Morocco
 | Final Evaluation – New Life, New Hope: A Social Reintegration Program in the Sahel-Maghreb Region – September 2018The two-year project New Life, New Hope: A Social Reintegration Program in the Sahel-Maghreb Region in Niger, Mali and Morocco was funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). The project sought to improve the reintegration of detainees in Niger, Mali and Morocco.The prison conditions in these countries—and, in in particular, in Niger and Mali—are generally poor and not conducive to detainee rehabilitation. The main deficiencies are the overpopulation of the prisons, as well as a lack of social, medical and legal assistance and opportunities for recreational and professional activities. Moreover, in Niger and Mali, the judicial system lacks the ability to process court cases within a reasonable time limit and to guarantee fair process conditions. Search offered various socio-professional activities for detainees, and organized training activities for employees in the jurisdictory sector. It aired awareness-raising campaigns on various TV and radio channels to foster the destigmatization of detainees in society. Finally, Search organized activities to enhance collaboration and information-sharing between the project countries. The socio-professional activities provided detainees with skills that enable them to find a job upon their release. The activities also provided detainees with meaningful ways to spend their time and promoted collaborative and peaceful relationships between the detainees. Prison management and personnel are now better prepared to provide successful reintegration programs, and have increased skills in conflict resolution, psycho-social support and inmate management. |
 | A New Life, A New HopePrisons in the Sahel and Maghreb regions are often overcrowded, under-equipped, and plagued by conflict, increasing the risk of radicalization among prisoners. Inmates also often lack the skills and resources to facilitate their reintegration into society when they are released. For this reason, unemployment and lack of social […] |
| Final Evaluation – Women’s Caravan for Peace – March 2017From September 2016-December 2017, Search-Morocco, in partnership with the Rabita Mohammadia of Ulemas (Rabita), implemented “Women’s Caravan for Peace.” This program sought to create spaces for women-led dialogue among key social stakeholders and community members in marginalized neighborhoods in northern Morocco, with a focus on tolerance, diversity of thought, morality, violence, and women’s rights. These dialogues sought to promote the collaborative development of an alternative narrative to that propagated by violent extremist organizations. This report indicates that as a result of the project, the workshops held on civic and economic participation of youth reached137 young people in Tangier, Tetouan, Al Hoceima, and Nador. These workshops sought to increase youths’ self-esteem by increasing their capacity to address public and private community institutions in order to contribute to social change and 89% of participants reported increased awareness of civic participation as a result of the workshops. In addition to other community interventions, 20 youth were trained in film and multimedia techniques and produced six short films that touched upon the emotional themes and stories related to violent extremism in Moroccan communities. Ultimately, 150 community members were reached through film projections in the four target cities. |
 | Final Evaluation – The Morocco Transforming Violent Extremism Media Training Program – December 2017The Transforming Violent Extremism Media Training Program took place throughout 2017 in Morocco and was funded by the US Department of State. This program facilitated training for 32 beneficiaries from across a variety of sectors through the development of media campaigns with the objectives being to develop greater understanding of Morocco-specific drivers of violent extremism and to amplify locally credible alternative narratives to violent extremism that resonate with vulnerable Moroccan youth. Over the duration of the program, beneficiaries were led through a series of workshops on violent extremism and alternative narrative messaging, and produced three media campaigns through comprehensive social media training. The program evaluation confirms that the project has been successful in developing a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the drivers of violent extremism in Morocco, and has empowered and amplified locally credible alternative narratives in the process. By working with other participants from various other sectors and opinions, beneficiaries felt they were able to produce more comprehensive and well-developed campaigns which would resonate with young Moroccans. The most important result of the program for the participants are the skills they learned in gaining a command of using social media as a tool and platform to create and disseminate alternative messages to violent extremism to better identify and transform violent extremism. Their participation in this program has increased their confidence in their abilities to identify and combat violent extremist messaging. |
 | Our Children Are NowConflict transformation and prevention in the Moroccan Child Protection Centers On April 4, 2018, Her Excellency Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice & Attorney General of Canada, visited one of several Moroccan Child Protection Centers that we work with. There, she met with our Morocco Country Director, Noufal Abboud. […] |
 | Fatima takes a stand: a young Moroccan’s journey to empower youth22-year-old activist Fatima Benoughazi is on a mission to stop the recruitment of young Moroccans into violent extremist groups. |
 | How Moroccan activists are countering online recruitment into violent extremismOur local team’s Facebook campaigns are spreading nonviolent narratives among Moroccan youth. |