Research

Jossour Forum des Femmes Marocaines (Kaya Responsible Travel) - Morocco

Virtual Internship
Year
2020-2021

Final Report: Jossour Forum des Femmes Marocaines, Kaya Responsible Travel – Morocco

 

When I began my virtual internship with Jossour Forum des Femmes Marocaines, I did not fully understand what the experience was going to be like. This was my first experience working with an NGO and they were located in Morocco, a country whose culture is very different from mine. Thankfully, Kaya provided us with cultural guides that allowed me to become a bit more familiar with the country and its work culture. Either way, I was excited to take part in my first international, professional experience.

Jossour is a non-governmental organization with consultative status at the UN’s Economic and Social Council. Their mission is to reinforce the presence of women in all levels and domains of Moroccan society as well as work towards the visibility and presence of Moroccan women, especially in positions of leadership in the country. They seek to create an increasingly egalitarian Moroccan society by providing a dedicated space for the exchange of ideas and to provide Moroccan women with the right tools for their empowerment.

During my time at Jossour, I was assigned tasks that mostly related to the day-to-day functions of the organization. Some of my favorite tasks included transforming a paper they had previously written into a policy memo/policy brief in both English and French, researching grant opportunities, and getting to draft responses for the president of Jossour and an interview she was going to take part in. By far, the most rewarding of all of the tasks I was assigned was being responsible, together with another intern, for drafting a project and submitting it for a grant being awarded by the US State Department’s U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative.

As a woman, it was great for me to be matched with an organization that focuses its efforts on women’s rights. I felt a personal connection to the work that I was being assigned. It was shocking to learn that gender equality was only included as a fundamental right  in Morocco’s Constitution in 2011 under Article 19. At the same time, I also learned a lot about how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the shortcomings of the legal system in the country and how much it still fails to provide basic protections to victims of domestic violence. For example, as judicial proceedings were moved online, some victims of domestic violence were unable to properly go through them if they lacked access to the internet. Moreover, the government barely provides shelters for those who attempt to run away. Those in existence are mostly run by NGOs and were working at reduced capacity due to the curfews, sanitary measures, and lockdowns. It was eye opening to see how the pandemic affected much more than people’s health. There were serious economic, political, and even violent ramifications.

As a political science major, I was also exposed to the work of an NGO that has national reach in Morocco and partners with other major international organizations regularly. My academic interests lie mostly in understanding how state actors interact with other non-state actors in their countries. Throughout my internship, I was able to further explore the links between the two. This experience has now made me interested in understanding the importance of those connections not just anywhere, but specifically in the developing world. During my time at Notre Dame, I hope to acquire a bigger understanding of the importance of these interactions for economic growth.

Besides all of the previous lessons I mentioned, the most important one was the one I had on advocacy work.  Before Jossour, I believed that activism and advocacy were only about making your voice heard. The type of advocacy that I had previously been exposed to was the one conducted by protesters on the streets. Jossour taught me that fighting for vulnerable groups and for what you believe in involved a lot more than just making sure you are heard. In an age of misinformation, the work conducted by Jossour and other NGOs involves making sure that the right people are receiving the right information. The tasks I was assigned involved not only ensuring that women were being made aware of their rights and their value, but also ensuring that those in power in Morocco are aware of the issues affecting the vulnerable.

Morocco is a beautiful country.  Even though I was working remotely, the cultural sessions conducted by a Moroccan and the local “buddy” I was connected with allowed me to treasure the rich and diverse Moroccan culture. This provided me with a profound appreciation of Morocco. It was an incredible opportunity to be able to experience a little bit of the country even if I was remote. The intercultural communication skills I acquired during my eight weeks in this internship are irreplaceable.

I could not have imagined how valuable this internship was going to be. It taught me a lot about myself as a student, a future professional, and a woman, too. I am excited to see what else my time at Notre Dame has reserved for me. I hope that I will continue to have international experiences that were as amazing as the one I had with Jossour.