By Abderrahim Boualy

Ouarzazate - Abdellah Elhaloui, a professor at Cadi Ayaad University and the director of the American Corner Marrakech recounted a very inspirational story entitled “Qrita and McDonald’s” during the North Africa International Model United Nations (NAIMUN) conference, which was held in Marrakech from September 26 to 28, 2014. He was among the experts coming from different universities and organizations to inspire youth using their own experiences and stories.

Qrita was a Moroccan cook who ran a small business in Jemaa el Fna Square years ago. He prepared various traditional dishes, mainly fish-based meals. Qrita opened his business the same year international fast food chain McDonald’s opened its first African restaurant in Casablanca, Morocco in 1992.

Both Qrita and McDonald’s started humbly serving local customers, but with different visions. They started in the same time period and in the same field. Though McDonald’s was able to reach customers worldwide and achieve tremendous success, Qrita failed.

There are many reasons behind the success of McDonald’s and many reasons behind the failure of Qrita. The success of McDonald’s can be linked to the background of its community and the fact that it has set plans for the future. Furthermore, McDonald’s has innovation skills and the ability to take risks. Likewise, Qrita's failure can be attributed to his education and lack of creativity.

Just about everybody agrees that in the modern, competitive world, business creativity is essential for success. However, it is time that all Moroccan business people should think outside their boundaries and dream of becoming international business owners. It is time to tell Moroccans to go beyond the traditional and welcome modern business. It is time for them to embrace creativity. Innovation is the key for successful business.

The key questions that should be asked are: why have we failed to make a fortune? Why have we failed to produce knowledge? Why have we failed to advertise our products? There are countless ideas regarding business creativity. First, creativity is domain-specific. Second, creativity can be taught only if embedded in a well-designed training program. Third, creativity requires inspiration. Fourth, creativity requires hard work.

The major problem for Qrita was that all the characteristics mentioned above are absent in his business, which led to failure. Qrita is the typical Moroccan; one who is satisfied with the status quo, is unable to take risks, and has no future plans. Qrita is the same person year after year, decade after decade.

After a group of students started an initiative to help Qrita develop his project, he moved to another location and opened a new restaurant. Finally, Qrita was able to take a big step in the right direction. This demonstrates how youth can help their community's effort in becoming creative. Thus, we all encourage all Moroccan business owners to learn from Qrita.

© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed.

Olathe, Kansas- The annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) (November 19-21, 2014), in Marrakech, will feature a workshop that will focus on the advancement of women entrepreneurs.

King Mohammed VI and President Obama determined that the annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit would be hosted in Morocco this year, showcasing Morocco’s marvelous history, heritage, and growing economic engine, on the world stage.

This fifth annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit will convene thousands of participants and will highlight the impact of technology on modern entrepreneurship. The 2014 Summit takes place during Global Entrepreneurship Week, making it the largest of the thousands of entrepreneurship events taking place around the world that week. Entrepreneurship creates opportunity. It is a key to unlocking economic growth, creating jobs, and empowering populations.

“Accelerating Success: Mentoring Workshop for Women Entrepreneurs” will be presented on November 21, 2014. The goal of this Workshop is for each participant to gain a strong understanding of the power and process of mentoring, to optimize their business success. Mentoring provides a structured relationship that brings people together with experienced individuals who offer guidance, support, and encouragement. It can be a highly effective way to improve business performance. A business mentor is someone whose hindsight can become your foresight.

The Mentoring Workshop will bring women entrepreneurs (or “would-be entrepreneurs”) together with women already established in their fields. Mentors provide practical information, advice, and support to their Mentees. The orgaizers will address what Mentorship is, what makes a successful mentoring relationship, goal setting, and boundaries. Then, most importantly, they will conduct a Mentoring Rotation, providing participants with an opportunity to meet with mentors, share their business challenges, and implement what they have learned in the workshop.

The “Accelerating Success: Mentoring Workshop for Women Entrepreneurs” will be presented by Laura Owen, CEO of Ponscio (former Secretary of Commerce for the State of Kansas), and Yasmine El Baggari, Founder of Voyaj (native of Morocco).

“Women are at a tipping point, worldwide, to launch and grow their businesses, and attain great success” stated Laura Owen, CEO of Ponscio. “Mentoring can ignite a business and serve as its compass, to optimize an entrepreneur’s success.”

Women (and men) who wish to attend the Mentoring Workshop can register at: http://bit.ly/1tRoI7p

Experienced businesswomen who wish to participate as Mentors in the Mentoring Workshop are encouraged to submit their bios (or resumes) to info@ponscio.com for consideration. This Workshop provides successful women with a way for them to pay it forward, and help other women envision and achieve their success.

Participants that have paid the registration fee to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit ($100) can attend this Workshop at no additional cost. It is recommend that participants preregister for the Workshop. University students (with university IDs) may apply to have this entry fee (to GES) waived.

Rabat - The Faculty of Law of Mohammed V University at Souissi in Rabat was the locus of an engaging workshop hosted by the Marti Ahtisaari Centre (a Presidential initiative of Former Finland President & Nobel Prize Winner Marti Ahtisaari), in conjunction with the Ministry in charge of Relations with Civil Society & Parliament, on September 26-27, 2014.

Under the theme “Public Participation in Policy-Making: Stocktaking of the Commission of National Dialogue on Civil Society,” this inaugural international workshop helped set a platform for dialogue and multi-stakeholder reflections on the National Dialogue recommendations to develop an inclusive framework for enabling civil society’s public participation in policy-making. A special focus was given to the experience of l'Instance Centrale de Prévention de la Corruption [The Central Authority for the Prevention of Corruption] as well as Moroccan Diaspora Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).

