We had the opportunity to visit the city councils of Tetuan and Tanger and took part in the closing activities of the COHESIMED project on urbanism and gender. This mission has been very rich and useful to strengthen the links with our city members and make projects advance, and close, in a smooth way.

A first meeting on July 14, was held with Mme Amina Ben Abdelouahab, vice-mayor of Tetuan, to discuss the results of the COHESIMED Project, and precisely to validate the Gender Perspective Diagnosis of the Neighbourhood of Nakatta, in the outskirts of the city. The discussion counted on the participation of different departments of the municipality, including social affairs and international relations. The municipality acknowledged the urgency to tackle some of the needs identified by the diagnosis, namely those concerning the accessibility to basic services and equipment, the quality of spaces to rest and play or the harassment suffered by the girls in certain areas of the neighbourhood. 

This first encounter was then followed by a technical exchange of knowledge with the city council of Barcelona, with Laura Pérez, vice-mayor for Social Rights, Global Justice, Feminism and LGTBI, Sonia Ruiz, Director of Gender policies, and Blai Martí Plademunt, officer on gender equality. The partners of the COHESIMED project, with Sara Ruiz from Col.lectiu Punt 6 with the support of Nadia Naïm from Union d’Action Féministe, introduced the results and main outcomes of the project. The exchanges and interventions from the city council room in Tétouan were rich and insightful, find more about this session here (Spanish and Arabic, without subtitles). 

On Friday 16 July, MedCities participated at the closing workshop held in the community center of Al Boughaz in Nakatta, where the results of the diagnosis and some ideas for action were presented by Mme Naïm. Once again, the women participated actively and shared their vision of the future of the neighbourhood. Unfortunately it was not possible to discuss the results with the group of men that was invited the same date. 

But this mission brought us also to Tangier, an opportunity to meet the new contact point for international relations and partnerships of the city council, Mr Zian. The meeting held on the 15th at the city council headquarters focused on the continuity and last months of implementation of TangerAccueil.