Hanan Hart

Morocco — The experiences of Souad Chabbana and Chaimaa Wahb present a model of women working in civil society organizations in Morocco. Their work combines education on equality with advocacy for women’s rights, drawing on both solid experience and youthful enthusiasm. As March 8 approaches, their presence stands out as part of a broader movement seeking to promote equality through long-term cultural and educational change—beginning in classrooms and extending to society as a whole. Together, they represent a comprehensive female model that plants the values of justice and equality from childhood to public life.

Education as a Gateway to Equality

Since 1998, Souad Chabbana has accumulated extensive experience in women’s advocacy through several associations. After retiring in 2017 from her job as an accountant, she chose to continue her commitment in a different capacity. She joined the Challenge Association for Equality and Citizenship as an educational coordinator, placing her experience at the service of value-based education within schools.

Her day begins early as she visits schools to coordinate with administrators and organize awareness sessions in classrooms. She does not rely on theoretical discourse or complex language; instead, she uses simplicity as a gateway to dialogue. She gives children space to think and allows them to discover meaning on their own until they reach a conclusion that appears simple yet profound: equality essentially means “the same for everyone”—that everyone should be treated equally without discrimination.

Inside classrooms, discussions revolve around everyday life: relationships between brothers and sisters, between girls and boys, the distribution of roles within the family, and who gets to choose first or who is asked to wait.

Souad understands that stereotypes are not always imposed loudly; they often slip quietly through habits and common expressions. Therefore, she addresses them with the same calm dialogue. She explains:
“We do not teach equality as a lesson; we help children discover it themselves.”

In her view, children are naturally capable of understanding the meaning of justice, but they need guidance to transform this understanding into lasting awareness and daily behavior. This awareness appears in small transformations: a boy sharing toys with his sister, or a girl confidently declaring that she can dream of any profession she wants. These details may seem ordinary, but in her perspective they represent seeds of sustainable change.

Souad also supports single mothers in coordination with specialized associations such as “Drop of Milk” Association, providing social support and legal guidance. This assistance includes accompanying them to courts to complete procedures for registering their children in the civil registry, preventing future difficulties—particularly in accessing education, since the absence of official documents can deprive a child of their fundamental right to schooling.

From Personal Experience to Defending Women’s Rights

Within the same association, Chaimaa Wahb works on a complementary axis. She joined in 2017, motivated by a personal experience in which she witnessed the effects of injustice and discrimination against women in her environment—especially her mother. That experience became a driving force that transformed pain into a practical commitment to defending women’s rights.

Her role goes beyond awareness activities; it includes listening to women, providing legal guidance, accompanying them to hospitals, and following up on legal procedures.

Regarding the challenges faced by women’s rights organizations in Moroccan society, she explains that such work is often misunderstood as a confrontation with men. However, the real objective is to establish values of justice and equality in everyday life—within families, schools, and the broader community.

She adds:
“We aim to empower women and equip them with knowledge about their rights, while emphasizing that the goal is not to create confrontation between women and men, but to promote justice throughout society.”

Chaimaa also participates in educational activities in schools through workshops, short films, and group discussions. She says:
“Our goal is for children, through their daily experiences, to understand that justice and fairness should be part of their lives—whether at school or at home.”

Their work also extends to following up with children facing difficulties within their families and helping them deal with daily situations in a fair way without feeling marginalized or wronged. For her, change begins with recognizing rights and creating safe spaces that allow women and children to express themselves and demand what they deserve.

She explains:
“Sometimes children come and share what is happening in their homes or tell us about daily situations. Through the workshops, we try to teach them how to handle these situations in a fair way, so that none of them feels injustice or exclusion.”

She notes that this kind of work rarely appears in the media, yet it has a deep impact, planting seeds of critical thinking and equality from an early age. She emphasizes that the women working in the association form a first line of defense for women’s rights and equality within society.

“We want women and girls to know that their rights are not simply given—they are claimed. If they do not speak up, no change will happen. Our role is to create spaces that allow them to recognize their rights and defend them.”

Chaimaa concludes by stressing that the association’s doors are open to everyone. The aim is not merely to provide ready-made solutions or specific legal procedures, but to empower women, youth, and children to adopt the values of citizenship and equality in their daily lives through learning, participation, and continuous awareness.

Beyond March 8

In an international context that highlights the importance of early education in reducing gender gaps, initiatives like these gain significance beyond their geographical boundaries. International reports indicate that instilling equality values at an early age contributes to reshaping the social perceptions that later fuel discrimination.

From this perspective, the work of Chaimaa Wahb and Souad Chabbana is not merely a limited civil society activity within Morocco. Rather, it forms part of a broader global effort connected to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly the goal related to gender equality. Cultural and social change is not achieved solely through legal texts; it begins with reshaping awareness from childhood through education and daily awareness within schools and communities.