Advancing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in the MENA Region: Morocco's Leadership and the Path Forward

In 2025, we celebrated two important anniversaries in the history of global women's rights – the 25th anniversary of the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. These important anniversaries should serve as a moment of reflection on both the progress made in advancing the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda as well as the continuing challenges facing states in implementing it, especially in areas where there is ongoing conflict or political instability.

The MENA region is a particularly challenging area for implementing the WPS agenda. This region has seen some of the most enduring conflicts in the world, including Syria, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, and Palestine. Additionally, the conflicts happening in the MENA region have resulted in a high number of civilian casualties, especially among women and girls. According to UN Women, there were more than 600 million women and girls living in conflict-affected areas worldwide in 2023, with significant numbers in the MENA region. Between 2022 and 2023, for example, the number of women killed during conflicts has increased by double and verified cases of sexual violence related to conflict were increased by 50 percent.

In this context, Morocco has become a strong proponent of the WPS agenda in the MENA region. This country, located in the Arab, African, and Mediterranean regions, has historically contributed to United Nations peacekeeping operations. As of March 2022, Morocco officially established a National Action Plan for the implementation of UNSCR 1325, and the country extended its commitment to continue to promote the WPS agenda to 2026. This article looks at how Morocco has incorporated the WPS agenda into its national policies and provides a broader regional context for identifying opportunities to support its continued growth and development.

1. The State of the WPS Agenda in the MENA Region

While progress has been made through the gradual adoption of the WPS framework throughout the MENA, the level of implementation varies across the region. There are currently eight MENA countries that have developed National Action Plans (NAP) in compliance with UNSCR 1325. Iraq was the first MENA nation to adopt its own National Adaptation Plan for WPS, doing so in 2014; subsequently, Palestine (2017), Jordan and Tunisia (2018), Lebanon (2019), UAE and Morocco (2021-2022) and Yemen adopted similar documents. The increasing number of NAPs has signaled a growing recognition of the need to address gender dimensions in peace and security throughout the region

Table 1: National Action Plans on UNSCR 1325 in the MENA Region

Source: WILPF 1325 National Action Plans Database; UN Women Arab States (2025)

Despite these strengths, gender equality continues to represent a major challenge in the MENA region. The Global Gender Gap Report published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2024 indicates that MENA has the lowest overall gender parity score of any of the regions in the world (61.7%). In 2006, the MENA region's gender parity score was 57.8%, meaning that over a 3.9 percentage point increase occurred over a period of time, however, the growth continues to be slow especially regarding Economic Participation (43.1% parity) and Political Empowerment (11.7% parity). Conversely, Educational Attainment (97.2% parity) is relatively high in the MENA region compared to other areas.

2. Morocco's National Action Plan: Structure and Priorities

In March of 2022, Morocco inaugurated its first National Action Plan (NAP) for Women, Peace and Security (WPS) with the assistance of UN Women; this plan was showcased during the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly. At September's 80th session of the UNGA, the NAP was renewed through 2026 during an event attended by multiple Foreign Ministers and the Executive Director of UN Women.

Moroccan's National Action Plan is comprised of three interconnected pillars which are:

(1). Preventive Diplomacy, Mediation, and Peacekeeping: Supporting women’s involvement in preventing and resolving conflicts and utilizing Morocco’s long-standing history as a troop-contributing nation.

(2). Encouragement for a Culture of Peace and Equality: Eliminating Violence against Women and Girls and promoting gender-responsive solutions for security issues.

(3). Women’s Economic Participation: Addressing socioeconomic disparities that put women in circumstances where they are insecure and do not have the opportunity to lead.

Morocco has recognized through this three-pillar approach to the WPS agenda that achieving long-term and sustainable peace will require addressing the root causes of conflict, including economic inequities, rather than simply relying on "militarization" as a means of achieving those objectives.

3. Morocco's Contributions to UN Peacekeeping

Since the 1960s, Morocco has been a consistent and long-term supporter of UN peacekeeping missions and has been one of the countries that have contributed the most to UN peacekeeping operations. As of March 2025, Morocco is ranked 9th globally in terms of contributing troops to UN peacekeeping missions, with around 1,710 Moroccan personnel deployed on a number of different peacekeeping operations, including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan.

Table 2: Morocco's UN Peacekeeping Contributions (2025)

Source: UN Peacekeeping; Morocco World News; SecurityWomen (2025)

Women in Morocco comprise about three percent of military personnel deployed on peacekeeping missions. However, NAP shows Moroccan government support to increasing women’s involvement to reflect UN Secretary General's Policy on Gender Equality for Military Peacekeepers (2018-2028). Furthermore, since 2013, Female Officers can now attend advanced levels of training, hold positions within Operational management and Preparation type places thus allowing them create and build better Preparedness Plans leading to better opportunities for women to get into Command Roles.

