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Soukaina Boutiyeb is today the Executive Director of Alliance des Femmes de la Francophonie, a national organization that helps Francophone women overcome political and daily problems that face them.
«I have recently been named the organization's Executive Director, but I've also held other executive positions in others organizations before».
Before joining her new position, she was General Director of the Franco-Ontarian Heritage Network, a body dedicated to uplifting the history of Francophonie in Ontario.
«I studied mostly in Morocco, at Al yassamine school in Casablanca, before moving with my family when I was 14 to Canada, where I went to school. I really had the chance to know about the two educational systems, the Moroccan and the Canadian one», she told Yabiladi.
After graduating high school, Soukaina joined a four-year cycle at the University of Ottawa. She studied international development and globalization and women's studies. «I wanted to change the world, and I believed a lot in community development, it was my primary idea when I entered college».
She soon noticed that she could first of all bring change to her local community and then aspire the rest of the world.
Soukaina did not stop there, she had a master's degree in social and conflict studies. A field that reinforced its international ambitions, although she was operating only in her country.
A feminist conviction that comes from Morocco
Canada is a multicultural society, with several identities. That helped Soukaina a lot to integrate, as she indicated. As Moroccan woman, Soukaina was fortunate to have grown up in a that is plural. Indeed, since childhood she lived in a cosmopolitan environment. «We were taught to be open-minded, we are open to the West, all while keeping our values».
She got interested in feminism when she was still here in Morocco. «When we see social injustice, when we talk about poverty, we see that there is a feminine face to poverty. These are things that are changing little by little but we are far from obtaining equity».
French, a language that I love
When we talk about Canada, we think that French is a language that doesn't cross the borders of the Quebec region. But in reality, French-speakers are everywhere, assures Soukaina Boutiyeb. «Francophones were there before anglophones. For example, Ontario has 400,000 years of Francophonie presence», she added.
Soukaina works hard to assert the rights of Francophone women. She advocates for their rights, the preservation of their language, and access to services in French.
«I often make contact with Berbers in Morocco. Their battle to have their language recognized, and to have services in Tamazight.»
In five years, Soukaina hopes to finish her doctorate, which deals with immigration and the Canadian Francophonie. If her activism today focuses on her country of residence, she is open to contribute to the evolution of her country of origin Morocco.
