SFCG Morocco Celebrates New Mediation Centers

Nora Amajane

SFCG Morocco recently celebrated the opening of two mediation centers in Casablanca. The openings mark the culmination of the team’s project aimed at providing mediation training for youth.

The project is titled, “Mitigating Communal Conflict by Engaging Youth Constructively in Local Democratic and Economic Development Through the Establishment of Youth Community and Mediation Centers in Casablanca and Tetouan.”

Youth participant receives her mediation certificate

To honor the project’s achievements, SFCG Morocco along with project partners, USAID and the National Initiative for Human Development, hosted a daylong conference and concluding ceremony in late September.  Project workers, participants and media all convened to celebrate.

A group of 100 Moroccan youth were awarded certificates for the mediation training they received as a result of the project. And, another group of approximately 50 youth were recognized as they are now certified trainers of the mediation program.

The two new community mediation centers in Casablanca were officially opened later that day. The youth mediators will sustain these along with other project centers.

By the conclusion of the project, SFCG Morocco found that 70 percent of those surveyed in both cities (Casablanca and Tetouan) reported a reduction of social tension as a direct result of the mediation centers and 67 percent of youth said they can identify sustainable employment opportunities, an increase from 36.5 percent during an initial evaluation.