The Middle East Partnership Initiative showed the next generation of Moroccan leaders how the internet can help effect social change
A new programme in Morocco aims to empower youths to take charge of their future. The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Alumni Network's "Be Heard Now" project provided young leaders with a week-long training course in social media that ended Friday (October 1st) in Rabat.
Eighteen young representatives of civil society attended the course, which illustrated ways to use modern technology to initiate social change.
Abdallah Yassine Boukrizia national co-ordinator of MEPI's Moroccan division, told Magharebia that young people are used to using web-based social networks to post photos or chat, but that they could also use them to run high-impact awareness campaigns.
The training covered three areas: the fight against corruption, social entrepreneurship and promoting the image of Moroccan women. According to the event's organisers, the topics were chosen for their ability to affect the lives of Moroccans directly.
The young beneficiaries learned easy ways to convey civic messages via podcasts over the internet. For social entrepreneurship, simple graphics were used to encourage business owners and investors to increase profits and efficiency by providing better work environments for employees.
Manal Elattir, the MEPI Alumni Network co-ordinator, stressed that the Morocco programme focused on empowerment. "We're not pushing forward," she said. "People fear risks; we need to build up our young people's faith in their own abilities."
Response to the training appeared positive.
"The enriching training... changed my view of the internet and ways of raising awareness," said Rachid Dib, a 22-year-old student of English literature. "Just a few days are all it takes to change people's view of the future."
Dib said he intends to pass on the benefit of the experience to others when he returns home.
A similar view was held by Loubna Ghidou, a 19-year old from Casablanca who is in her second year studying applied mathematics. She said that young people need to be guided in order to have a greater impact on society. "I'm a member of the Idmaj Association," she said. "This training will help me a great deal in my community work, which will definitely be more effective."
Mohamed Bachir, an Egyptian expert on new technologies who supervised the training, said: "Morocco and Egypt are similar in terms of the use of new technologies, but one difference is that young Moroccans are much more active in civil society and can do a lot of things on the internet."
The impact of programmes like this is very important, said Judith Chammas, Deputy Chief of Mission at the US embassy in Rabat, because if young people have the right tools, they can make a real difference in society.
Manal Elattir revealed some of the successes made by MEPI and the Alumni Network in this regard.
She told the story of a young schoolgirl named Jihad who visited one of MEPI's awareness caravans: "[She] was silent and did not dare to express herself during the training," Elattir said. "After she returned to Fes, she and her friends started up a club for young people. The cost was nothing in comparison with the result."
According to Abdallah Yassine Boukrizia, "Be Heard Now" exists for now only in Morocco but could be implemented in other countries if successful.
By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat
© Magharebia.com 2010
