High Atlas Foundation - Developing a self-sustaining future for Morocco

The main objective of HAF is to establish sustainable development projects identified and managed by local communities in partnership with the public, private and civil sectors. HAF applies the participatory method in all its projects, from start to finish. This is essentially a grassroots, ‘bottom-up' approach: local communities are both the initiators and the beneficiaries of any given initiative and they are fully engaged throughout the process. Key to this approach is the facilitation of community planning meetings, where beneficiaries jointly together determine the projects they've chosen to undertake and create action plans. Morocco is dedicated to sustainable human development using the participatory approach. In 2005, His Majesty King Mohammed VI launched the National Initiative for Human Development, as a result of this and other national programs, many of the frameworks to deliver successful projects across the Kingdom are in place. This participatory method is integral to Morocco's national vision for sustainable human development. HAF recognizes the need for top-down support of grassroots initiatives. to this end, HAF works to support understanding and use of the participatory approach in all levels of government and society. HAF has seven main programs: 1) Organic Agriculture HAF strives to improve the livelihood of rural Moroccan communities, while maintaining an eco-friendly approach to economic growth. HAF supports rural farmers' desire to move from subsistence agriculture, which is at the root of rural poverty, end transition to cash-crop farming. involves the planting of organic fruit tree varieties, to generate greater income. HAF's social enterprise, High Atlas Agriculture and Artisanal (HA3), which will increase the impact of this agriculture project by commercializing the organic products and investing a portion of net revenue into new human development projects. 2) Training About 49 percent of Moroccan youth are neither in school nor in the workforce (World Bank). Students and civil society organizers lack sufficient support in capacity building and sufficient skills building and training from the Moroccan educational system to pursue their academic and career goals. HAF's participatory approach to human development focuses on training in self-reliance, firstly to ensure sustainable access to and spread of knowledge and skills and later, the diffusion of these benefits throughout communities. Working with HAF, Community members identify the most crucial and potentially beneficial projects that promise the greatest benefit and gain experiential, and transferable knowledge by implementing every step of these projects. Capacity building and skills training give individuals the ability to lift their communities out of poverty while contributing to the development of a green economy. In order to maximize its impact, HAF relies upon the ‘training of trainers' methodology. The impact of such training of of community members increases HAF's reach exponentially when these individuals return to their communities to share lessons learned and empower their neighbors. 3) Youth HAF engages Moroccan youth through education, training, income- generating opportunities, and entrepreneurial organizational management. Investment in rural and urban youth through participatory development will ensure the sustainability of Moroccan development and a highly prosperous future. HAF's Mohammadia training center at Hassan II University gives first-hand participatory and experiential training to students and civil society organizers. Sami's Project joins with young students, teachers and communities in planting thousands of fruit trees and botanical gardens at their schools. 4) Women's Programs HAF projects help to empower women so that they may benefit in the socioeconomic and political spheres. By focusing on women's participation at the grassroots level, HAF catalyzes community-initiated projects that can be implemented and sustained by the community. HAF projects address the development needs of women and their families and ameliorate women's traditional socioeconomic marginalization. Women are key stakeholders in HAF projects and are given the skills and tools to improve their socioeconomic standing and to increase the scale of their initiatives. In addition, HAF trains women elected to communal councils and who are civil and community leaders in essential skills, including problem solving, participatory development planning, project implementation and evaluation. 5) Cultural Diversity HAF and local communities are taking immediate action to preserve Morocco's multicultural past and record the memories of peaceful coexistence and intertwined history among its Muslim majority together with minority Christian and Jewish communities. HAF celebrates Moroccan multiculturalism through its participatory approach, in which community members identify development priorities for a sustainable impact. Together with community partners, HAF has undertaken interfaith projects in education, restoration, and agriculture. These projects create a symbol - on local, national and global levels level - of collaboration among different social groups. 6) Clean Drinking Water HAF aims to address water access challenges for rural schools and communities throughout Morocco. • HAF utilizes a variety of drinking water systems to meet different communal needs. These include digging wells or installing gravity flow systems, which deliver safe drinking water directly from mountain springs, to reservoirs and then to homes. HAF explores a variety of drinking water systems to meet community needs, including building water towers and installing solar pumps to bring water from valleys to villages situated in mountainous areas. • Our partners share with communities important health-related information in order to avoid water-borne illnesses. Water-system maintenance and repair techniques are also taught at the grassroots level. • By bringing villages clean drinking water, HAF can reduce infant mortality rates, improve public health conditions, and transfer skills at the grassroots level while using local materials and building techniques. 7) Clean Energy HAF and community partners aim to address climate change challenges through the promotion of clean energy alternatives. Over the next 5 years, HAF will implement projects utilizing innovative green technologies such as solar pumps, solar panels, biomass briquettes, and organic charcoal. HAF provides sustainable solutions to increase access to clean burning fuels, thereby minimizing deforestation and CO2 emissions. HAF addresses these climate change challenges by promoting and utilizing innovative clean energy alternatives. HAF is exploring the use of solar pumps for communities access to new water sources. HAF greenhouses will soon be equipped with solar panels to provide the necessary energy to run irrigation systems. Biomass briquettes and organic charcoal, both composed of agricultural waste, will provide communities with a low cost, alternative fuel source eliminating the need for firewood, and thus decrease deforestation. HAF has been actively implementing projects in Morocco since 2003, building on the Peace Corps experience of its founders. HAF is both a U.S. 501(c)(3) organization and a Moroccan non-profit association. Since 2011 it has held special Consultative Status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council. HAF actively recruits talent and expertise within Morocco and is supported by Moroccan and international volunteers. The dynamic created by this intercultural team gives HAF a unique perspctive and capacity to advance people's development. For a complete of all HAF partners, please visit http://highatlasfoundation.org/about-haf/haf-s-partners Here you will find all the governmental, corporate, civil and educational partners.