On the occasion of International Women's Day, Morocco World News is launching a symbolic award, celebrating in a series of articles the outstanding achievements of Moroccan women who have left their imprint on society. Alongside 10 other strong female leaders, Hannou Oumarouch deserves special recognition at the top of the list.

Hannou Oumarouch: Courageous Amazigh Militant and MWN’s Woman of the Year

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Morocco World News is launching a symbolic award, celebrating in a series of articles the outstanding achievements of Moroccan women who have left their imprint on society. Alongside 10 other strong female leaders, Hannou Oumarouch deserves special recognition at the top of the list.

Who is Hannou Oumarouch?

Born in 1961, Hannou Oumarouch is a 64-year-old Moroccan woman who lives alone in Tilmi, 70 kilometers from Tinghir, after her husband abandoned her for younger, more subservient spouses.

She married when she was not more than 12 years old. After her separation, she returned to her parent’s home and chose to take care of her father, who suffered from a disability.

Because of the horrific experience Hannou went through during her first and only marriage, she entirely renounced other engagements.

What made her famous?

Instead, since 2007, Hannou has been fighting for marginalized and forgotten women in Morocco’s Eastern High Atlas. The Amazigh activist’s fiery outbursts sum up the realities of Moroccan regionalism.

In addition to her Amazigh attire, Hannou is known for her courage in addressing and defending women’s concerns in the “Ait Hadido” tribe. She has also been active in the Regional Consultative Commission for Equality and Women’s Issues in the region.

She participated in the 2007 election boycott to protest elected authorities’ indifference to the residents of these deprived communities’ dire economic and social circumstances.

Giving a spontaneous and straightforward speech in which she criticized the government and local politicians, Hannou piqued the interest of internet pioneers. As a result, she became a media legend in the Southeast and an inspiring figure whom many political parties attempted to court and recruit into their ranks.

In 2014, Hannou rose to prominence after sending a spontaneous message to His Majesty King Mohammed VI via social media. Her videos began to attract the attention of Moroccans because she was speaking spontaneously about rural women’s issues, notably the hardship of the inhabitants of Al-Bawadi in the southeast.

Transition to politics

A year later, her growing popularity and social impact landed her on the radar of candidates in the 2015 municipal elections. Elected to the Municipal Council for the first time under the banner of the National Rally of Independents, she won an electoral seat for the party in the rural commune of Talmi, which is affiliated with Mesmerir in Tinghir province.

In 2018, following altercations and other maneuvers within the Council of the Draa-tafilalet region chaired by the PJDist Elhabib Choubani, Hannou was appointed “ambassador of citizenship.” She was asked to join a Regional Council mission visiting China, where she represented Morocco and drew the attention of the Chinese media owing to her typical spontaneity and Amazigh attire.

After she became a member of the Provincial Council of Tinghir, at the end of September 2021, Hannou was elected as president of the commission in charge of social development and the family.