A national symposium on women's participation in the management of local affairs is being held this Friday in Fès, with the participation of researchers, elected officials and civil society activists. This symposium, organised by the Union of Fès-Medina associations, aims to deepen the dialogue between the various political, social and economic partners on the best ways to encourage female leadership and strengthen the involvement of women in the management of public affairs. On the programme for this meeting, which is part of the "Active Women for Change" project, is the presentation of several reports and studies on how to strengthen the political capacities of women, through, among other things, a modernisation of the legal arsenal, to allow them to contribute to the development process of their country and to contribute actively to local and national political life. The platform of this symposium stresses that the participation of women in the management of local affairs constitutes an essential basis for the consolidation of the democratic process in Morocco, as it testifies to the interest given by Morocco to strengthening the place of women in the decision-making process at the local and national levels with a view to establishing the principle of parity provided for by the 2011 Constitution. The active participation of women in local political life constitutes a challenge that society must meet to allow local authorities to have frameworks and skills capable of thinking and implementing sustainable development, adds the same source, specifying that strengthening the capacities of women in the management of local affairs is one of the foundations of democracy and an indicator of the degree of development achieved. For the organisers, achieving these objectives requires a great deal of awareness-raising on the principles of equality and parity as well as support for elected women in the exercise of their functions within local authorities, through their election to councils and various commissions at the local, provincial or regional levels. This symposium comes in application of the recommendations of the 6th regional conference for the benefit of elected women and senior female executives of local authorities which was held last October in Fès, under the banner: "Promoting female leadership at the level of Moroccan local authorities". The conference, which saw the participation of nearly 300 women (elected officials, senior executives of local authorities in this region), looked at several axes, in particular the missions and assets of the elected woman, the possibilities for improving female leadership and encouraging networking between senior female executives in local authorities, with a view to enriching their experiences and know-how, as well as the implementation of a mobilisation strategy for better representation of women during the next local and regional elections.