’s rights and inclusion.
On February 10, 2024, she was elected president of PAM’s National Council during its fifth congress in Bouznika. The council is one of the party’s principal decision-making institutions. She succeeded Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, who moved into the party’s collective leadership.
In the September 23 legislative elections, Koukouss was also among the candidates running for seats in the Casablanca-Anfa constituency, rather than the regional list through which she entered Parliament in 2021. Results showed Abdessamad Haiker from the PJD securing the highest number of votes, with 7,358, followed by Koukouss from the PAM with 6,269.
This means that, after the PJD, Koukouss also secured a seat in Casablanca-Anfa, where she ran as the head of the PAM list, finishing in second place.
Awatif Hayar served as minister of family and solidarity before Naima Ben Yahia replaced her in 2024.
Now, Koukouss will take the lead at the ministry, which pledges family reforms and women’s empowerment.
In July, as president of the PAM national council, Koukouss chaired a meeting on women, where she said that the event served as a space for discussion and the exchange of views on the challenges limiting women’s economic empowerment.
She said the main challenges that women continue to face include persistent gender pay gaps and difficulties balancing family and professional responsibilities, calling for support mechanisms.
She also called for the establishment of childcare centers to enable women to demonstrate their capabilities and participate more fully in the labor market.
Koukouss’s appointment came during a ceremony where all members of the new government took the oath before King Mohammed VI. The appointment followed King Mohammed VI’s appointment of El Mansouri as head of government following the PAM’s win.
The government majority now includes the PAM, the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS), Al Istiqlal, and the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP).
