Moroccan Activist Sana Afouaiz Empowers Women Entrepreneurs Across Middle East and North Africa

At 27, the young Moroccan, a tireless worker, already has an impressive career. Founder and director of Womenpreneur, an association that works for the entrepreneurship of marginalized women in Belgium, the Middle East and North Africa, she also leads the global think tank Womenquake, active in raising awareness on gender issues. Sana Afouaiz is also the author of the book "Invisible women of the Middle East: True stories", and is an advisor for UN Women. In this capacity, she has already given conferences in more than 50 countries.

During her travels, she collects the testimonies of many women she approaches on the street, on buses... But she was mainly marked by the story of a woman, excised at the age of 9, who nevertheless accepted to excise her daughter at the same age. "I didn’t understand her. That’s when I said I had to write a book that lifts the veil on the taboos of the Arab world. We need a revolution. Not an Arab Spring, but a revolution of ideas," she says in an interview with RTBF. "Everywhere, I see inequalities, everywhere patriarchy reigns. When I see in Belgium the debates that still exist around abortion, the sexualization of women in the media, the condescension with which they speak to me, I realize that the road is still long," she adds.

"When I was younger, I wanted to change everything, right away. If there’s one lesson I’ve learned, it’s that a revolution of this magnitude doesn’t happen in a day. I work for a more just, more equitable, more inclusive society, but I don’t know if we’ll reach it in my lifetime. Thinking like this allows me to be less frustrated by the slowness of progress, without giving up," she proudly affirms.

With her Womenpreneur initiative launched in 2016, Sana Afouiaiz has impacted more than 10,000 women by training them in digital professions, future professions. The company is named by the Council of Europe as one of the most inspiring during the Covid-19 crisis.