The School of Humanities and Social Studies
Announces a Study Day on
Fifty Years of Human Development and the INDH
Saturday 25 November, 2006
Building One, Board Room
The Report on 50 Years of Human Development was published in January 2006. It consists of a broad assessment of all types of development issues Morocco has faced since independence. It also offers a prognostic of current trends and options for the next 20 years. The preparation of the report involved many of Morocco’s top academics and social science researchers. Rachid Benmokhtar Benabdellah, President of Al Akhawayn University, was a key member of both the Scientific Steering Committee and of the project’s overall Directorate.
The publication of the Report follows closely on the heels of the launching of the National Initiative for Human Development (INDH) by His Majesty King Muhammad VI on May 18, 2005. The stated aim of this initiative is to improve the standard of living of the rural and urban poor through infrastructure, public utilities and public services. This is to be done by engaging both government and local people, creating greater involvement of civil society in local and regional development. A new Ministry of Social Development was created to help with the process. More recently, on the 21 July 2006, Dr. Benmokhtar was appointed by His Majesty to preside over the National Observatory created to monitor and the assess progress of the INDH.
These recent developments constitute a significant long term shift in policy and strategies, one which will shape the professional lives and careers of AUI students once they enter productive life. The aim of the Study Day is to bring together some of the authors of the Report on 50 Years of Human Development and AUI students currently studying development issues for in a workshop-style exchange. The Report’s contributors will be asked to present their findings. AUI faculty members and students who have worked on development issues will then present their research. Issues include: Society, Family, Women & Youth, Economic & Human Development, Education, Health, Poverty & Exclusion, the Environment, Culture, and Governance.
Study Day on
Fifty Years of Human Development and the INDH
Saturday 25 November, 2006
Building One, Board Room
Schedule
9:00-10:00 Session 1: AUI Faculty (chair: Dr. Dahbi)
- Dr. Eric Ross: Human Development and Local Development: Essaouira and Ifrane
- Dr. James Sater: Good Governance and Human Development
10:00-10:30 Session 2: AUI Master’s Students (chair: Eric Ross)
- Faiçal Baamer, INDH and UNDP projects
- Sara Aït Lmoudden, Women and Water at Dayat Ifrah
10:30-10:45 Coffee Break
Session 3: AUI Bachelor’s Students (chair: John Shoup)
10:45-12:00 3a) Dr. John Shoup’s Tafilalt research
- Patrick Hughley: Solidarity Tourism in al-Gurfah District
- Eric Lightfoot: Solidarity Tourism in the Tafilalt Oasis
- Mohamed El Hosni Alaoui: Agriculture as the Key to the Sustainablity of the Tafilalt Oasis
- Souad Adnane: The Implications of Cultural Traditions for Regional Development: al-Ghurfah
- Mehdi Kejji: Literacy Programs in the Tafilalt
12:00-12:30 3b) Bouziane Zaid’s Dayat Ifrah research
- Marieyem Shami, Siham Khallouk, Majida Safi: Rural Women and Development at Dayat Ifrah
- Ghassan Ouajnati: Founding the Dayat Ifrah Association
12:30-13:00 Closing Discussion
- Dr. Rachid Benmokhtar Benabdellah, Discussant
13:00-14:00 Lunch