Gender disparities were at the heart of a study on the socio-demographic profile of the Al Haouz earthquake-affected area published by the High Commission for Planning (HCP) after it conducted a thorough analysis of the demographic and socioeconomic conditions of the region to identify current disparities among the nearly 3 million residents.
There were 475.928 homes in the area with a total population of almost 2.402 million people in 2014. Yet, the estimated population of the entire impacted area on the eve of the earthquake was 2.608.115, up 9% from the 2014 estimate, living in 578.280 homes with an average size of about 4.5 persons.
The report underlined that the impacted Marrakech prefecture municipalities have a low rate of illiteracy (32.4%), which is comparable to the national average.
However, in these locations, women are impacted by illiteracy more than males are, particularly in the provinces of Azilal and Chichaoua where rates surpass 60%.
44.4% of the population of the disaster area has no level of education, 5% have a preschool level, 32.4% have a primary school level, 10.3% have a secondary college level, 5.2% have the qualifying secondary level, and only 2.7% have the higher level, unveiled HCP.
The region’s activity rate notices a large genre disparity, with 76.2% of men and only 16.5% of women. The notable discrepancy highlights obstacles faced by women in these areas when it comes to their involvement in the economy.
The region’s overall rate of activity is 45.6%. While this percentage is just below Morocco’s 47.6% national average, it should be remembered that the tragedy region includes provinces with different economic activity levels, which helps to explain the difference.
For instance, in the Chichaoua province, the disparity between the rates of activity for men and women in rural regions is approximately 73.2 points, whereas in urban areas it is just 59 points.
This discrepancy emphasizes how critical it is to address the particular obstacles women encounter in the job, such as those related to education, cultural standards, and career prospects.
Disaster-stricken urban areas typically have a higher proportion of people of working age (15 to 59 years) than disaster-stricken rural areas, according to a comparison of the residential paces in the region conducted by HCP. This finding may be related to the attraction of urban centers for job and economic opportunities.