TIBU Maroc and the US Embassy in Morocco are launching an education through sport program in Laâyoune

• 200 young Moroccan and refugee children will benefit from a program that promotes sustainable transformation through sports.
• The launch of this new program in the presence of David Schenker, US Assistant Secretary of State, confirms the deep commitment of the historic partnership between TIBU Maroc and the US Embassy in Morocco for the development and empowerment of Moroccan youth.
• TIBU Maroc strengthens its presence in the southern provinces of the Kingdom and adds the 22nd center to its credit.

The result of a historical and strategic partnership between TIBU Maroc and the Embassy of the United States in Morocco: TIBU Laâyoune Center by US Embassy, in partnership with the Ministry of National Education, was officially inaugurated on Saturday 9 January for the benefit of 200 young Moroccan and refugee children aged between 12 and 16; in the presence of the Wali of Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra region and David Schenker, U. S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs.

“I am very pleased to join you today to take part in the launch of the new TIBU by the US Embassy in partnership with the Ministry of National Education. The US State Department is proud to collaborate with TIBU Morocco, which is led by a young Moroccan leader and one of our US government exchange programs, Amine Zariat. The U.S. mission in Morocco has worked closely with TIBU over the past 10 years and we are pleased to facilitate the expansion of TIBU programs in the Southern provinces,” said David Schenker, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Easter Affairs.

As a major player in the education and professional integration of young people through sport with a broad national coverage in more than 15 cities and 9 regions of the Kingdom, and in line with its ambition to become the locomotive of sport for development in Africa by 2030, TIBU Maroc is committed to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and considers them a real opportunity to position sport as a powerful tool for developing innovative solutions to the complex challenges of the 21st century.

TIBU Maroc and the Embassy of the United States in Morocco unveiled a new center for the development of motor, cognitive and socio-emotional skills; open to 200 young Moroccan and refugee students in Laâyoune. TIBU Laâyoune Center by US Embassy in Morocco, the 22nd in the Kingdom, crowns a deep commitment of both partners to meet the major challenges of Moroccan society, mainly the education and empowerment of young people.

"Faced with the current situation that the world and Morocco are going through due to the health crisis and in the light of the diplomatic advances in the southern provinces of the Kingdom, sport is emerging as an effective and efficient tool to respond to complex issues that hinder the development of these regions. We are proud to launch this program with a strong social and sustainable impact on 200 families and young people in Laayoune. I would like to thank the American mission in Morocco for supporting our programs for the empowerment and education of young people," declared Mohamed Amine Zariat, Ashoka Fellow and Founding President of the organization TIBU Maroc.

TIBU Maroc recognizes the power of sport as a true means to create peaceful and inclusive societies and thus enables the establishment of safe spaces that fight against abuse. It promotes the creation of a suitable learning environment by modelling more modern and innovative transmission and teaching styles. 200 young Moroccan and refugee children will find their way to empowerment and educational success thanks to a program based on individual learning and collective basketball techniques, workshops focusing on STEMs and foreign languages, and modules promoting leadership. This program is in line with the strategic vision of the 2015-2030 reform of the Ministry of National Education, which aims to re-find a modern and qualitative educational model. Meanwhile, TIBU Laâyoune Center opens 4 job positions for the local population.

TIBU Laâyoune Center by US Embassy in Morocco aims to create life champions who will be true role models for Moroccan youth.

TIBU Maroc plans to make this new center a new brick in the development model of Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra region, which has just achieved a great consecration by receiving the prize of "The Euro-Mediterranean Region of Sport 2021".

About TIBU Maroc:

TIBU Maroc is a Moroccan NGO that uses the power of sport to develop innovative social solutions in the field of education, empowerment and socio-economic inclusion of young people through sports.

Founded in 2011, TIBU Maroc is the leading organization in Morocco in the education and integration of young people through sports. TIBU Maroc recognises that the power of sport provides transformational sustainability to practitioners, children, youth, women, and people with specific needs; namely: better health, closer communities, greater athletic achievements and a stronger identity.

About the US Mission in Morocco:

The American Embassy in Rabat believes in the role of sport in building bridges of friendship and understanding with people in Morocco, especially with young people. The embassy’s sports programs seek to promote American values throughout Morocco, while serving as a gateway to success both on and off the playgrounds. Sport teaches teamwork, discipline, leadership, and hope. Through sports diplomacy, the State Department takes the best aspects of sport, combines them with the American experience and shows the world the values that define the United States. The United States Mission in Morocco is to organize programs in various sports such as: basketball, women’s football, tennis, and skateboarding.