With a focus on public consultations, the breakout sessions addressed the linkage between public consultations and socio-economic development and analyzed Article 12 of the Moroccan Constitution and ways to codify it in texts of law so as to catalyze the engagement of civil society in public policy-making. Day II highlighted Nordic good practices in the area of public consultations through the strengthening of civil society engagement in public policy making/monitoring processes.

Overall, the program was met with strong interest, hosting many participants representing civil society organizations; academics; international organizations; and policy makers. The inauguration of the Forum featured notable speakers including: Minister El Habib Choubani, of the Ministry in charge of Relations with Civil Society & Parliament; Moulay Ismail Alaoui, President of the National Commission of Policy Dialogue on Civil Society and New Constitutional Roles, as well as other high-level Moroccan policy-makers and international personalities.

The national and international organizers, “shared the same vision in terms of inclusiveness and the need to conduct a dialogue to ensure multi-stakeholder ownership and confidence building in the Commission’s recommendations," said Leila Hanafi, a Moroccan-American lawyer and member of the National Commission.

The multi-stakeholder workshop addressed the following objectives:

- Dissemination of National Dialogue outcomes/recommendations to develop an inclusive framework for enabling civil society consensus building & ownership

- Stock taking on the National Dialogue process

- Increased understanding of the groups that did not participate in the Commission's consultative process in the value of the new constitutional framework

- Raised awareness on mechanisms to influence policy making in Morocco, with a focus on socio-economic issues (i.e., access to basic social services, youth unemployment, diaspora interests)

- Sharing of best practices, including Nordic models.

Overall, there was a general consensus among participants that intensifying dialogue surrounding the recommendations of the Commission is integral to civil society’s implementation of them. At the conclusion of the two day forum, several recommendations ensued from the discussions including, but not limited to:

- Continuing dialogue with key national authorities in constructive dialogue forums such as universities to enable a demand-driven approach to hearing the concerns of civil society inside and outside of Morocco.

- As the number of CSOs of Moroccans residing abroad increase, so does the need to integrate them further into policy-making processes and to allow them exercise their constitutional rights.

- Follow-up on the draft public consultation law to promote participatory process for policy formulation.

National Commission of Policy Dialogue on Civil Society and New Constitutional Roles

The main objectives of the National Commission of Policy Dialogue on Civil Society and New Constitutional Roles are to: facilitate the development of an enabling environment for dialogue between government and citizens to come up with a participatory joint vision of the new role to be accorded to civil society, as part of the societal plan mapped out by the revised Constitution.

The Commission represents an unprecedented opportunity to encourage dialogue with senior representatives from Moroccan government agencies, parliament, academia, civil society, and international organizations on the implementation of the constitution to promote a strong and fair lawmaking process, and, ultimately, greater confidence in the constitution as a blue print for future public policy reform through inclusive participation.

The Commission in the last year held more than 18 meetings that drew nearly 10,000 people. The Commission’s work was, officially, praised by the King of Morocco by marking March 13th as National Day of Civil Society. Regional organizations such as ISESCO and the Council of Europe have adopted the Moroccan experience of the Commission’s National Dialogue for sharing among their constituencies.

Marrakech - Spurred on by their leadership, and education and citizenship maxims of "Tell me and I forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I will remember" and "Give a man a fish, he eats for a day; teach him to fish, he eats every day,” respectively, Moroccan Enactus engineering students headed to China and became the pride of their country.

Morocco took part along with 35 other countries in the Enactus World Cup of social entrepreneurship on October 22-24, 2014, in Beijing, China. Morocco was represented by Enactus Mohammedia School of Engineering which had earlier ranked among 12 semifinalist countries the previous year. This year, Morocco ranked second in the Enactus World Cup 2014, coming only after China, the host, which won the trophy.

The World Cup "Enactus" is a competition in which young researchers in various countries offer the simplest and most effective ways to invest in entrepreneurial projects to change people's lives for the better.

Enactus is a community of students, leaders of the academic and economic world, that is committed to using entrepreneurial action to promote progress in the world. It was created in 1975, and launched in Morocco in 2003. With respect to access to water, the participating Enactus students launched their “Vernet” project this year, and headed to China to showcase their presentation with passion and enthusiasm for saving lives in Africa by promoting accessibility to clean water.

Inspired by the words of Thomas Edison, “How could I transform the need for light into a huge business,” and being close to the basic needs of people in terms of water, Enactus’scMoroccan students thought of how to transform those needs into a huge beneficial business for the society.

“Life is all about water, as it can affect everything, education, health and living standards,” according to the introductory speaker.

“The time they [people in Africa] spend in gathering water is a time they can spend to read, write, and earn income, or just take care of their children.”

While all of the incredible procedures to get water are valuable, they do not necessarily assure clean and healthy water. “The little water people have collected is not clean; it causes diarrhea, dehydration, and even death,” said one of the presenters.

The Mohammadia School of Engineers created projects to enter into the contest in the World Cup this year to address these problems. Among them is the aforementioned "Vernet project” for the manufacture and marketing of products for purifying water. The project is to provide job opportunities for the benefit of people who suffer from destitution, and to improve water quality for the benefit of the African continent.

The student engineers created two technical solutions to purify water using basic materials that handle the target areas where the project is implemented.

The first one involves filtering water from sediment and visible clay particles, while the second focuses on the elimination of invisible particles, such as microbes. The two technologies are dependent on environmentally friendly and low-cost techniques.

