US Lauds Morocco’s Efforts to Advance Women’s Empowerment

Students attend a class at Mohammed VI Institute for training Imams in Rabat, Morocco April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
Students attend a class at Mohammed VI Institute for training Imams in Rabat, Morocco April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
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US Lauds Morocco’s Efforts to Advance Women’s Empowerment

Students attend a class at Mohammed VI Institute for training Imams in Rabat, Morocco April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
Students attend a class at Mohammed VI Institute for training Imams in Rabat, Morocco April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal

The United States and Morocco have announced that they would continue their longstanding partnership to further shared objectives.

“Morocco and the United States agreed to work closely together to enhance their strategic partnership to advance women's economic empowerment and entrepreneurship,” said a joint statement following a three-day official visit to Morocco by the US president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump.

The statement said that she commended Morocco’s reform process, especially on the issue of advancing women’s rights and promoting their economic empowerment through the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative (W-GDP).

It added that the US and Morocco “reiterate their support for legal reforms to advance women's ability to work in the same jobs and sectors as men, and to manage land in the same way as men.”

The US delegation reiterated Washington’s “appreciation to the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI on critical issues such as peace and security in the Middle East, as well as to ensure peace, stability and development for Africa.”



UN Rights Chief ‘Gravely Concerned’ by Lebanon Escalation

Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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UN Rights Chief ‘Gravely Concerned’ by Lebanon Escalation

Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

The UN rights chief on Tuesday voiced concern about the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon, where his office said nearly 100 people had been reported killed by Israeli airstrikes in recent days, including women, children and medics.

Israel has been locked in fighting with Lebanese armed group Hezbollah since Oct. 2023, and fighting has escalated dramatically since late September of this year.

"UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk is gravely concerned by the escalation in Lebanon with at least 97 people reportedly killed in Israeli airstrikes between the 22nd and 24th of November," Jeremy Laurence, a spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, told a Geneva press briefing.

He said that at least seven paramedics had been reported killed in three Israeli strikes in the south of Lebanon on Nov. 22-23, adding to 226 healthcare worker deaths since Oct. 7, 2023. He did not specify how many of the recent deaths had been verified by UN human rights monitors.

Israel says it targets military capabilities in Lebanon and Gaza and takes steps to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians. It accuses Hezbollah, like Hamas, of hiding among civilians, which they deny.