On Monday, January 28, the Phosboucraa Foundation’s Dakhla Learning Center (DLC) organized the first Dakhla: Youth and Volunteering event, which wrapped up roughly thirty workshops on promoting civic engagement.

These workshops were devoted to raising awareness on civics, community engagement, and volunteering. They provided tailored support to groups of young people and helped them set up 15 civic initiatives. More than 1,000 external people--mainly young people--took part and many local contributors and civil society organizations participated.

In continuation of this commitment to promote civic values and encourage active youth participation in public life, the city of Dakhla came alive with the Youth and Volunteering event on Monday, January 28.

The program for this day included young people’s reflections on their experience. They discussed the initiatives they participated in to share what they had learned, how the experience had affected them, their points of view, and how they will approach future initiatives.

The reflection took place in the warm and vibrant DLC premises. This lively space conducive to sharing provides young people the opportunity to engage with ideas and people from different backgrounds in order to motivate them to actively participate in their communities’ activities.

The discussions concluded with prizes for the best civic initiatives that encourage young people to make sustained commitments to their cities and communities.

Civic initiatives carried out by DLC members in December 2018:

• The Innovation and Creativity School: Ibn Zohr Dakhla Primary School;
• Environmental campaign in Foum Lbouir Park;
• Volunteer worksites in Dar Talib Dakhla;
• Blood drive;
• Seminar on integrating children with disabilities into public life;
• Seminar and workshops on treating autistic children;
• Cultural event on African youth and cultural values;
• Cultural activities for orphans in Dakhla;
• Sociocultural activity days for children with disabilities;
• Redevelopment of Taourta Primary School;
• Diabetes awareness campaign (Youssef Ibnou Tachfine Primary School);
• Employability day (workshops and meetings with professionals);
• Information sharing day for high school students;
• Waste collection campaign and tribute to women sanitation workers;
• Athletic activities for disadvantaged women.