Moroccan 'mourchidates,' or women religious counselors, travel to Washington & New York for interfaith dialogue on women's empowerment with religious, community, & government leaders

WASHINGTON, May 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This coming week, a delegation of mourchidates, women religious counselors from Morocco, will travel to the U.S. to highlight a revolutionary program that has begun training and certifying a select group of women every year to become mourchidates, who work alongside imams (traditional male religious leaders in Islam) to help empower and elevate the status of women throughout society, and promote a moderate, tolerant Islam.

During their stay, the mourchidates will participate in interfaith roundtables with American Jewish, Christian, and Muslim leaders to discuss their experiences and the role of women religious leaders and faith-based community partnerships in strengthening families and interfaith understanding. They will also meet with UN and U.S. Administration officials, Members of Congress, and attend religious services at mosques, synagogues, and churches.

Interfaith roundtables scheduled for U.S. visit:

-- Wed, May 20, "Our Families, Our Faiths, & Our Futures," Washington, D.C.

-- Thu, May 21, "Women's Spiritual Voices: Crossing Continents, Finding Common Ground," New York

Visiting mourchidates include:

-- Fatima Zahra Salhi, a 2006 graduate of the mourchidate program who coordinates several community health programs in Morocco, including blood donation drives and sexually transmitted diseases awareness campaigns for teens;

-- Nezha Nassi, a mourchidate who works at women's detention centers in Rabat/Sale, Morocco, organizing social activities and religious ceremonies for prisoners, and providing much-needed counseling and support for recently released women seeking to reintegrate into society; and

-- Ilham Chafik, a mourchidate and Ph.D. in Arabic linguistics whose outreach focuses on the blind for whom she conducts workshops on Islam and Qur'anic study and recitations at Mohammed VI Institute for the Education and Training for the Blind.

The Mourchidate program

Begun in 2006, the Mourchidate program is part of far-reaching initiatives by King Mohammed VI to elevate the status of women, advance gender equality, and promote Morocco's tolerant, moderate Islam. Since the program's inception, Morocco's Ministry of Islamic Affairs selects 50 highly qualified women annually from more than 1,000 applicants to undergo 45 weeks of rigorous course-work in more than 30 subject areas, including religion, communications, history, geography, law, computer science, and psychology. Once training is complete, the mourchidates, alongside their male counterpart imams, are assigned to Morocco's 40,000+ mosques. It is not uncommon for a mourchidate to serve 60+ mosques in her assigned community, providing counsel to women on sensitive topics such as family planning, domestic abuse, child-rearing, and women's legal rights. The initiative has been so successful Morocco plans to expand it with more participants in future years.

In addition, Morocco's mourchidate program was recently hailed as "pioneering" by the U.S. State Department in its annual report to Congress on international counterterrorism, citing its role in Morocco's broad approach to promote tolerant, moderate Islam and combat religious extremism.

**For more information about the delegation's activities or to schedule media interviews, please contact Calvin Dark at (202) 309-0372 or cdark@moroccanamericancenter.com.

The Moroccan American Cultural Center (MACC) is a not-for-profit 501 c(3) organization which works to build strengthen cultural and educational ties between Morocco and the U.S. through its support of programs that enhance bilateral relations and cooperation. Created in 2003 as an initiative of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, MACC has undertaken a range of projects which includee hosting events that celebrate and share the rich diversity of Moroccan culture, and supporting programs that enhance cultural and educational ties between the U.S. and Morocco as well as across the Maghreb. For more information, go to www.moroccanamericanculture.org.

SOURCE The Moroccan American Cultural Center

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