The third project tackles the collection and recycling of used plastic bags, and turns them into pieces and decorative products, or into sturdy and eco-friendly bags.

Video of the competition 

Rabat - An Algerian woman has caused an uproar in social media in Morocco after she accused it of being a country of sorcery. The allegations were made live during an episode of Star Academy, a reality show broadcast from Lebanon.

Kenza Morsli, an Algerian participants appears to be telling one of her colleagues in the show that “Moroccans are known for doing sorcery.”

The broadcast of the episode was cut off as soon as the Algerian woman made this allegation. Later in the show, Kenza appears telling a male colleague that her mother asked her to mingle only with Egyptians and Lebanese and avoid Moroccans.

Kenza was apparently annoyed by the success of her Moroccan rival Ibtissam Taskat who enjoy popularity with the public of the show.

The allegations made by the young Algerian came a couple of weeks after she brought up the question of the Sahara conflict during a dinner that gathered all the participants of the show. As the participants were having dinner, she referred to the conflict using the phrase “Western Sahara,” which is commonly used by Algerians and others who support the Polisario to stress that the territory does not belong to Morocco.

The footage of the show created an uproar and being shared and commented by Moroccans who launched a Hashtag on Twitter called “Red line” in Arabic. The users of the Hashtag call on every Moroccan to share it widely and to express their disapproval and condemnation of the accusations leveled at Morocco by the Algerian participant. They also called on the Moroccan embassy in Beirut to take the necessary steps to push the organizers of the show to exclude Kenza Morsli.

The allegations made by Kenza came in a context of deteriorated relations between Morocco and Algeria. The already strained relations between the two neighbors were compounded last week after the Algerian army opened fire on a group of Moroccans at the borders between the two countries. The incident left one Moroccan man seriously injured.

Rabat- A 12-year-old Moroccan student won first prize in a French spelling competition, despite being blind.

On October 19, the European Coordination Centre 'Autonome Sahara Marocain' (CESAM) in Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, where the father of the brilliant student works, celebrated the talented student’s success. The representatives of the association awarded the student in June.

Anas El Filali, a student at the “Europe-Nations de Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy”, participated in the competition using Braille without making any mistakes, and was awarded the first prize.

Salsabile Oumensour, another Moroccan student, ranked second in the contest, with one and a half errors.

El Filali won the 1st prize in the French spelling competition after he beat more than 5000 students from all over France.

The award was created in 2001 by the 'France-Quebec' Association. Since 2004, the contest of French orthography has represented one of the most important events held annually during the week of the French language and Francophone.

Marrakech - The Atlantic Dialogues forum was held on October 24-26 in Marrakech to strengthen the transatlantic relations and to select the 50 emerging leaders of the Atlantic Basin

Under the High Patronage of King Mohammed VI, the Atlantic Dialogues gathered some of the most influential public and private sector leaders from around the Atlantic basin for high level panels and open discussion on cross-regional issues. The event was co-organized by the German Marshal Fund of the United States, and the Office chérifien des phosphates (OCP) Policy Center.

The Atlantic Dialogues selected the 50 emerging leaders of the Atlantic basin. Ten Moroccans were selected among the 50 leaders and had the opportunity to articulate their leadership and discuss transatlantic issues with senior leaders.

For Lamia Bazir, a 24-years prominent leader, “The diversity between the countries of the Atlantic offers both an opportunity and a challenge.” In her speech, she invited the leaders of the region to “conceive an innovative model of a region founded not on commonalities but on differences.” Instead of denying differences in the search of a common identity, Lamia Bazir encouraged participants to “turn the Atlantic Basin into a space where diversity is valued, best practices are shared, and the best ideas circulate between countries.”

For Njoya Tikum, a young leader from Cameroun “The most important is to translate the discussions held in the Atlantic dialogues into the daily lives of the citizens”. In his speech, Njoya also insisted on the inclusion of Youth in decision making.

During the forum, Morocco demonstrated its pivotal position in the Atlantic region and the incredible potential of its youth.

The forum brought together some 400 high-level diplomats, policymakers, experts, business leaders, and opinion-shapers from Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, and Europe for three days of open discussion.

Among the most prominent participants: Mr.Youssef Amrani Head of Mission, Royal Cabinet, Kingdom of Morocco, Ms. Laura Chinchilla, Former President of Costa Rica, Mr. Miguel Angel Moratinos, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Spain, Ambassador Marc Grossman, Ambassador of the United States and Vice Chairman of Cohen Group,

Other participants are: Ambassador Assia Bensalah Alaoui Ambassador at Large of King Mohammed VI and Co-President, Office of the Economic Cooperation for the Mediterranean and the Middle East, Morocco, Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo, Former President of Nigeria, Dr. Nizar Baraka, President, Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE), Morocco, Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Prize, and Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau, Mr. Moulay Hafid El Alamy, Minister of Industry, Trade, Investment, and New Technologies, Morocco, Dr. Amina Benkhadra, Managing Director of the National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mining, Morocco.

© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed.

Baku – Azerbaijan - Two Moroccan civil society and youth policy specialists, Karima Rhanem and Yassine Isbouia, recently took part as panelists at the first ever United Nations-backed Global Forum on Youth Policies. The forum, held in Baku, Azerbaijan from October 27 to 30, brought together over 700 participants from over 165 countries.

Youth Ministers, experts, advocates, civil society members, and representatives of the United Nations, as well as other international and regional bodies, participated in panel events, bilateral discussions, and informal meetings on how to renew commitment to a global youth policy framework.

Any policy for youth Leisure?

