– Civil Society Matters to the Sustainable Development Goals, Global Research, by Peter Jacques (Visiting Expert), 8 February 2019. •  Arabic: Al-Watan Voice, 16 February 2019.Life and death for whole communities hang in the balance of achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that include eliminating poverty, conserving forests, and addressing climate change, passed by the United Nations unanimously

Work-study students, interns, and volunteers of the High Atlas Foundation have opportunities to analyze development as it is experienced in rural and urban communities, by farmers, women, youth, and people of all backgrounds.  We also give the students and volunteers the encouragement and support that they need in order to write their observations, improve upon their writing,

    Participating in the Annual Farmer-to-Farmer Implementers Meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina By Yossef Ben-Meir, Ph.D. President, High Atlas FoundationHere is what I consider a joyful and fulfilling week: 80 or so people gathered from around the world to consider together wide-ranging issues in relation to supporting expert volunteers, for instance how they, cooperatives,

– المغرب العميق بعيون جزائري, Sotal Iraq, by Brahim Bahmani Rai (HAF Intern), 28 November 2018 الكاتب: إبراهيم بحماني الراعي متطوع في مؤسسة الأطلس الكبير    بعد انتهاء مرحلة التعليم الجامعي في شهر يونيو سنة 2018 فكرت في تنظيم رحلة سياحية الى خارج الوطن، فشاءت حكمة الله أن أزور لأول مرة في حياتي البلد المجاور لدولة الجزائر وهي دولة المغرب

– A Model to Implement Sustainable Development in Morocco, SAIS Review of International Affairs, by Yossef Ben-Meir (HAF President) 12 October 2018.  In terms of human development potential, Morocco is a nation of immense promise, where gifted fortunes of nature such as wide-ranging organic agricultural products come together with dynamic social development frameworks. This could launch the

– Effective Practices to Sustain Development in Morocco, Scoop World, by Kerstin Opfer (Graduate Student and HAF Volunteer), 11 October 2018. • Arabic: Ach Press, 17 October 2018. Natural landscapes are declining worldwide. Approximately 30 percent of the world’s natural forests are expected to be lost by the end of this century. Further, 25 percent of all land on

– Muslim-Jewish goodwill blossoms in Morocco, Qantara, By Yossef Ben-Meir (HAF President), 19 September 2018. • Arabic: Qantara, 23 September 2018. • German: Qantara, 27 September 2018. The High Atlas Foundationʹs fruit tree nursery project Since 2012, the Moroccan Jewish community has been helping local farmers by donating land around ancient cemeteries for the planting of fruit tree nurseries. The aim:

– Morocco Provides Safe Spaces for Youth, The New Arab, By Julia Payne (Undergraduate student and HAF Intern), 8 August 2018. • Arabic: El-Bashayer, 1 September 2018.   As a society, we have hopes and dreams for the future; for our children, our countries, and the global community. These aspirations rest on the shoulders of the youngest generation.

– Why Education Isn’t the Only Solution: An Overview of Female Employment in Morocco and the Region, Global Research, by Katherine O’Neill (Undergraduate student and HAF Intern), 24 July 2018. • Arabic: Al-Watan Voice, 6 August 2018 The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has the lowest female employment rate of anywhere in the world. Though most countries

– Can the Moroccan Approach Inspire a Development Revolution?, Business Ghana University, by Julia Al-Akkad (Undergraduate student and HAF Intern), 21 July 2018. • Arabic: Al-Bayadar, 1 August 2018. • French: Africa News Agency, 30 July 2018. Decades of conflict and complex power dynamics between Jewish and Muslim communities have resulted in a deep-rooted aversion towards cultural engagement. This continues to

– Swiss Embassy Offsets Carbon Footprint by Planting Trees, Scoop, 15 July 2015. MARRAKESH – The Swiss Embassy in Rabat is offsetting its carbon emissions by supporting Sami’s Project, an initiative from the High Atlas Foundation that is dedicated to increasing the quality of education in rural Morocco. The Embassy’s donation of 46,800 MAD, implemented through the

– Lending Land to Enhance Life, Scoop News, by Kati Roumani (HAF Moroccan Decentralization: Step by Step, Jerusalem Post, by Yossef Ben-Meir (HAF President), 6 August 2015. HOUSE OF LIFE is an innovative agricultural initiative whose implications are broad and resonate acutely with current world events; set in the specific context of Moroccan human development needs and cultural history, the

– Between Despondency and Hope in Morocco’s Oriental Region, The Perspective, by Elle Houby (HAF writer), 29 January   2016. – On the fringes of the Saharan desert, skirted by the rocky coastline of the northern Maghreb where it meets the blue Mediterranean, lies the Oriental region of Morocco. Nestling within an often verdant, predominantly mountainous terrain is Oujda, the largest

