Gains and rights of the Sahrawi women in the Kingdom
MP Zahra Al Shakaf said on Wednesday that Sahrawi women benefited greatly from the achievements of outstanding achievements in the Kingdom in the field of integration of women, pointing out that the "Sahrawi woman benefited from these positive achievements as being the product of cultural and social environment without discrimination." .
The Council member who is also member of the Sahara for Peace Association commended the Kingdom’s efforts in the field of women's autonomy, including the Family Code in 2004 which marked a change "in the field of women's rights and ensuring appropriate conditions for their participation within the Moroccan institutions".
She added that the Kingdom dedicated a national list for women, and erased all the reservations about the discrimination against them adopting gender approach in order to ensure the emergence of women in economic and political fields.
Women MPs at the Moroccan Parliament
She said that all these factors enabled the Sahrawi women to take advantage of the economic development in the southern provinces of during the last decade characterized by "low poverty rate from 50 per cent in 1975 to less than 8 per cent in 2008."
According to Ms. Al Shakaf, while talking about the special position of Sahrawi women "without discrimination said that " that a number of Sahrawi women have benefited from access to education, including university.
Concerning the representation of women the MP praised the active participation of Sahrawi women in the series of decision-making, noting in this regard that the Moroccan parliament has five women parliamentarians belonging to the southern provinces, and that Sahrawi women hold nearly 20 per cent of the seats in professional chambers. They also participated in increasing the participation rate in the elections in the southern provinces of to 85 per cent.
She concluded that these figures highlight the strong participation of Sahrawi women in all elections, whether as electors or candidates, highlighting that it was not possible to achieve anything without the investments made by the Kingdom in the field of human development.
For her part, Ms. Meskoula Baamar, tackled in her speech before the fourth UN Commission on Tuesday the issue of humanitarian aid embezzlement destined to people detained in the Tindouf camps and the tireless efforts of the Kingdom to settle the artificial dispute over the Sahara.
Humanitarian Aid Embezzlemnt
The Council member confirmed that " in addition to campaigns of intimidation, repression and humiliation by the Polisario militias, the breaches affect more sensitive and more important field that touches the everyday life of the residents which is humanitarian assistance embezzlement"
In her intervention on the second day of discussions, Ms. Meskoula mentioned the humanitarian aid diversion carried out by the Polisario since the transmission of this assistance and its arrival to the Tindouf camps, denouncing these systematic practices.
According to Ms. Meskoula Baama, the humanitarian aid, which is destined for the civilian population and represents their only means of living, shrinks in size significantly embezzlement by a "mafia network made up of officials and executives of the separatist group who exploit the tragedy of the population of the Tindouf camps.»
Population Tragedy in Tindouf Camps
Ms. Meskoula who lived in the camps of shame before joining the homeland, questioned: "In this case, what remains for civilians who are left to face their fate?" .
She addressed those who are still suspicious about this embezzlement, urging them to visit the markets of cities in northern Mauritania and Mali, where Polisario members send an important part of aid "in exchange for funds earmarked for the purchase of weapons and increasing the size of the bank accounts of Mohammed Abdul Aziz and his friends."
She noted that Algeria "must take all necessary measures to prevent sending aid to other destinations."
News and events concerning Western Sahara issue/ Corcas