On Thursday, 28 November 2019, nearly 100 young men and women from different regions of Morocco  participated in the project’s kick off event of the Moroccan NGO ”Les Citoyens“ in Casablanca. The vibrant young association launched their project called ”Parole aux Jeunes“ which can be translated as “Giving youth a voice”. Financed by the European Union and the German Federal Foreign Office and supported by Deutsche Welle Akademie, Al Khatt and AL-JANA, this project will be carried out within the next 12 months. 

During the kick off event, the participants discovered the details of the project which will reach jouer à l’habillage out to several destinations in Morocco. The aim is to train young people on how to use new media for creating their own content and expressing their concerns. “We are not represented in the traditional media and we hope this project will provide a platform to express what we feel,” says Rasheed, a 3rd year medical student form Rabat.

The audience listened passionately to the speeches held by distinguished journalists who were invited to share their experiences with youth. The journalist Iman Agutan, who is working for the public broadcaster Medi-1 TV, promised to volunteer in this project and provide her experience as a trainer on presentation skills. ”Media is not a job. it is a duty,“ she said.  She also promised to open her new TV program to the beneficiaries of the project “Parole aux Jeunes”.

One of the project’s strengths is that it reaches out to rural areas and includes young people who often do not benefit from these initiatives. Coming from a small town himself, journalist Redouan Remadani shared his personal experience marked by difficulties in the beginning. “My dreams did not reach out beyond the area of ​​the small city where I lived,” he said.

”Les Citoyens“ launches a call for applications to train talented youth on how to speak up and create content that will respond to youth needs and ambitions. The selected youth will be supported through financial grants and trainings on Media Information and Literacy, a topic which the DW Akademie has developed with different partners in North Africa and the Middle East.