Guided by our overarching mission to achieve dignity, justice and respect for all beings, we are launching the Global Migrants Project. This new initiative aims to promote human rights and personal dignity by improving livelihood opportunities for migrants while fostering intercultural spaces that highlight the value of diversity.

Our initial activities are divided in two categories. The first responds to the most urgent needs of migrants in Morocco: working through partners, we are facilitating access to healthcare, legal advice, nutritious food and warm clothing. These activities alleviate unnecessary suffering and let individuals pursue livelihood opportunities.

The second aims to create intercultural spaces that highlight the value of diversity. In several areas of Morocco, migrant and local communities have started to bridge their diverse traditions through art and music. We aim to build on their efforts by facilitating access to the facilities, resources and networks that could expand the impact of this intercultural dialogue.

These initial activities are crucial in alleviating immediate precarity. However, they do not address the fundamental reasons that push people into dangerous migratory paths, the complex challenges they face en route or the difficulty of social, cultural and economic integration in host societies.

Over the longer term we plan to work across migratory corridors to create alternatives to emigration in countries of departure, promote respect for human rights and access to basic necessities in areas of transit, and provide fair opportunities for social and cultural integration in host societies.

Morocco is the ideal place to launch projects that respond to the immediate precarity of migrants and sow the seeds for our broader long-term vision. Its political leaders are committed to handling migration as a humanitarian issue and are supportive of initiatives to assist migrants currently in its territory. Sitting at a crossroads of African, Middle Eastern and European societies, it has experience in bridging diverse cultures. Facing the triple challenge of being a country of departure, transit and destination, it showcases the dynamics that unfold at every step of the migratory process.