Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Distinguished representative of the Government of Morocco, Mr. Hamid Belazri,

Distinguished representative of AECID, Mr. Vicente Ortega-Camara, 

Distinguished women leaders,

Esteemed facilitators,

Dear colleagues,

I am honored and delighted to welcome you today -on behalf of the United Nations Development Programme in Morocco- to the Women’s Leadership Academy in the Digital Age, here in the vibrant city of Casablanca!

Over the next three days, twenty women, from different walks of life and across the generations, are coming together to learn, to exchange, to reflect and to strengthen their capacity to lead in a world that is changing rapidly.

This edition does not begin with a blank page. It builds on a global journey that started in 2023 and continued through the global editions of the Women’s Leadership Academy -in Madrid, Doha and Marrakech.

The Marrakech edition, last December, brought together women leaders from around the world, united by a shared commitment: to strengthen women’s leadership in a time marked by complexity, digital transformation and new forms of participation. What makes this edition particularly powerful is the role of transmission. Some of the Moroccan women who participated in the global Academy in Marrakech return today not only as alumnae, but as facilitators. They come back with a new role: to share what they received, to adapt the learning to the Moroccan context, and to lead sessions that they have helped design themselves.

Read more at: https://www.undp.org/fr/morocco/discours/opening-remarks-noella-richard-womens-leadership-academy-digital-era