Yassine Isbouia, general coordinator of the Mediterranean Forum of Youth, spoke in a panel with UNESCO about leisure policies for youth.

He said that “free time is an important factor for the development of youth and children’s personality and for their social integration.” He added that “leisure and free time need to be institutionalized by a public policy. Yassine stressed that “during free time, the young person is ready to accept, learn and acquire any given knowledge, skill, and attitude that is given to him or her under non-formal education.”

“It is unfortunate that leisure has no importance in the educational system of many Arab countries. Extra curricular activities at school are limited, if not absent, and this may lead kids to choose the street as an alternative,” added Isbouia, raising concerns of youth falling into the trap of extremist ideologies or other kind of dangers, such as drugs, alcohol abuse, violence, crime, and terrorism.

Today, “there is a need more than ever for a coordinated effort of all education stakeholders to mobilize resources and funds to meet the needs of children and young people and prepare them for life,” he concluded.

Strategies for youth and stakeholders’ participation

From her part, Karima Rhanem participated in a panel with the UNDP under the theme “Governing youth policy frameworks – strategies for youth and stakeholders’ participation.

To ensure greater stakeholder participation; Rhanem told a panel “there is a need to improve the legal enabling environment allowing for more inclusive, transparent and equal participation of citizens including civil society and young people in public policy development, implementation and evaluation.”

Rhanem highlighted cases in the Arab world of an inclusive process of youth policy creation and the specific characteristics of participation strategies that made them successful. She also highlighted challenges and issues of practical implementation of policies.

“It is highly important to find out alternative ways to turn youth street protest into a meaningful constructive dialogue with stakeholders and empower youth led organizations to be an influential force of proposition impacting policies,” she said

For that to happen, there should be a political will from the state institutions, and a civic engagement from civil society and watchdog organizations to take part in a coordinated cross sectoral dialogue. A monitoring and evaluation system also needs to be put in place to ensure recommendations and proposals presented in the dialogue are implemented and felt by the general grassroots to whom it was originally designed.

Rhanem argued that “the main reasons leading civil movements in the Arab world to dissolute is their focus on toppling figures rather than presenting alternatives to change the system of governance.”

Many of these movements, according to Rhanem, are characterized by division, a lack of vision and leadership, the tendency to refuse dialogue with authorities, and choosing the street protests and boycotts as their main recourse.

She added that “many demanded the fall of institutions without thinking about an alternative transition and the availability of real political new elites to run the country.”

“Some of their demands were way too ambitious, unrealistic, and could not take effect immediately. Change needs time, inclusive dialogue, and realistic proposals. This doesn’t mean that some measures could not have been taken immediately, but real change needs a vision to make an impact,” said Rhanem.

In some countries, like Morocco, civil movements have been weakened by a series of reforms that the Kingdom has undertaken as a quick response to uprisings. These reforms caused the movements to gain little international attention and lose its ability to gain grassroots support.

Rhanem also provided examples on how youth protests, demonstrations, and riots can be transformed into constructive participation of young people in political processes and what reactions from both governmental actors and young people themselves are needed for such a successful transformation.

From Street Protest to Constructive Dialogue

Karima Rhanem also gave an overview of Morocco’s reforms following the Arab Spring and how civil society and youth were able to move from street protests into a real force for change that could influence the country policies, helping to pass constitutional reforms and formulate legislation related to youth, civil society, and citizenship in general.

Unlike other countries in the region, Rhanem said that Morocco has witnessed both street activism led mainly by the February 20th Movement and an institutional revolution led by the youth wings of political parties and civil society organizations.

The consultations on constitutional reforms included for the first time vast consultations with civil society organizations, which submitted over 200 Memorandums to the government, out of which 55 demanded the creation of consultative councils, including councils focused on youth.

Prior to the premature 2011 legislative elections, a coalition was formed composed of representatives of the youth wings of political parties and civil society organizations who have led a political communications and advocacy campaign to put pressure on the state and political parties to establish a quota for youth representation in parliament.

“Although the quota system is debated, and viewed by many as a non democratic system. Youth and institutions considered it as the ultimate solution within the current context. After several meetings, held with heads of political parties and the ministries of youth and interior, the new election code, voted by the parliament, allowed for the creation of a national list for youth. This has guaranteed 30 seats for youth in the parliament,” Rhanem explained.

She mentioned other initiatives at the local level, through the creation of ad hoc or temporary committees following Article 14 of the Communal Charter, allowing for greater participation of youth and civil society in the management of local affairs.

“The draft law on petitions and legislative motions should also move citizens from the culture of complaining to a culture of alternative proposals,” emphasized Rhanem.

A new culture of public consultation & dialogue

In relation to effective stakeholder participation, Rhanem outlined that Morocco launched a year and half national dialogue with civil society, reaching out to more than 10,000 participants and hundreds of civil society organizations (CSOs), diaspora groups, and stakeholders in Morocco’s sixteen regions to discuss key constitutional questions to develop specific proposals for the Parliament and to shape public policies. To lead the dialogue, a committee was formed consisting of over 60 appointed representatives from government, CSOs, universities, human rights councils, constitutional bodies, MPs, and political actors.

The dialogue aimed to produce several key outputs, including new CSO-related organic laws and a review of the 1958 Decree on the right to establish associations, a diagnosis of civil society in Morocco considering CSO capacity and governance issues, the laws on legislative motions and petitions, the law on public consultations, and a ‘Participatory Democracy Charter’, which is a road map for the implementation participatory democracy, as stipulated in the 2011 constitution.

