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.

This is a powerful expression of leadership. Because leading is not only moving forward yourself; it is opening the way for others. At its best, leadership multiplies: when we help another woman come into her own, we set in motion everything she will go on to build, and everyone she will, in turn, raise. It is about transforming knowledge into shared capacity, ensuring that what is learned does not remain within one person, one cohort or one moment, but becomes part of a wider movement; and this is the spirit of this Academy.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We meet at a decisive moment.

Digital transformation is reshaping how institutions function, how citizens participate, how information circulates, and how decisions are made. Artificial intelligence and emerging technologies are opening real possibilities for development -more accessible services, more responsive institutions, more inclusive participation.

But technology does not automatically create inclusion.

It can open doors, and it can just as easily reproduce old inequalities -exposing women to harassment, disinformation, attacks on their privacy, and deliberate attempts to silence their participation.

This is why women’s leadership in the digital age is not a secondary issue. It is central to the future of governance, democracy, development and human rights.

I also would like to highlight something even more fundamental: we do not seek women’s full participation only because it makes our economies stronger or our institutions wiser -though it does both. We seek it because it is a right. A woman’s equal voice in the decisions that shape her life is not a favor to be granted, nor a benefit to be justified by its returns. It is hers, first and foremost, by right -and our task is to make that right real.

The digital space is not neutral. It reflects the values and power relations of those who design it, regulate it and govern it. If women are present only as users, and not as decision-makers, creators, regulators and leaders, the promise of digital transformation will never be fully realized.

At UNDP, our conviction is clear: women must not only adapt to the digital future, they must help shape it. That means access to digital skills; artificial intelligence that is ethical and inclusive, with bias confronted and accountability built in; digital public services that serve everyone; and online spaces where women’s rights and dignity are protected, and where they can exercise influence and lead change.

Less than two weeks ago, UNDP adopted its new Gender Equality Strategy for 2026-2029. It marks a real shift in how we work: gender equality is no longer approached as a side agenda, but as a systemic accelerator of development -embedded in the economic, political and environmental decisions that shape people’s lives. It speaks directly to our moment, naming the risk that the digital and artificial intelligence transition may deepen old inequalities, and the rise of technology-facilitated violence against women. And it rests on a principle I find quietly powerful: that lasting progress is built through internal transformation, that institutions, like people, change from within. That is also what this Academy asks of each of us.

This Academy responds to that ambition.

Under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Morocco has placed human development, modernization and inclusion at the heart of its national priorities. In this context, the country’s digital transformation offers an important opportunity to strengthen participation, improve public services and expand access to opportunities. The quality of transformation will depend on who participates in it; it will depend on who has the skills, the confidence, the networks and the decision-making power to shape it. This is why this Academy matters.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I wish to express my profound gratitude to the Kingdom of Morocco and to the Ministry in charge of Relations with Parliament for their presence and interest.

I also wish to express our deep gratitude to the team of the UNDP Regional Bureau for the Arab States, whose support has made this edition possible.

My appreciation also goes to all partners and experts who will lead these sessions, and to the national facilitators who, in passing on what they received in Marrakech, embody the very continuity of this initiative.

I also wish to extend our sincere thanks to the Coordinator of AECID in Morocco, and to the Kingdom of Spain, for the strong and lasting partnership it sustains with UNDP, and for its steadfast confidence in the potential, the capacities and the leadership of women.

Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank you, dear women leaders.

Your very presence here reflects your commitment to learning, to leading and to contributing to a more inclusive future.

I would like to conclude on a more personal note. Much of my path to this room ran through people the world too easily overlooks. I spent years around the world alongside changemakers -in particular young changemakers- determined to change their societies: young parliamentarians, innovators, climate activists, peacebuilders. So often they were told they were too young, too far from power to matter, and, so often, they proved the exact opposite. That same conviction led me to pioneer UNDP’s first global initiative on gender equality in public administration, built on the belief that women must not only be present in the institutions that govern our lives and deliver services, but must also shape the decisions taken within them. Across all of it, the same lessons held: that talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not; that meaningful participation is not a quiet seat at the table, but a voice that shapes the decision; and that leadership flows in all directions -those we set out to guide are so often the ones who end up teaching us. 

No one rises alone… Again and again, I have watched what happens when someone with some power chooses to open a door -a young human rights defender trusted with a real seat at the table; a young female entrepreneur vouched for in a room she had not yet been allowed to enter- and then the way each of them, once inside, transforms the room itself. I believe that this is the heart of mentorship: not waiting until a woman has proven everything but recognizing her capacity early and using your own standing to make room for hers. It is exactly what I hope each of you will, in turn, offer the women who come after you, especially the youngest, and those still pushed to the margins.

Over our time together, I encourage you to make this Academy your own. Ask questions. Share your experiences. Challenge assumptions. Build connections. Learn from one another. And most importantly, think about what you will do after these three days.

Because the true value of this Academy will not be measured only by what happens in this room. It will be measured by what you take back to your institutions, your communities, your organizations and your territories. It will be measured by the initiatives you will strengthen, the conversations you will open, the decisions you will influence, and the women and men you will support in turn.

Marhabanbikoum, welcome to each and everyone! I wish you three days of meaningful learning, honest exchange, strong connections and renewed confidence. 

Thank you!