8 Mars Newspaper

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8 MARS NEWSPAPER

Newspaper of the grassroots Moroccan women's organization Union de l'Action Féminin (Feminist Action Union).

8 Mars (8 March) was launched in the mid-1980s. Its title is the date of International Women's Day. Published in Arabic by women, for women, 8 Mars has a monthly circulation of over 20,000. Featuring articles on and analyses of legal and political issues that affect women's lives, as well as reports on educational and cultural issues, the publication's proceeds fund the activities of the Union de l'Action Féminin, which was founded in 1983 and as of 2003 had twenty-five branch offices in Morocco and one in Cairo. 8 Mars advocates women's full exercise of all citizenship rights and features articles and editorials on gender equality in law, everyday life, and culture; it encourages women's integration into decision-making positions at all levels and in all sectors of Moroccan society. Union de l'Action Féminin undertakes projects such as literacy classes, income-generating projects, and public advocacy on women's rights, as well as projects involving women in the political process and all levels of government and advocacy on legal issues, particularly a campaign to change Morocco's mudawwana (family law) to give women more legal and economic rights and enhanced personal independence. Partly through grassroots networking and partly through 8 Mars, the Union de l'Action Féminin gathered over 1 million signatures for a petition to change the mudawwana laws in the mid 1990s.