Morocco - Country Partnership Framework for the Period FY2026-2035 : Annex 6 - Expanding Women’s Economic Inclusion Annex

Overview & Synopsis

Morocco currently faces low female labor force participation, high unemployment among educated women, limited job creation in higher-productivity sectors, mobility and childcare constraints, gaps in financial inclusion and access to productive assets, and restrictive social norms that shape household decisions and labor market behavior. In the coming years, the World Bank Group (WBG) through the Country Partnership Framework (CPF) will focus on expanding women’s access to economic opportunities by enhancing firm productivity and competitiveness, improving the business environment, and increasing access to finance, while promoting digital and financial inclusion so women can participate more fully in the digital economy and in high-potential sectors such as agri-food value chains, aquaculture, and coastal tourism. The CPF will also address territorial and connectivity barriers by investing in infrastructure, urban transport, and safer, more inclusive local development to reduce spatial and mobility constraints and facilitate women’s access to labor markets across regions. Complementing these measures, the CPF will strengthen human capital and resilience by investing in social protection, health, and skills development to support the transition from education to employment, and by expanding access to quality childcare, including through greater private sector participation. Operationally, the WBG will deploy a coordinated, cross-sectoral approach anchored in the Maghreb Facility for Women’s Economic and Social Inclusion to identify gender entry points across projects, deepen gender analysis in diagnostics to inform policy dialogue and design, and leverage the Environmental and Social Framework to address gender-based violence risks, while building the evidence base and advancing reforms that remove binding constraints to women’s economic inclusion.