Speaking at the opening session of the first national symposium on "women, family and development challenge", Chami stressed that a citizen consultation on "women's participation in development" was launched through the EESC citizen participation platform "ouchariko.ma" at the initiative of the Ministry of Solidarity, Social Integration and Family, in partnership with the Council.

According to the official, the theme of this consultation has aroused great interest among citizens who have widely participated (the total number of interactions with the subject has reached 143,239, including 1,302 responses to the questionnaire).

With regard to the results of this consultation, the number of participants exceeds 75%, a rate that reflects, according to Chami, the great interest given by women to this issue, adding that the majority of participants belong to the urban working population (91%), especially in the regions of Rabat-Salé-Kenitra (28%) and Casablanca-Settat (26%)

The conclusions of this consultation reflect the participants’ perceptions and expectations in relation to the challenges facing women and the family in terms of development, noted Chami, announcing that the main findings of this citizen consultation will be presented later in a detailed summary document.

Regarding gender equality, nearly 71% of participants believe that the main obstacle to its achievement lies in mentalities and dominant social and cultural ideas, followed by "women’s economic vulnerability" (54%) as well as the "women’s low representation in leadership positions" (49%) and "legal framework" (38%), he noted.