Multicultural Partners Planting Trees in Africa

On February 2, I attended the 2022 ECOSOC Partnership Forum on behalf of the High Atlas Foundation,  along with HAF President Ben-Meir. The theme was “Building Back Better from the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) While Advancing the Full Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” and it covered a variety of strategies for achieving this goal. These strategies include an emphasis on collaboration through partnerships, an increase in multilateralism, a better understanding of the importance of multi-stakeholders, and a priority in ensuring that everyone’s voice can be heard. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has made the aggressive goals in the 2030 Agenda even more difficult to achieve. However, the common theme throughout the forum was that if there is effective collaboration between all stakeholders, whether it be through the United Nations, businesses, non-profit foundations, or academia, sustainable change is possible. It is important to understand that every stakeholder is part of the journey to reach the goals of the 2030 Agenda.

One goal that the ECOSOC Partnership Forum highlighted is the importance of bridging the digitalization gap. During the event “Bridging the Gap: Addressing the Vacuum in Multilateral Governance of Digital Technology to Close the Digital Divide and Support Efforts to Leave No One Behind,” Ms. Wardarina, Dr. Clovis, Ms. Vogliano, Mr. Parminder, and Ms. Ruth discussed what is causing the digitalization gap and potential solutions for it. The issue with digitalization is that the technological wave hits developing countries in bits. Because this industry develops so rapidly, it is hard for developing countries to catch up. This part of the forum highlighted potential solutions for this divide. The experts suggested that the world should strive to make technological changes more inclusive and increase the responsiveness of multilateralism in the technological sphere. Multilateralism has the potential to increase digital equality and ensure that everyone has proper access to the digital world.

More ideas were discussed during a second event,“Building Back Better from the Bottom Up: Collaboration with Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises for SDG Implementation”, which featured experts Ms. Akustina, Dr. Farid, Ms. Patricia, and Dr. Chantal. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were hit hard by the pandemic, specifically those that are women-operated. In order to help SMEs increase their resilience, the government must be supportive. There must be a place for SMEs to be able to voice their struggles and have solutions readily available for them. One way in which governments can help SMEs is to lower the taxes imposed on them and to offer developmental services.

“Partnerships, UN Reform and a New Multilateralism to Build Forward Better,” another event hosted by Daniel , Patti , Nudhara, and Grant, discussed the importance of creating new solutions for increasing sustainable development. In order for these solutions to work, every entity must be involved and engaged. It is also important that everybody has a seat at the table in order to offer a diverse set of ideas and support better informed decision-making. This way, many solutions can be formulated from multiple perspectives.

During the event “Financing for the SDGs in the Era of COVID-19,” Mr. Navid , Mr. Adedeji , H.E. Ms. Charlotta , Ms. Romina, Ms. Harpinder , H.E. Mr. Walton, and Ms. Aish discussed the importance of developing a framework to meet the 2030 Agenda after COVID-19 proved to be a major setback. This is especially the case in smaller countries where there is greater dependence on imports. The speakers noted that in order to overcome this obstacle, debt relief will be a critical factor and structural reforms must also be made.

The High Atlas Foundation has been and will continue to be a driving force that will help the United Nations achieve the SDGs for the 2030 Agenda, as they are increasing sustainable development in the non-profit sector. For each tree that the foundation plants, they will help create a cleaner environment, craft more opportunities for women in Morocco, develop stronger  inter-religious partnerships, and establish a bright future for the youth. The High Atlas Foundation will help to ensure that COVID-19 does not stop sustainable development.

On 5 January 2022, the Farmer to Farmer (F2F) team organized a trip to the Demnate municipality in the Beni Mellal-Khenifra region to follow-up with a host organization called “Laymouna Cooperative.”

The team and a representative of Laymouna Coop visited the Jewish Cemetery—Haroun Saint—where High Atlas Foundation (HAF) and the community will grow a tree nursery in order to follow up on the recommendations from O-H-16 and O-H-17.

The co-op members participated in a training conducted by a F2F volunteer to help them develop a comprehensive design, material, and implementation assessment for the upcoming tree nursery project, which will benefit farmers and schools in the region.

After the training workshops provided by the local volunteer, the host organizations’ members are now able to do planting, transplanting, irrigating, and weeding. The volunteer devolved a  tree nursery budget for Laymouna Cooperative, and trained them on growing fruit trees in the greenhouse, as he prepared a design of the nursery and marked the place for the water source.

The members of the coop seemed to have started building a fence on one of the cemetery sides, and this will protect the tree nursery area, as some local farmers changed the way of irrigation from the traditional one to drip irrigation.

The members adopted the recommendations from the F2F assignments, which were to register the HO as an official agricultural cooperative and give roles to the members. Currently, they are focused on developping a project proposal to seize opportunities as the budget for the tree nursery is ready.