Souad Dibi is a Moroccan

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

, president of the association El Khir (in English : charity) based in

Essaouira Essaouira ( ; ), known until the 1960s as Mogador (, or ), is a port city in the western Moroccan region of Marrakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic coast. It has 77,966 inhabitants as of 2014. The foundation of the city of Essaouira was the work of t ...

, and whose object is to provide economic independence to women by promoting their professional integration. Each year more than one hundred women follow an education program designed to provide them with the skills in a domain generating revenues (cooking, care, room service). This region of the Moroccan Atlantic coast is a tourist area, but also demonstrates for young people and women a poverty rate of 30% (National Initiative for human development).

Biography

Souad Dibi was born in

El Jadida El Jadida (, ) is a major port city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, located south of the city of Casablanca, in the province of El Jadida and the region of Casablanca-Settat. It has a population of 170,956 as of 2023. The fortified city, b ...

, near

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

, and married a carpenter from the Moroccan coast. She was a seamstress before setting up her association. Dibi founded El Khir in 1998 for the

women abandoned and without any resources for living. She was invited to the SIGEF (Social Innovation and Global Ethics Forum) organized by Horyou in 2015 in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. An interim agency, MS INTERIM puts women who benefited from the associative qualifying courses in touch with professionals looking for skilled employees. In March 2015 for the

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

she published ''Un art qui fait vivre'', a book of Moroccan cooking created within the association, telling the story of a group of women who managed to change their lives thanks to their mastering of culinary skills.

El Khir

Founded by Dibi in 1998, El Khiris an Essaouira-based NGO that promotes women's rights through legal support, psychological support, professional integration, and fight against violence. Each year, due to this association's work, dozens of women obtain professional training and can benefit from financial autonomy. Souad Dibi has summarized the situation faced by many in Morocco: “many women experience dramatic situations within their families: abandonment, mistreatment, dependence on their husbands. We help them understand that the best way to assert themselves is to achieve autonomy.”

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dibi, Souad Living people Moroccan feminists People from Essaouira Year of birth missing (living people)