– A Legacy of Peace Corps Service, Friends of Morocco, Friends of Morocco News, by Lillian Thompson (HAF-Peace Corps Response Volunteer),   February 2016. I’d like to share with you a story about the origins of the High Atlas Foundation, and my experience with it as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer. The High Atlas Foundation resulted from its founder,

– What is the Value of a Woman?, ZNET, by Emma Tobin (HAF Intern), 30 March 2016. As a woman, I fight everyday to be respected and treated as an equal. I was lucky enough to be born into a middle class American family with parents who encouraged my education and growth. In my house I

– Moroccan Decentralization – Challenges to Genuine Implementation, Indigenous Policy Journal, by Yossef Ben-Meir   (HAF President), 1 November 2016. The Moroccan decentralization initiative bears great promise to achieve human development goals that are truly ‘of the people’. As turmoil engulfs so much of the MENA region, the Moroccan model stands out as a potential means of empowering and

– Supporting the Kingdom of Morocco, transconflict, by Yossef Ben-Meir (HAF President), 23 October 2016. In recent decades the Kingdom of Morocco has embarked on a path that fully commits the nation to a development and civil course that is at once progressive and strongly connected to its national identity. The Moroccan model for success –

– Alternative Politics of Renewal, Global Research, by Yossef Ben-Meir (HAF President), 27 February 2017. • French: Libération, 17 June 2017. What does it look like when the local approach to achieving sustainable development projects guides not just how we govern, but is also strategically implemented by candidates to help them campaign and secure elected office? First, let us

– Accelerating Sustainable Development Toward 2030, Participated in 16th Session of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration, New York, HAF Statement by Yossef Ben-Meir, 24-28 April 2017. • French: Libération, 10 June 2017. Taken together, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – contained in U.N. Resolution 70/1 involving the 194 member states and civil society in its deliberation –

– Coming of Age in Tassa Ouirgane, Modern Ghana, by Mark Apel (Community Extension Expert), 17 May 2017. • Arabic: Al Bayader, 7 July 2017. By Mark Apel- USAID Farmer to Farmer Volunteer, Former Peace Coprs Morocco Volunteer. From 1985 until 1986, I was a Peace Corps Volunteer living in the Azzeden Valley working for the country’s Eaux et

– Promoting human rights to support development in rural Morocco, The Jerusalem Post, by Gal Kramarski (Graduate Student and HAF Intern), 10 February 2018. • French: World News, 16 February 2018. • Arabic: Sadaalahdas, 14 February 2018. Introduction There is an intrinsic link between human rights and development. Development, in many cases includes a process of securing access to rights, and their

– Visionaries Then and Now, by Thomas Kimmel (Agricultural Expert), 21 March 2018, HAF Blog. • Arabic: Maghress Cawalisee, 16 April 2018. • French: HAF Blog, 14 November 2018. In the 1980’s, a solo American made a huge impact on Ouaouizerth, Morocco, an Amazigh village, located in the western High Atlas Mountains.  His name was J. Christopher Stevens, a Peace Corps.

– Conserving Traditional Crop Diversity and Wild Medicinal Plants in Morocco, by Abderrahim Ouarghidi (Agricultural Expert), Worldstage, 21 May 2018. • Arabic: Al-Watan Voice, 12 May 2018. Morocco is a key producer of fruits and vegetables for global markets thanks to the government’s push for commercialized crop production – but at what cost? This article explores how “modern” crops

– From Transit to Integration: A Moroccan Initiative for Community Development, Morocco World News, by Nathan Park (Undergraduate student and HAF Intern), 31 May 2018. • Arabic: Marrakech 24, 12 June 2018. By Nathan Park HAF Intern International migration from sub-Saharan Africa towards Europe and the United States has significantly increased over the past decade. These migration trends, especially

– Mountain Life, Addis Fortune, 14 December 2014. It may be that, more than any other terrain, mountain regions exemplify a particular paradox – that of dense poverty coexisting with a special potential for transformative prosperity. The conditions that create mountain people’s impoverishment are rooted both in local and broader contextual conditions.  Mountain areas are often blessed

– Meet 2015er: Yossef Ben-Meir, U.N. Dispatch, Mythili Sampath Kumar (staff writer), 18 February 2015. This blog post is taken from an article written by Mythili Sampathkumar and published on February 18, 2015 for UN Dispatch. This is the second installment of our new “Meet a 2015er” series that profiles the women and men who are helping to

– World Environment Day, Modern Ghana, 5 June 2014. World Environment Day is held annually on June 5 under UN auspices to highlight a particular area of environmental concern. The focus this year is on the unique challenges facing the world’s small islands in their battle with rising ocean levels – a far cry, it might seem,

Please read about HAF’s new partnership with the Organization of the Moroccan Community in the United States to bring sustainable development projects to Zaouia-Cheikh, in the Ben-Mellal region of Morocco.  It is an important upcoming community-driven initiative. • ENGLISH – Announcing A New Participatory Development Initiative In Zaouia-cheikh, Morocco, 26 October 2011, Press Release • FRENCH – Zaouiate cheikh: