I am very proud to announce that the fourth book to which I have contributed on Morocco was published earlier this month. The Demographic Dividend and the Power of Youth is an anthology of essays from around the world about harnessing the energy and potential of younger generations.
My chapter takes case studies of successful interventions on youth and women’s employability undertaken by The Challenge Group in sub-Saharan Africa and applies them to Morocco. Although in many ways North African countries are economically more advanced than those of sub-Saharan Africa, they face similar challenges in their youthful populations. They also share dual needs to ensure young people have marketable skills while stimulating micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, as the backbone of any economy, to create jobs. Continue reading
Happy New Year! I am very proud to be part of the “Our Morocco” anthology, alongside friends and fellow marocophiles including Tahir Shah, Amanada Moutakki and Saeida Rouass, to name but a few.
As regular readers of this blog will know, our Scottish-Moroccan family divides its time between Edinburgh and Essaouira. Recently, I have spent more time in Scotland recently than in Morocco. Current travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic haven’t helped, of course. 
In the past two weeks, Casablanca has come to Edinburgh! The showing of Sofia by Meryem Benm’Barek in the 2019 
Over the years, many people have asked my advice about owning property in Essaouira. Perhaps, like me, they 
I attended the Edinburgh launch of Benita Matofska and Sophie Sheinwald’s “Generation Share” book not really understanding what the “Sharing Economy” was, but feeling some kind of resonance and a desire to learn more. I not only learned what it was, but I was inspired and I realised that sharing is a key aspect of my life. 
The other weekend, my husband and I attended an induction session for prospective volunteers at Edinburgh charity,