Promoting gender equality: Key recommendations from the HCP

The High Commission for Planning (HCP) recently released a study outlining a series of recommendations aimed at guiding policymakers, technical and financial partners, and civil society actors in structurally enhancing gender equality within public policies and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

These recommendations are organized around four main pillars, emphasizing the need for a holistic, integrated, and sustained approach to achieving more inclusive and equitable development. The HCP's study on gender inequalities, conducted in partnership with UN Women and supported financially by the European Union (EU), underscores these critical insights.

Strengthening advocacy for gender equality in public policies

To promote gender equality effectively, the study calls for intensified advocacy efforts. This includes:

- Supporting advocacy through targeted campaigns that leverage international success stories and data-driven evidence.

- Expanding and fortifying partnerships with international agencies—most notably UN Women—to ensure ongoing technical and financial support.

- Establishing partnerships aimed at financing projects that incorporate gender equality, especially in sectors such as education and women's economic empowerment.

Ensuring regular data collection and monitoring of gender indicators

The HCP highlights the necessity for systematic and regular data collection to monitor gender equality robustly. Key actions include:

Conducting national surveys, such as the National Household Living Standards Survey (ENNVM) and the National Employment Survey (ENE), at specified intervals to provide updated and comparable data.

Integrating systematic gender modules in all national surveys to capture precise information on women's access to education, labor market participation, reproductive health, and land rights, particularly in rural areas.

- Disaggregating data by sex, age, location (urban/rural), and socio-economic status to provide a nuanced understanding of disparities.

- Employing longitudinal approaches to track the same individuals over multiple years, allowing for an in-depth analysis of social dynamics.

- Utilizing new data collection technologies, especially in hard-to-reach rural areas, to overcome the limitations of traditional methods.

- Developing new gender-sensitive indicators that are currently under-documented, which will better assess women's situations across various domains, including their participation in decision-making bodies, access to economic resources, physical and social security, and access to digital technologies.

Promoting gender-sensitive budgeting

The report asserts that inclusive budgeting is essential for significantly impacting gender equality through public policies. Recommendations include:

- Each ministry should allocate specific funds for concrete actions aimed at reducing gender disparities.

- Reserving a substantial portion of resources for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of gender-sensitive data to ensure the effectiveness of this approach.

- Establishing sustainable financing for studies and surveys, with mechanisms to incorporate gender impact analysis into financial legislation.

Implementing monitoring of interconnections between the SDGs and progress made

The HCP suggests employing innovative methodological approaches to assess the synergies and interconnections between public policies concerning the SDGs. This involves:

- Developing advanced monitoring models and tools to capture the interactions between goals, rather than relying solely on micro-econometric tools.

- Creating interactive dashboards to provide policymakers and citizens with a comprehensive overview of progress made regarding the SDGs and the interconnections across key areas such as education, employment, health, and energy.

- Systematically and transversally integrating gender equality into every phase of planning, implementation, and evaluation of public policies.

The HCP's recommendations present a strategic framework for enhancing gender equality in Morocco. By adopting these measures, stakeholders can foster a more equitable society, paving the way for sustainable development aligned with the SDGs.