Another parallel dialogue was conducted by civil society coalitions who were not pleased with the government dialogue. They issued their own recommendations and proposals. “This only shows the level of dynamism and maturity of civil society, which instead of just protesting conducted its own dialogue and make proposals and recommendations, while advocating for its implementation,” she added.

As for youth dialogue, Rhanem mentioned that “the Ministry of Youth and Sports also launched in 2012 a consultation with around 35,000 youth across the Kingdom with a new vision to have an inclusive process in developing a strategy for youth, which was finalized in 2014. The Ministry formed a committee to develop a youth law and a law on the Consultative Council of Youth and Community Work.”

Rhanem concluded that “there are a number of initiatives in the law concerning political parties, election code, communal charter, and other normal or organic laws that encourage civic and political participation of young people. Yet, there is still a problem in the implementation of these policies and involving youth in key political decisions.”

Birth of African Network of Youth Policy Experts

It is worth mentioning that Karima Rhanem was also among the most active African delegates at the forum who engaged in an intensive dialogue and mapping and analysis of youth policies on the African continent, which was followed by a concrete document that led to the emergence of the African Network of Youth Policy Experts.

The platform, which was openly announced at the closing session of the Global Forum, is designed to enhance advocacy for youth policy implementation among African countries by persuading Africa’s UN Member States to renew their commitments regarding youth policies.

Quoting the UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth, Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi, who received the African delegates that initiated the network, “we have seen young Africans come together to establish a network for researchers on youth policies. We have seen countries pledging support and commitment and resources to support the global initiative on youth policies. I’ve seen people debating issues around youth policies.”

The forum concluded with the launch of an outcome document pledging to support countries that are in the process of developing and “elevating” national youth policy.

The Baku Commitment on Youth Policies, which was agreed to by participants and co-conveners (the UNDP, UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the team of youthpolicy.org), highlights the principles to guide formulation, implementation, and evaluation of youth policy in the 21st century. It calls for greater youth involvement in youth policy monitoring and evaluation.

© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed.

Rabat - Africa has made history. During the closing session of the First Global Forum on Youth Policies, held in Baku, Azerbaijan that was held on October 28–30, the birth of the African Network of Youth Policy Experts (AfriNYPE) was announced, the goal of which is to advance the cause of youth policies in the region.

The network was announced at the closing plenary session attended by over 700 invited delegates constituting experts, researchers, professors, and government representatives from across the world, as well as the United Nations Secretary General's Envoy on Youth, Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi.

A member of the Steering Committee, Adeola Austin Oyinlade, a human rights lawyer and youth rights/policy expert from Nigeria described the unveiling as “good news from Africa.” According to Mr. Oyinlade, who is also a resource liaison to the African Union (Youth Division) on the implementation of the African Youth Charter, the network’s objectives include establishing a comprehensive research and studies unit in order to collect reliable data and analyze the current situation of youth policies. This will take place in order to advise key African stakeholders on concrete and practical ways to create a more inclusive development and implementation of current policies while improving the legal enabling environment of youth participation in decision making.

Ms. Karima Rhanem, a civil society and youth policy expert from Morocco, told the gathering that, prior to the global forum, young African delegates engaged in intensive dialogue through social media and desk research. Additionally, a situation analysis of youth policies in the region was enacted by the young researchers, as well as mappings and SWOT analyses, which subsequently produced a concrete strategic document that led to the emergence of AfriNYPE.

“AfriNYPE is a collective initiative of experts on youth policies in Africa who shared understanding of the urgent need for concrete development and implementations of youth policies in an African context,” said Ms. Rhanem.

Yvonne Akoth, a gender equality expert from Kenya and a panelist during the Forum, mentioned the need for young African voices to be heard in public and youth policy development processes in preparation for the post-2015 development goals. This would be one of the objectives of AfriNYPE, which Ms. Akoth described as “a network that would build the capacity of young people, by enabling them to understand the importance of policy implementation in addressing issues affecting their overall development.”

On the strategy to achieve its objective, Abiola Hamid, a youth leader and expert from Nigeria said the network will develop a common and workable understanding of youth policies with theoretical and practical key indicators. He added that the network intends to create a database and fact files as reference points for youth policy research in Africa and carry out assessments and evaluations of African youth policies, implementations and impacts on the lives of African youths.

Mr. Seleman Kitenge, Communication Office and Under Secretary General For Media-GIMUN from Tanzania responded, “I want to see young people have enough understanding of all matters related to policy, as well as being able to have a platform to voice out their views and being part of the problem solving, not being seen as a problem.”

Regarding membership in the Network, Michael Zinkanell from Austria, who is working with youth empowerment projects in Uganda, said, “our members consist of youth policy experts, who are directly working with youth empowerment and/or youth policies, targeting the youth in Africa.” He continued, “All members should commonly value a democratic, fair and gender-balanced approach on how to improve young Africans’ lives through policy development and implementation, regardless of ethnicity, religion, sexuality, or political orientation,” he added.

Lombe Tembo, an economist and a member of the Youth Governance and Accountability Task Team under Restless Development UK from Zambia, said the Network membership base is comprised of  “African youth activists, researchers, policy experts and members of civil society organizations who attended the just ended First Global Forum on Youth Policies.” He continued: “We are looking to widen our membership base and will be reaching out to African youth and youth-led organizations within Africa, as well as African youths in the Diaspora.”

