Over the three years since its inception, the program has trained 231 (50% women, 50% men) master’s and doctoral students of law to administer legal aid and facilitate capacity building with community beneficiaries in the Fes-Meknes region of Morocco. In that time, student clinicians have worked on a total 267 case files pertaining to entrepreneurship, immigration and asylum, family mediation, psychological support, human trafficking, employment, and real estate. Additionally, 256 have benefited from the establishment or growth of 39 private income-generating projects and entities following entrepreneurship training and mentorship.

We publish below remarks delivered by the President of the High Atlas Foundation, and a visiting Professor of the University of Virginia, Dr Yossef Ben-Meir at the closing ceremony of the “Engaging Underserved Communities in the Fez region through Legal Aid, Awareness-Raising and Socio-Economic Integration” programme held at the Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University – Fez, Morocco on Saturday, February 4, 2023.

“On this day of a final ceremony and a new beginning, I would like to take this opportunity to share with the students three thoughts that not only may help build upon the achievements you have made together over the life of this experiential learning program with the Middle East Partnership Initiative, but may also be a guide as they have been for me throughout my adult life.

The first thing that I would like to express is the gratitude that I feel in my heart every day as I live and work in the Kingdom of Morocco. Of course, I say this because of its people, its land, history, and culture, that make up the nation. But I also say this because of Morocco’s beautiful development intentions that are backed by its charters, policies, and programs. People’s participation in their own development is codified. By design, the objective of sustainable development crosses the human service delivery of the country’s ministries. Women’s freedom is embodied in the family code, Moudawana. Localizing decision-making and management is part of Moroccan decentralization. Morocco is driven to always deepen the solidarity of the Moroccan people, embracing all of its diversity, while also seeking South-South unity. Whoever we are, we can create civil associations, cooperatives, and businesses to carry forward the dreams we carry in our hearts.

I say this gratefully because this means that due to these national frameworks for sustainable prosperity and justice, we are part of a society where possibilities are honestly infinite; where poverty eradication is not just a far illusion but can be made real in the life of every Moroccan, and where we each have an essential role. By achieving the full-scale of this Moroccan intention, this nation can, and will, ever increasingly inspire the world. I find this Moroccan way comforting, and it is perhaps the most important reason why I - a non Moroccan citizen - cannot let go of this country and the mission of the High Atlas Foundation, which is to achieve the Moroccan vision.

The second idea I would like to share is about the discomfort we feel, and I am referring to the gap between Morocco’s thoughtful and multifaceted strategy for its best future, and the reality of the lives of millions of Moroccan people, particularly in rural areas, who face profound struggles every day. All of our hearts ache as we see an enormity of rural girls unable to continue their education after primary or secondary school; as women and girls in so many places of the nation fetch water, having to pass kilometers daily; as mountain farming communities seek the same irrigation canal literally decade after decade; as it is the rare cooperative that has the capacity to secure the certifications needed to send their products beyond the local souq; and as farming families struggle to purchase trees so that they can transition to greater profitability beyond what barley and corn could provide them.

And in your lives, we understand the anxiety of wanting to give so much to your profession, yet facing real uncertainty, as you gain higher and higher degrees but the search for employment can become tougher and tougher. The real struggles of Moroccan people are also why I cannot walk away. And this bond that weaves the most noble human intention and the hard difficulties of life, unifies us together in the Kingdom.

The final thought I would like to express is about moving forward: there are no preconditions in order for you to apply all your abilities with Moroccan families and communities to create the future they determine. We do not need to first complete the highest degrees to be entrepreneurs. In order to facilitate people’s participation in their own development, we need to organize local community meetings that are inclusive, and facilitate people’s participation in their own development. To make a sustainable difference with others, to achieve what communities commonly feel to be the most important projects for their locality, we need to take the practical step every day by making the calls, writing the letters, meeting with people, organizing from this moment, and not ever stopping until we create a measurable difference that the people have decided necessary.

Where do we start? If we are able, we can start at our origins, where we are from and where we grew up, at the places where we are connected with others, where we are every day, or where we wish ourselves to be. Returning and serving the people from where we originated is an opportunity that not all of us have, and if it is possible in your lives, grab hold of the chance the soonest you can. The Middle East Partnership Initiative, University Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah, all that you have learned, is for them as well.

My departing thought to convey is the recognition of how difficult it is to accomplish what I am saying. We all feel doubts, we wake up with uncertainty of what is the best way for ourselves. When we have such limited means, it is so hard to feel confident and able to achieve our total best. When those moments of uncertainty do come, and they do for all of us, I do take solace in an action that we can do right now, a step that we can take at this moment that can matter to people and the environment for generations to come. We can grab hold of a small native tree and dig and place it in the ground. Even in our moments when we feel we matter least, we can take this action and matter most of all to that young girl or boy in the future who will say bismillah as the fruits are eaten and the soil is enriched. We are always given recourse, and, in Morocco, our options are truly endless.

I look forward to being with you as we continue to build alMaghrib together with and for its people and for the world.”

Present at the function were Dr. Mustapha Ijjaali, President of Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University in Fez; Mr. Puneet Talwar, Ambassador of the United States to the Kingdom of Morocco; and Dr. Mohamed Bouzlafa, Dean of the Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences.