Sculpting the Rock of Women's Rights: The Role of Women's Organizations In Promoting the National Plan of Action to Integrate Women in Development in Morocco
Iman Ghazalla, Fellow, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota

In March of 1999, through the cooperative work of several governmental sectors, nongovernmental organizations, women's activists, experts on women's issues, and the World Bank, Morocco launched its National Plan of Action to integrate women into the development process. Women activists worked together across political and class differences to advocate for the plan. This plan tackled issues of women's education, employment, and health. It also proposed reforms pertaining to family law, which is derived from Islamic law. Tensions arose between feminists keen on adopting international standards on women's rights and Islamist women determined to preserve traditional values. Each side mobilized thousands of supporters for or against the plan. This case study provides a rich description of the Moroccan political environment and actors, tracing the emergence of a strong feminist movement. It supports a discussion of how feminists should seek to organize across difference and how to promote change once significant opposition has been mobilized and once progressive change has been framed as a Western imposition that overrides indigenous cultural values. It also supports discussion of divorce reform and whether human rights are universal.