Cultural Preservation & Coexistence in Essaouira

The cemetary project, HAF's first in Essaouira and its first in this urban intercultural sphere, achieved great visibility and penetration for HAF. In order to maintain momentum of HAF's intercultural agenda and our work with young people and civil society in Essaouira we submitted a proposal to the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the BMW Group. This will expand our field of activity to include built heritage (often disappeared or fallen into disuse) which stands as a reminder of the rich multicultural past of this port city, where Arab, Amazigh and African Muslims, Jews and Christians shared a town, a life, work, a culture, and a language.

Although the medina of Essaouira has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2001, the restoration of historical sites and buildings has been slow to proceed. Our aim now is to support the creation of an interactive multi-player committee to intervene in the dialogue and eventually the protection of built heritage of Essaouira. The main activites of this project include the following:

• Reflection and dialogue day - This will promote discussion among civil society of the value of built heritage.
• Creation of a self-guided brochure - Expanding upon the inital brochure of historical cemetaries, this additional one will include a map of cultural heritage sites in the medina to be placed in the buildings and in community and tourist centers.
• Weekly community meetings - These meetings will include training of local civic actors in participatory community planning with the intention of creating a multi- player heritage forum. 
• Educational Program - Will support continued integration of local youth associations and schools.

Thanks to your support the cemetary project was a success and allows HAF to expand its activites and build on this success to train local actors to truly adopt this agenda as their own. Thank you for helping to support the cultural heritage of Morocco.