During the AfriNYPE steering committee meeting with the United Nations Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth, Ahmad Alhendawi charged the young network to make ideas into actions. Mr. Alhendawi was quoted by the United Nations News Centre as saying: “We have seen young Africans come together to establish a network for researchers on youth policies. We have seen countries pledging support and commitment and resources to support the global initiative on youth policies. I’ve seen people debating issues around youth policies.”

Since the forum ended in Baku, delegates have returned to their various countries to renew their commitment, engagement and advocacy on youth policy matters. The First Global Forum on Youth Policies was hosted by the Government of Azerbaijan in Baku on 28-30th October, 2014 and was co-organised by the office of the UN Youth Envoy, Council of Europe, UNDP, and UNESCO with technical support of Youthpolicy.org.

Rabat - Soumia Benkirane, the daughter of the current Head of Government, Abdelilah Benkirane, has reportedly made it clear she will not use her father’s post to obtain a job.

In an interview with Al Arabia, Soumia Benkirane, who has a degree in Islamic studies, said that she refused to use her father’s position as the Moroccan head of government to get a job.

"Some relatives and friends were wondering why I was not hired after my father was appointed the head of the government, saying that if they were in my father’s position, they would take care of their family and relatives before anything else,’’ said Soumia Benkirane.

She goes on to add that it took them much time to understand that “Abdelilah Benkirane will hire no one illegally, neither his sons and daughters, nor his relatives.’’

Soumia Benkirane said that she has decided to continue her studies and seek a higher degree in law in order to facilitate her integration in the labor market, rather than asking her father to use his power and get her a job.

"Neither I nor my father will allow ourselves, one day, backsliding from any principle of the Justice and Development Party, particularly fighting corruption,’’ Soumia added.

Fez - In the light of what is going on in the so-called national media, this title comes as a reaction to the necessity of questioning the hidden agendas of our media, particularly those presented on national TV involving foreign programs. These programs are produced in different contexts for audiences with different languages, lifestyles, ways of thinking, norms, and values—audiences who, in one way or another, are different from us.

As it is defined, media is a means of informing, transmitting messages and meanings to different types of audiences, teaching ethical morals, and, most importantly, a means of fostering and enriching cultural values of a group of people living in a certain context. It is also an effective way of enhancing people’s awareness of polemical and serious issues in society.

The giant role of media has to be praised and encouraged as long as the local taste is taken into account during the process of production. Once the media meets the underlined objectives and needs of the Moroccan audience, everybody will applaud and voice their pride.

Nevertheless, it becomes a big problem when the media becomes a means of destruction and backwardness of societies through its shows and productions without taking into account the local culture of the audience. Media has a crucial role in shaping people’s identities and promoting spiritual belongings and ties to a community. Because through it, we discover ourselves and reflect on the way we think and live as a distinctive group. Through it, we open the gate to the world outside, perceive it and sense it not as alien and strange, but as a partner and collaborator, since it is believed that the other is a mirror of the self.

There has been a constant plea to revitalize and revive the role of media in promoting one’s belonging to the home, but without response. Recently, King Mohammed VI insisted on the pride of belonging to this nation but media producers are not supporting and consolidating this national mission and duty. On the contrary,  they are making people alienated and strange in their country.

The idea of being alienated in our country is strongly reinforced and confirmed by national TV programs in the name of openness and cultural exchange. These programs, prosaic in their nature, are taken from different sources: Turkish, Mexican, Indian, and even Japanese, which are translated into the Moroccan Arabic to be easily understood even by the commoners.

The act behind translation is done deliberately to promote “understanding” and “appreciation” of such series, and this fact creates more harm and damage to being proud of one’s belongings to this nation. In the bosom of this amalgam of series, one has to ask a few questions: who is going to benefit from these second hand soap operas, which are identical in their scenarios? Are there any scientific and educational benefits in these series? Do we need others to teach us love and conflict? Where are we in these series?

The problem here is that culture is taken out of its context and replaced by another one that is totally different from ours, and introducing the modified culture as an alternative and a good way of living and thinking. We are softly and unconsciously becoming alienated and exiled in our home through media conquering and occupation of minds. We, therefore, start to act like the other, as media tries to foster and present it as civilized, cultivated, and open-minded. To achieve this aim, Moroccan media invites its audience to become westernized and embrace its “ideal” norms and values, and deserts all that is native, local and unique.

This hurting reality brings about a sort of dilemma among people who are neither here nor there, but rather caught between the cogs and unable to identify themselves with the other, as the other refuses the self to be wholly fused and melt into its “pure” body.

The other rejects the self as being a permanent potential threat to its “superior” identity. Today, there are racist voices in Western countries, which believe in the “purity” of European blood, and thus it has not to be mixed with the other who, according to the self, is an “alien”, a “danger”, a “threat” to European identity, and “barbarous” in its nature. The rise of the right wings in France, the UK, and Italy marks a radical change in the European mind towards issues of nationalism, identity, belonging, and patriotism.

It is time to stop this massive killing and smuggling of our cultural identity by our media and launch a national discussion by media experts, producers, educators, stakeholders and decision-makers about what should be done to rescue what is to be rescued. Otherwise, the cost will be great and will be paid by coming generations. We want our people to be proud of their identity and citizenship, and feel exclusively part of a very antique civilization through using media as a tool to dig into the history of our country. We have two options: to celebrate our rich history or to wait for others to distort it.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Morocco World News’ editorial policy

© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed.

Taroudant - Moroccan teenagers belonging to wealthy families have joined a social media phenomenon that has attracted rich kids of the world.

Inspired by Rich Kids of Instagram, Moroccan kids from well-to-do families use RichKidsofMorocco on Instagram to display their extravagant lifestyle and share with others their luxurious possessions.

