The first Africa Women’s Forum kicked off Friday in Dakhla with the participation of high-level women leaders from 35 African countries. The meeting, organized at the initiative of the Council of the Moroccan Expatriate Community (CCME) and the International Institute for Security and Development, in partnership with the Wilaya of the region of Oued Ed-Dahab-Lagouira, brings together women ministers, MPs, and councilors from, among others, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, the Ivory Coast, Guinea, Kenya, Mauritania, Libya, Mali, Madagascar, Senegal, Tanzania and Sierra Leone. The event provides an opportunity to discuss leadership issues of women and their contribution to the development of the African continent. In a statement to MAP, president of the International Institute for Security and Development, also president of the Foundation of Africa Women’s Forum, Naima Korchi, said the Forum will help discuss the experiences of participating countries in terms of women’s leadership and their role in the development of the continent, adding that the first edition seeks to look for ways to promote female African leadership in the economic, political and legal fields.