Morocco: USAID, UM6P, and GiveDirectly partner on Cooperative Resilience Programme
MARRAKECH, May 21, 2924 – The University Mohammed VI Polytechnic [UM6P] in Morocco, the United States Agency for International Development [USAID], and GiveDirectly yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding [MoU] to launch the Cooperative Resilience Programme, a new initiative focused on supporting Moroccans to adapt to the impacts of the climate crisis.
The MoU was signed between UM6P President Hicham El Habti, USAID] Administrator Samantha Power, and GiveDirectly Vice President of Partnerships Yolande Wright.
The programme will provide training, coaching, and climate financing for vulnerable cooperatives and entrepreneurs primarily in rural areas, strengthening their capacity to adapt to climate change, grow their economic activities, and build resilience to climate shocks and water scarcity.
The programme is the first component of USAID/Morocco’s new climate portfolio and includes funding from USAID, UM6P, and GiveDirectly. The programme will also be conducted in close collaboration with the Government of Morocco’s National Initiative for Human Development.
The programme will provide cash transfers ranging from US$ 3,000 to US$ 9,000 of climate financing to more than 1,000 cooperatives and entrepreneurs, helping them to invest in equipment, raw materials, and improved techniques and processes that catalyze sustainable economic development and resilience to climate impacts.
It will also foster collaboration among local cooperatives, entrepreneurs, private sector, academia, the Government of Morocco, and international partners for sustainable socio-economic development.
USAID, UM6P, and GiveDirectly designed the Cooperative Resilience Programme in close collaboration with local cooperatives, some of whom met with the signatories prior to the MoU signing.
Many of the cooperatives who participated in the program design had received previous support from a USAID initiative with GiveDirectly that provided a total of US$ 14 million to over 1,600 vulnerable cooperatives during times of crisis and uncertainty, including the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing drought, global inflation, and the Al Haouz earthquake. Others benefited from the Mourafaka programme, a spin-off of the UM6P’s Social Innovation Lab, which supports newly created cooperatives.
About GiveDirectly
GiveDirectly, which also operates in Uganda is a nonprofit organisation operating in low income areas that helps families living in extreme poverty by making unconditional cash transfers to them via mobile phone.
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