The Morocco-based Rich Kids of Instagram account appeared on Instagram on October 10 and has picked up more 1400 followers.

Since its first publication, the account has already recorded 58 shots. Selfies with luxury cars, poses on a classy yacht, pictures of clean beaches and at the edge of blue lagoon pools, and other extravagant pictures reveal the excessive life style of these wealthy kids.

Rich people from all over the world are always inclined to distinguish themselves in private groups where money rules.

Rabat - 24-year-old Mehdi Benkirane is a Moroccan orphan who turned his tragedies into successful story of overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds.

In order to learn more Mehdi Benkirane’s life, Morocco World News interviewed him to highlight his career and his startup organization’s main objectives.

MWN: Could you please introduce yourself?

Mehdi Benkirane: My name is Mehdi Benkirane, founder and president of Children of the Heart.

MWN: What are your motivations behind creating this organization?

Mehdi Benkirane: The drive I have for creating this organization comes from my adoptive mother. I was born as an orphan and I’ve never met my biological parents. My biological parents left me in a charity center in Fez when I was only four months old. Since I was a child, my adoptive mother used to take me to the charity center to see my orphan friends so I wouldn’t forget my roots. After many years of social work, I came up with the idea of creating a similar organization in Rabat.

MWN: What are the requirements for someone who wants to join Children of the Heart?

Mehdi Benkirane: Our doors are open to everyone, especially Moroccan youth because we are in dire need of youth. Joining us is very easy because we are not asking for any money upon joining, but rather basic materials like clothes, baby bottles and simple medicines. We are also trying as much as possible to provide our children with new clothing so that they don’t feel any more different from their outside friends than they already do. We really want to provide them with new items only.

MWN: Do you receive any financial support from the government?

Mehdi Benkirane: Unfortunately, the government does not provide us with any financial support; I only receive moral support from our Head of Governmen, Abdelilah Benkirane. I would love to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Othman Benjelloun and Mrs. Ghita Zniber for providing us with help whenever we needed it.

MWN: What are Children of the Heart’s main goals or objectives?

Mehdi Benkirane: We are asking the Moroccan government to ratify a proposal to protect orphans’ rights. If we protect today’s children, we will protect our future generations.

MWN: Could you please elaborate more on your organization’s upcoming projects?

Mehdi Benkirane: We are officially announcing today for MWN readers that we plan to inaugurate eighteen children centers across Morocco, starting in 2015 in collaboration with the National Observatory of Children’s Rights.

MWN: Would you please share with our readers the best and worst moments of your life thus far?

Mehdi Benkirane: To be honest with you, I wasn’t expecting this question. Well, I’d love to thank God from the bottom of my heart for my adoptive family, because I know that I’m lucky to even have a family. Eighty percent of orphans aren’t as lucky as I am and truly don’t have a home. I’m also extremely happy because I was able to finish my higher studies and achieve a dream I’ve had since I was a little boy. Since I was child, I’ve dreamed of being an animator and, Alhamdulillah, I recently accomplished this dream. I’ve started working at Société Nationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision (SNRT) three months ago. For the worst event in my life, I’d say that the threats I’ve recently received because of this famous movement in Morocco are probably the worst things to happen to me so far.

MWN: Do you have anything special to add?

Mehdi Benkirane: Love one another, be yourself, don't let someone else to tell you what you are going to be or not going to be because God has created you and God doesn't make mistakes.

© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed

Fez - The government recently initiated a comprehensive upgrade to Morocco’s mental illness treatment facilities and programs, but the sector still suffers from poor infrastructure.

In a Moroccan Douar near Ben Slimane region, 58 km northeast of Casablanca, 21-year-old Soukaina B suffers from a mental illness. She is usually chained to a pole at home. This sad case illustrates the deficiency in Morocco’s mental illness treatment facilities.

"We took her to the hospital more than fifty times, but they didn’t want to keep her," says her father, Mohamed. "The drugs we give her only put her to sleep. I don’t know what to do," he laments.

According to the latest epidemiological survey, 40% of the Moroccan population aged 15 and over suffers or has suffered from a mental disorder. In 2012, the Ministry of Health raised mental illness to a priority level, setting a goal of doubling the nation’s intake capacity for mentally ill patients by 2016.

The planned program includes the construction of three specialty hospitals starting at the end of 2014.

Jalal Toufik, head of the department of psychiatry at Arrazi Hospital in Sale (Rabat's sister city), said in an interview to Telquel that, “Mental disorders characterized by, ‘agitation and incoherence,’ are considered, ‘curses or possessions,’ while those marked by sadness, such as depression, are attributed to a lack of faith.”

Guardians of the mentally ill that opt out of traditional medicine will send patients to Bouya Omar, a mausoleum located about fifty kilometers from Marrakech. There, the patients will undergo mass exorcisms.

Fez - It’s certain that Morocco’s education is frustratingly in deep crisis ever since the country’s independence and all the reforms implemented thus far proved to be futile and useless.

The high hopes Moroccans placed on education were, unfortunately, never fulfilled because we, perhaps, loaded education with a burden it could not bear. Now we are faced by the bitter truth: mass disillusionment and despair at the whole education system not just by teachers, but also parents and students. Worst of all, those running education in Morocco keep escaping accountability and holding others (usually teachers) responsible for the crisis.

Leila (pseudonym) harboured the dream of becoming a teacher since she was a high school student. Teaching, she believed, is the noblest and most decent job for a woman. Not just that, teaching would give her the chance to inspire generations of impressionable students for positive change that she wished for her society and country. All teachers had these innocent fantasies caressing their thoughts at the beginning of their careers; changing the world to an ideal place where everyone is educated and everything is neat and well-organized and all actions are rational and mindful. But easier said than done.

