Today, Administrator Samantha Power was in Rabat, Morocco, to meet with youth, government officials, and civil society. She began her day with a visit to the Rabita Mohammedia League of Scholars where she met with Dr. Ahmed Abaddi, Secretary General of the Rabita Mohammedia. During the meeting, USAID, the International Organization for Migration, and the Rabita Mohammedia signed an agreement reinforcing the partnership between the United States and the Government of Morocco in addressing the challenges facing young Moroccans. These organizations work together with local partners to address key aspects of youth marginalization such as difficulty accessing quality education, high unemployment rates, and disenfranchisement by engaging youth in a wide range of opportunities from sports clubs to vocational training.
The Administrator met with the staff of U.S. Embassy Rabat, including USAID Morocco team, to express her appreciation for their work, and particularly their efforts to increase partnerships with local Moroccan organizations and the Government of Morocco.
Administrator Power then spoke with local participants in USAID's ILTIZAM program, which supports Morocco's commitments to the Open Government Partnership at the national and sub-national level. They shared their thoughts about the issues facing their communities and ideas for how to overcome barriers to inclusive and meaningful participation with local government.
Following these engagements, Administrator Power hosted a live conversation with Foreign Service National staff from the USAID/Morocco team to discuss the various ways that the Mission has made progress in advancing locally led development and lessons learned from these efforts.
Administrator Power then joined Moroccan youth in a lively soccer match. After the success of a smaller-scale sports activity in Tangier, the local government utilized USAID's support in expanding the activity in Rabat to engage more young people, especially women and girls, providing them social connections and a source of pride. Administrator Power was joined by Intissar Chaabani, a professional Moroccan soccer player and former participant in USAID's youth programming. Intissar credits support from her parents and USAID not only for helping grow her soccer skills, but also helping improve her performance in school.
Administrator Power concluded her day with an interview with Morocco's Medi1 TV.
