Speaking at the opening of the workshop, which brings together 20 women participants from Algeria, Lebanon, Mauritania Tunisia and the host country Morocco, Durand said that most of the publications run by women are experiencing difficulties because the management of the publications has been given lesser attention.

She underlined the importance of women's participation in their countries' media landscape emphasising the fact that it is impossible to speak of democracy without mentioning the media as well as its pluralism and independence; democracy cannot also be disassociated from women's empowerment and their participation in all public policy making processes.

UNESCO is organising this workshop as part of its capacity building activities for media workers in the Arab and Mediterranean region . The workshop has been supported by the European Union within the framework of the UNESCO/EU Project "Promotion of Independent and Pluralistic Arab Media".