4. Gender Indicators and Regional Comparisons

Morocco has made some headway towards achieving gender equality; however, it does not have the same degree of success for all aspects. The gender equality index for North African nations shows a very mixed bag for Morocco when compared to its counterparts. The 2024 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Gender Index shows Morocco is ranked 84th worldwide out of 139 countries, with Morocco leading all countries in the Maghreb Region in rank; followed closely by Tunisia (85th), Algeria (88th), and Mauritania (126th). Furthermore, in the larger MENA region, Morocco is fourth overall behind the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. When comparing some of the key indicators for countries in North Africa, the political representation, economic participation, and violence towards women are among the most starkly different.

Table 3: Gender Equality Indicators - Morocco and Select MENA Countries

The number of female representatives in the Moroccan political system has grown by a large margin since last year, reaching 24.3% of all representatives in the House of Representatives as of 2021 after the end of the general election cycle. This was an increase of 3.8 percentage points, compared to only 12% of female candidates in 2015. New electoral laws were created in 2021 that helped to increase the number of women who ran for office to 27%. Yet still many difficulties face female politicians, including the inability of women elected under national list quotas to serve more than one term and that women hold a meager 13% of ministerial positions in Morocco's government.

5. Challenges and Opportunities

5.1 Persistent Structural Challenges

Morocco, like many countries in the Middle East and North Africa, is struggling with significant structural issues surrounding the WPS agenda, even as it achieves normative progress.

• Economic exclusion: Women's participation in the labor market is very low at 25.5% and has declined from 27% in 2010 to 23% of the total workforce.
• Violence against women: The incidence of violence against women in Morocco is 62.8%, which is much higher than the global average, despite having Law 103-13, which prohibits violence against women, enacted in 2018.
• Urban versus rural access issues: Access to healthcare, education and economic opportunities is disparate between rural and urban areas, with many rural areas lacking the same access to these resources.
• Limitations of the Family Code: The Moudawana is undergoing reform, however, there are still large gaps in providing legal support to women in Morocco, which restricts their autonomy and rights.

5.2 Opportunities for Strengthening Implementation

There are several factors that give Morocco a unique advantage when it comes to moving toward the advancement of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda.

• Constitutional provisions: Gender equality is enshrined in the Constitution of Morocco as a form of protection for women (Article 19), and provides an excellent basis for additional reforms to occur.
•  Regional Leadership: By virtue of its active participation in numerous African and Mediterranean women's mediation organizations, Morocco is in a strong position to learn from their experiences and build coalitions with those organizations.
• Partnership with International Organizations: Morocco collaborates with the European Union, UN Women and other partners which provide both technical assistance and financial resources for the National Action Plan to implement the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
•  Changes to Corporate Governance: The recent change to Moroccan law mandating that 30% of corporate boards must include female members by 2024, and 40% by 2027 reflects a greater commitment to achieving gender parity in the workplace.

6. Recommendations

The following recommendations address how to improve the implementation of the WPS agenda in Morocco and across the MENA region based on the analysis provided above:

• Adopt a Human Security Perspective: The definition of security should move beyond a solely military focus to include multiple aspects of human security, including economic security, availability of essential services (e.g. water, education, healthcare), and the ability to adapt to climate change impacts.
• Localize The Implementation of the NAP: Each NAP should include clearly defined action plans with specific objectives that address the unique needs of women living in rural, peripheral and marginalized communities.
• Increase Government Funding for The WPS Agenda: Government budgets must have specific funding lines to support the successful implementation of the actions set out in the NAP and should provide an accessible mechanism for monitoring and assessing how effectively funds are allocated.
• Strengthen Civil Society Engagement in Monitoring and Evaluating The NAP: NAP monitoring and evaluation processes should consider establishing formalized mechanisms for facilitating civil society involvement to support local and national NGOs in the implementation of the WPS agenda and encourage engagement from all sectors of the community.
• Promote Regional Cooperation: Establishing formal mechanisms to facilitate South-South exchange of information among MENA countries that have prepared NAPs will create a space for sharing lessons learned and best practices.

Conclusion

The WPS agenda continues to be critical for creating equitable and inclusive societies in many parts of the world, especially in regions experiencing instability caused by conflict. The National Action Plan adopted and implemented by Morocco has demonstrated a strong commitment to this agenda and positions Morocco as a leader in the region on this important issue. The comprehensive three-pillar structure of the Moroccan NAP of diplomacy, peace culture, and women’s economic participation illustrates that Sustainable Peace is achieved through addressing the root causes of inequality.

There is currently a significant difference between the recognition of the WPS agenda through policy statements and the reality of women's lives in Morocco and the MENA region, as evidenced by the findings of this article. Implementing the WPS agenda to improve the lives of women in Morocco requires sustained political will, dedicated resources, and genuine partnerships with Civil Society, particularly those organizations working at the grassroots level. The 25th anniversary of Resolution 1325 would be a fitting opportunity to both celebrate what has been achieved and renew our commitment towards the vision that women will be considered key contributors to the establishment of sustainable peace.