On July 26, 2019, Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir, President of the High Atlas Foundation (HAF), was invited by AFCD Foundation in Ait Ourir as a leader to give a talk about HAF’s scope, activities, and approaches to sustainable community development.

The talk, which was one hour long, is a part of the agenda of a workshop organized for students participating in the Summer School event organized by AFCD Foundation that started under an attractive topic: “Meet a leader”.

Thirty students attended the event; eighteen girls and twelve boys from different parts of the country along with two international students from Haiti and Nigeria currently studying in Morocco.

In his presentation, Dr. Yossef talked about the importance of sustainable development for communities all over the country, wherever they are and whenever there is a need for it. In the same context, he stressed the importance of the presence of a facilitator in the organizations dealing with sustainable community development and explained how beneficial it is to have young facilitators in the team.

Furthermore, he recommended having young people in the middle of participatory method in Ait Ourir – and other parts of Morocco – because having such actors in the operational group could make the difference since it is almost a guarantee that sustainable development is encouraged and its implementation real.

After a number of questions addressed to the young audience about the approaches that could be taken to improve livelihood of people in marginal rural areas, Dr. Yossef stated that Morocco is a very special country. All the fundamentals are there to take all actions in relation to human and social development are. We have all the advantages and we cannot take it for granted.

AFCD Foundation must go forward in expanding awareness among all the target population to make sure everyone knows everything. Enabling others to become “known” is the best way to make sure that you are on the good track. Dr. Yossef stated that “most project ideas came from the people we work with and we visit and not from me the president of the High Atlas Foundation”. The best ideas come from others and not necessarily from the leader. You just have to listen to others. There is no ME in this.

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