Morocco appointed lawyer Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as prime minister on Sept. 29, making her the first woman to lead its government, and she has pledged "realistic and concrete solutions" to the demands of young citizens for jobs, clean government and more freedoms. The appointment follows months of street protests and the mass crossing of some 70,000 mostly young Moroccans into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, driven by frustration over a sluggish economy. It also marks a notable step for the wider Middle East and North Africa region, where public support for women in political leadership has risen sharply and Morocco already leads in women's parliamentary representation at 27%.