The inability to establish the “Parity and Anti-Discrimination Authority,” as mandated by the 2011 Constitution, serves as a significant indicator of Morocco’s protracted challenges in attaining gender parity.
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Summary
The principle of political parity was first introduced in Morocco’s 2011 Constitution, which called for the establishment of a dedicated “Parity and Anti-Discrimination Body.” However, although a series of legislative measures have since been enacted to align with the Constitution’s stipulations, this body has yet to be formed. In practice, the principle of parity has not been realized due to a confluence of political, economic, and social factors. Notably, the proposed Parity and Anti-Discrimination Body has not materialized across three government terms led by parties with diverse political orientations. This persistent delay raises critical questions about the underlying causes of stagnation, the factors contributing to the decline of women’s political participation in Morocco, and the broader challenges that impede the fulfillment of the principle of parity.
Introduction
The 2011 Constitution represented a critical juncture in promoting women’s political participation and their access to decision-making positions. For the first time in the history of Moroccan constitutions[1], the principle of parity was explicitly introduced, whereas earlier constitutions only emphasized the principle of equality between men and women. Following its inclusion in the Constitution, parity became a prominent theme in the discourse of women’s and human rights movements, prompting numerous legislative amendments affecting elected bodies and institutions tasked with combating all forms of discrimination against women. This principle was widely heralded as a major victory for women’s advocacy groups, holding the promise of bolstering women’s representation in political life after the quota system had failed to secure the desired outcome.
The quota system for women falls under the broader framework of affirmative action. It serves as a mechanism to correct deeply rooted imbalances in society, where stereotypes persistently cast women as non-political actors deemed unfit for leadership and decision-making. In 2002, Morocco’s political system adopted the quota mechanism to increase women’s representation in elected councils and guarantee a fair female presence within both formal and informal political institutions.
Rooted in the idea of numerical balance, the principle of parity aims to achieve equal representation of men and women across various spheres, particularly in positions of power, decision-making, and representative bodies. By embodying the overarching goal of equality, it seeks to address women’s underrepresentation in these structures. While parity has yet to be fully realized in both national and international contexts, certain Western governments offer notable exceptions. One example is the new Spanish government, inaugurated on November 20, 2023, under the leadership of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, in which women occupy half of the ministerial portfolios (11 women versus 11 men).
In Morocco, despite a strong legal framework that endorses the principle of parity, women’s political participation overall remains limited. The quota system attempted to remedy this gap by allocating dedicated seats to women—most recently increasing the number of reserved seats from 60 to 90 in the latest legislative session, with these seats distributed regionally[2] to prevent central party elites from monopolizing them. Yet, despite these technical measures, women’s representation outside the quota-based seats has not significantly expanded. This situation once again raises questions about women’s presence in elected bodies and political parties and the broader prospects for achieving genuine parity in Morocco.
How Was the Principle of Parity Implemented Following the 2011 Constitution?
In essence, the concept of parity entails equal numeric representation of men and women—at a ratio of 50/50—in elected councils and decision-making positions. Enshrined in the 2011 Constitution as part of the broader effort to combat all forms of discrimination against women, this principle was subsequently reinforced through various legal and political measures designed to translate it into practice.
One such measure was the creation of the Parity and Anti-Discrimination[3] Body, established as a specialized institution under Article 19 of the Constitution, which stipulates that the state “seeks to achieve the principle of parity between men and women and, to this end, establishes a body for parity and for combating all forms of discrimination.” Article 164 further provides that “the body responsible for parity and for combating all forms of discrimination, established pursuant to Article 19…,” shall undertake these responsibilities. In addition to a president appointed by Royal Decree, the body comprises 24 members selected on the basis of integrity, high moral standards, experience, and expertise. These members include specialists, government representatives, and civil society actors. Among its core functions, the body issues opinions and recommendations on legislation and regulatory texts, either at its initiative or upon request by the King, the Government, or either chamber of Parliament. It also promotes and strengthens the principles of equality, parity, and non-discrimination, particularly by embedding them in educational and media programs. Moreover, the body monitors the conformity of legislation and national programs concerning families with Morocco’s international commitments, proposing improvements to the Government and Parliament aimed at enhancing the status of families and children, and identifies forms of discrimination experienced by women.
Despite the significance of this institution, its constitutional mandate, the publication of its founding law in the Official Gazette in October 2017, and three successive government terms since the Parity and Anti-Discrimination Body has yet to become operational. This prolonged delay has implications not only for advancing women’s economic, social, and cultural rights but also for promoting women’s interests in forthcoming amendments to the Family Code.
