Women and Water in the Maghreb: How the Exclusion of Female Voices Harms Climate Efforts.
The Maghreb region—comprising Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia—faces two mutually reinforcing crises: climate change and gender inequality. Within the broader Middle East North Africa (MENA) region, it is among the most climate-vulnerable areas in the world and records some of the largest gender gaps in economic participation, political representation, and access to opportunity. Climate change intensifies these inequalities by threatening livelihoods, increasing displacement and insecurity, and deepening women’s social and economic marginalization. Yet, women remain systematically excluded from policymaking, particularly in climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture and water management, which limits gender-responsive climate adaptation.
This paper examines the interrelated crises facing the Maghreb region: water scarcity and gender inequality. It describes the current approach towards addressing water scarcity and how incorporating women’s voices into policymaking from the household to the national level can improve the effectiveness and sustainability of climate adaptation programs aimed at addressing water scarcity.
