Improve Rural Moroccan Schools: Sami's Project

Errachid with rural primary school students, conducting an environmental workshop in Ait Hamou municipality in the Marrakech region (Photo by Nisreen Abo-Sido; January 2019).

Yossef Ben-Meir

President, High Atlas Foundation

Marrakech, Morocco

yossef@highatlasfoundation.org

Tel. +212624596622

September 16, 2019

Errachid Montassir of Morocco, a project manager of the High Atlas Foundation (HAF), was recently accepted to attend the first ever UN Youth Climate Summit in New York City on Saturday, September 21. The special event will be a platform for young leaders who are driving climate action to showcase their solutions at the United Nations, and to meaningfully engage with decision-makers on the defining issue of our time. It will be the largest gathering of young climate leaders at the UN in history. 

Over 7,000 young people between the ages of 18 to 29 applied to attend the Youth Climate Summit. Errachid Montassir was one of 500 hundred young people from around the world selected to attend the Summit after demonstrating their commitment to addressing the climate crisis and displaying leadership in advancing solutions.

The Youth Climate Summit will feature a full-day of programming that brings together young activists, innovators, entrepreneurs, and change-makers who are committed to combating climate change at the pace and scale needed to meet the challenge. It will be action oriented, intergenerational, and inclusive, with equal representation of young leaders from all walks of life.

“Youth are showing us the way on climate action,” said Special Envoy for the 2019 Climate Action Summit, Luis Alfonso de Alba. “I am eager for young climate leaders from all over the world to take their rightful place on the global stage and participate in this historic moment.”

Errachid Montassir is a highly valued member of the HAF team, and is an example of the transformative experience that this foundation can have on youth. Errachid began with HAF four years ago as a student intern, during which time he demonstrated exemplary leadership and professionalism. Errachid was then hired to be a full-time staff member at HAF, managing Sami’s Project, which is designed to improve the learning and environmental conditions for youth across Morocco.

Furthermore, Errachid has been trained as a facilitator in participatory community meetings, allowing him to assist local populations in urban and rural settings to develop action plans for their priority projects. Errachid has been a project manager for three years, vitally contributing to programs’ expansion, and is currently a key team member of USAID’s Farmer-to-Farmer program that benefits schools and cooperatives.