In keeping with constitutional provisions, multiple institutions have adopted the principle of parity, and various laws governing different sectors have been revised accordingly. For example, the internal regulations of the House of Representatives, specifically Articles 75 and 76, establish a Thematic Working Group on Equality and Parity. Likewise, Article 26 of Organic Law No. 29.11 on political parties provides that, “Each political party shall work to expand and generalize the participation of women and youth in the country’s political development, and, to this end, shall endeavor to reach a one-third quota for women within its governing bodies at both national and regional levels, with the objective of progressively achieving the principle of parity between men and women[4].”
Additionally, the legislature has sought to boost women’s representation on local councils. Articles 110 and 134 of Organic Law No. 59.11 on the election of members of local councils stipulate that “the second portion of the candidate list is reserved exclusively for women candidates…”[5] Meanwhile, within municipal councils, Article 17 requires that “the list of deputy presidents must include at least one-third women.[6]” These provisions are echoed in Organic Law No. 14-111 on regions and Organic Law No. 112.14 on prefectures and provinces. Similarly, Law No. 03.77 and the Code of Ethics of the National Broadcasting and Television Company mandate the consolidation and realization of parity between men and women, both in the planning and content of broadcasts and in organizational governance and management.
Despite the aforementioned legislative efforts, a closer examination of women’s representation in institutional spheres reveals that Morocco remains far from achieving the principle of parity set out in the 2011 Constitution and subsequent laws. In the current government of 28 ministers, there are only seven women, amounting to merely one-third of the total cabinet posts—compared with four women in the previous government, which comprised 24 ministers after the 2019 reshuffle.
Qualitatively, women have for the first time secured a strategic ministerial portfolio in the current administration—economy and finance—while the other portfolios under their purview include national territory planning, housing, urban policy, tourism, handicrafts, social and solidarity-based economy, energy transition and sustainable development, social solidarity and inclusion, family affairs, and digital transition and administrative reform. However, these posts do not appear to hold the same strategic political weight as others within the government.
Turning to the 2021 legislative elections, 95 women won seats in the House of Representatives out of a total of 395 members, representing 24.3% of the legislature. Among these 95 women, only five entered Parliament outside the quota system—a disappointingly low figure. By comparison, in the 2016 legislative elections, 81 women were elected to the House of Representatives out of 395 seats, of whom 60 were elected via the national women’s list and 21 through local or youth lists. In the 2012 elections, 67 women entered Parliament, 60 via the national list and 7 through direct election outside the quota system.
In the Chamber of Counselors, 14 women secured seats in the 2021 elections out of a total of 120 members, representing 12%. Women accounted for 38.5% of regional council members, 26.64% of municipal council members, and 7.7% of professional chamber members. Three women were elected as mayors in three major cities—Rabat, Casablanca, and Marrakech—while another woman became President of the Guelmim-Oued Noun region (one of the Kingdom’s 12 regions) and was subsequently elected President of the Association of Regional Council Heads in Morocco.
Despite this degree of representation in elected institutions, the “Parity Now” coalition has strongly criticized the authorities and institutions responsible for women’s affairs. According to the coalition, “While the modernization of legislation pertaining to Moroccan women is undoubtedly significant, implementation and enforcement remain tenuous, mirroring the precarious circumstances faced by women in Morocco.[7]”
This situation primarily stems from the fact that the effectiveness of any law on women’s lived realities depends heavily on an environment that embraces equality as a core human value and fosters women’s economic, social, and political empowerment. Combatting discrimination against women thus demands addressing non-legal, cultural, and social dimensions, which encompass prevailing traditions and entrenched stereotypes. Consequently, socio-cultural factors and the broader social stratifications at play must be fully integrated as a transversal objective across all initiatives aimed at realizing genuine equality[8] and, ultimately, achieving the parity envisioned by the Constitution and national legislation.
What Are the Safeguards for Achieving Genuine Parity?
In recent years, significant efforts have been undertaken to bolster women’s representation in various decision-making and elected bodies. Nevertheless, despite amendments to legislation and the introduction of a range of affirmative action measures—including Parliament’s July 2021 enactment of mandatory quotas for women on the boards of publicly listed companies[9]—women’s participation remains limited, and the realization of parity continues to confront numerous barriers and challenges.
A telling indicator of these shortcomings is that institutions tasked with advocating parity, particularly political parties, often fail to uphold this principle in their candidate selections for legislative elections. Parties commonly rely on those most likely to secure victory—usually men rather than women—since both men and women voters continue to favor male candidates, reflecting prevailing stereotypes that cast men as leaders, providers, and authorities within the family. Under these assumptions, men are seen as better equipped, wiser, and more adept at steering institutions and making decisions. Consequently, genuine equality within the family, particularly in role distribution and decision-making, remains absent.[10]
Moreover, women’s prospects for attaining parity are weakened by the absence of effective support or training mechanisms within political parties themselves. While parties have been legally obligated to field female candidates in seats reserved for women, they have rarely prioritized parity in practice, offering few tangible measures or significant rhetoric in support of this goal—even though Article 26 of Organic Law No. 29.11 on political parties explicitly mandates its promotion. Likewise, women’s associations outside the party system have struggled to operationalize the principle of parity.