After four months at school as a novice teacher, Leila couldn’t hold out with her students’ bullying and constant verbal abuse. The theoretical approaches and methods for class management she learned at her training center were worthless and inapplicable when she helplessly turned to them for help. What’s the use of squandering time and money in teaching something that is not meant for our schools? Her forty-five students precipitate her classroom into a mess right from the first minute. Some of her students reported that students’ misbehavior went that far to the extent that male students dare kiss her on the cheeks.

Leila, the miserable, finally decided to leave everything and everyone behind. She left school and never came back for four days so far. When her colleagues noticed her absence and called her, her phone kept ringing without any answer. Leila had a severe nervous breakdown for which she was hospitalized for three days. Now, she only wants to be away from the hellish atmosphere of her classroom and come what may.

Leila is only a case among many suffering souls under the dilapidated roofs of our schools. What added insult to injury and made matters worse is the recent ministerial note number 867714, dated 17th October 2014, which abolishes any disciplinary sanctions /punishments against students. This ominous note was like the green light from the ministry to more violence against teachers. In plain English, it is a blatant disgrace to encourage « tchermil » against teachers in schools instead of hard work, creativity, competition and diligence.

And always remember:

« Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well » Aristotle.

New York - Two years ago almost to the date, a cold snap hit the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and left a remote village called Anfgou grieving the loss of over 42 children. The news of the tragic unnecessary deaths of the children caused disbelief, anger and raised many questions about the effectiveness of the Moroccan Government in tackling unforeseen inclement climate events.

The infamously called region “the forgotten Morocco” has seen its share of calamities, but in this day and age of information many NGO’s and individuals willing to help got together and started raising funds to help remote villages cope with the unprecedented weather conditions.

One of many Moroccans living abroad, Sanaa Abidar was touched by what the countless accounts in the news, and YouTube videos showing the events of Anfgou as they unfolded. She could not bear watching on the sidelines, and she sprung to action.

Sanaa reached out to her fellow Moroccans on Facebook, her community in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, and her hometown of Lowell to raise funds for the families affected by the cold snap. Sanaa and her fellow Amazigh members raised over $2000.00 and sent it to NGO’s which in turn distributed goods locally to those in need.

It was a seamless and successful initiative that encouraged Sanaa Abidar to come alive again this time and is dedicated to raising funds for those affected by the Floods in Southeastern Morocco. Sanaa hopes to raise $10,000.00 for the flood victims, and is working very hard to achieve this goal.

She acknowledges that it is tough to contribute around this time of the holidays, but every little donation will get her effort underway to give relief to those without homes, and those displaced by the floods in Morocco.

Rabat - The commission of Justice, Legislation and Human Rights of the House of Councilors has resumed discussions over the domestic workers bill, according to news magazine Telquel.

In the presence of Employment and Social Affairs Minister, Abdesalam Seddiki, parliamentarians discussed the bill and voted for 12 amendments out of the 21 available.

The bill stipulates the signing of a compulsory contract between the employer and the domestic worker with an 8-day trial period in addition to the obtaining of a medical certificate that proves the employee's good health.

In an attempt to end the work of little maids, the bill stipulates, among other revisions, the prohibition of employing domestic workers under the age of 16.

The first bill passed by the government in March 2013 called for a minimum age of 15. When consulted, the National Council for Human Rights had recommended in November 2013 that the minimum age should be set at 18. An opinion also shared by the Economic and Social Council.

According to Telquel, the discussion are expected to resume on January 5th in order to discuss matters such as the minimum wage for the domestic workers, leave, severance pay, etc. Once voted, the text will be returned to the House of Representatives for adoption.

Rabat - Morocco ranks fifth in the top ten African countries with the most active Twitter accounts.

According to a recent press release by Twitter, there are more than 80,000 active users in the kingdom.

South Africa, which is among the top ten worldwide, heads the list of the African countries with active Twitter accounts.

Moroccan movie actors, singers and TV stars are among the most popular personalities using Twitter.

The comedian and actor Gad Elmaleh has 2.9 million followers, closely followed by his friend and fellow Jamel Debbouze with 2.7 million.

Although the two stars are Moroccans, they live in France.

Currently, Moroccan singer Salma Rachid is the top twitter gainer with more than 671.000 followers since she joined Twitter in December 2012.

Marrakech - The Moroccan Association of Social, Cultural and Artistic Activities (AMASCA), affiliated with Mundiapolis University in Casablanca, conducted a free medical campaign in Ait Lakik village in the Oukaïmeden- Marrakech region on January 10 -11 in order to give direct aid to people in need.

After a successful similar campaign in the same region in 2013, and thanks to 17 medical interns, AMASCA organized this medical and humanitarian campaign, which, according to a press release obtained by MWN, targeted about 250 people, including 60 children.

The campaign was aimed at conducting medical consultations, providing medical care, ensuring access to necessary medication, and distributing blankets collected from various donors for the benefit of the inhabitants of the targeted town.

Founded by the graduates of the Mundiapolis University in December 2012, AMASCA aims at spreading a message of goodwill, optimism and positive change through volunteerism. "AMASCA seeks to carry out sociocultural activities, carrying a message of hope and living up to a better future,” reads the statement.

Besides humanitarian activities, AMASCA supports all other activities that have the potential to promote the cultural, artistic, sporting, and social aspects of local communities in Morocco.