These obstacles to women’s political participation and the persistent decline in female representation in Morocco stem from more than political factors alone. The country has yet to improve indicators of women’s economic empowerment, despite its critical role in achieving gender equality and driving economic growth. Indeed, Morocco ranks 144th globally on the Gender Gap Index[11]. Additionally, women’s labor force participation dropped from 23.4% in 2010 to under 20% in 2021. [12]Government figures further indicate that while six out of every ten women complete primary education, only two out of ten enter the job market[13], and just one out of ten receives monetary compensation for her work.[14]
Deep-seated cultural norms also play a key role, typifying women as unqualified for political or economic engagement and therefore not suited to making pivotal, far-reaching decisions. According to the eighth Arab Barometer survey, 68% of male respondents believe men are better suited for political leadership than women, while 46% of female respondents share this view—statistics that underscore the endurance of stereotypical attitudes regarding women’s political competence and the ongoing lack of confidence in their capacity to assume decision-making and leadership roles.
Conclusion
Morocco’s gains in promoting parity remain extremely modest, and progress in this domain has been tentative at best. The outcomes to date fall short of the legislative ambitions that inspired the relevant reforms, thereby rendering parity a postponed aspiration for the time being. Entrenching this principle demands the eradication of all forms of discrimination targeting women in educational, social, media, and economic spheres—prior to addressing political contexts. It also requires concerted efforts from women and men to prevent parity and numerical representation from devolving into a form of patronage, as witnessed in multiple electoral cycles under the quota system, which ultimately prioritized quantitative targets over qualitative impact.
The most pressing challenge concerns the Parity and Anti-Discrimination Body, which, like several other constitutional councils mandated by the 2011 Constitution, remains dormant despite the enactment of laws establishing consultative constitutional institutions. Operationalizing this body stands among the principal requirements for injecting renewed political momentum into parity policies and expediting women’s empowerment across both political and economic spheres.
Footnotes
[1] Articles 19 and 164 of the 2011 Moroccan Constitution.
[2] Article 23 of Organic Law No. 27.11 concerning the House of Representatives.
[3] Law No. 79.14 regarding the Parity and Anti-Discrimination Body—established under Article 19 of the Moroccan Constitution—published in Official Gazette No. 6612 on October 12, 2017.
[4] Organic Law No. 29.11 on political parties.
[5] Royal Decree implementing Organic Law No. 59.11 on the election of members of territorial councils. For more details, see:
https://adala.justice.gov.ma/api/uploads/2024/06/28/المائةA9-1719564529956.pdf
[6] Royal Decree No. 1.15.85, issued on 20 Ramadan 1436 (July 7, 2015), implementing Organic Law No. 113.14 on municipalities.
[7] For further information, see: “‘Mounasafa Daba’: The Current Situation of Women Is Dire,” accessible at:
[8] For additional details, see the “Women’s Rights” report by the National Council for Human Rights, available at:
https://www.cndh.ma/ar/hqwq-almrat
[9] Law No. 19.20 amending and supplementing Law No. 17.95 on limited liability companies.
[10] For more information, see the Arab Barometer’s survey results on gender, available at:
[11] Response by the Head of Government to Members of Parliament regarding the main inquiry: “Empowering Moroccan Women and the Development Challenge.” For further details, see:
https://www.cg.gov.ma/ar/node/11333
[12] Ibid.
[13] In the eighth Arab Barometer survey on public opinion in Morocco, the main barriers cited for women’s entry into the labor market included lack of job opportunities, low wages, inadequate legal protections, insufficient flexibility in working hours, limited childcare options, inadequate transportation, and gaps in skills and education. Additionally, discrimination against women and societal disapproval of women’s employment were noted. Reported percentages ranged from 17% to 6%. For more information, see:
[14] Further response by the Head of Government on the main inquiry: “Empowering Moroccan Women and the Development Challenge.” For more details, see:
https://www.cg.gov.ma/ar/node/11333
Ikram Adnani
Ikram Adnani is a professor of political science and constitutional law at Ibn Zohr University in Agadir, Morocco. She is an active member in many think tanks. Her main academic research concerns are on women, youth, migration and minorities. She has published many articles in Moroccan and Arab journals.
