American Moroccan Alliance

THE IDEA AND PURPOSE BEHIND ALTERNATIVE PEOPLE-to-PEOPLE DIPLOMACY |

For the sake of helping to improve the relationship between my native country Morocco and my adoptive country USA, I always believed that the civil society must play a major role in achieving this goal. Alternative, People-to-People diplomacy is one of the effective tools that the citizens of these two great nations can use to get this result.

It’s people-to-people interaction that will help us learn about each other and build bridges of understanding and cooperation to the benefit of everyone. This goes a long way in helping to promote peace in a world that has seen a significant rise in conflicts due to ignorance and misconceptions about each other.

With this belief, I organized the Teachers Study Tour to Morocco in 2012. The visiting teachers had the chance to witness firsthand the unscripted daily life of the Moroccan citizen. They learnt about issues related to areas such as culture, history, religion, education, politics, human rights, women issues, civil society, languages, and more. The initiative was a great success and through the knowledge acquired by the teachers during the trip, students in North Texas are now learning all about Morocco in their classrooms.

The teachers have become 'Ambassadors of Goodwill' for Morocco in the USA and the world - and this is priceless.

Building up on the resounding success of the first experience, we are organizing the study tour again this year and it’s shaping up to be another great success. This could not have happened without the unconditional help and support from the ministry of Moroccans living abroad & Migration Affairs to whom I’m very grateful. Also, my great thanks to the organizations, the officials and the good citizens who worked hard and helped in putting together this program. This team effort is a good indication that the call of His Majesty King Mohammed VI was heard and followed when he said in his message to the Ambassadors conference in 2013: “Everyone must be mobilized to give Morocco the image of a strong, stable, supportive, and a country open to the environment around it”

Ahmed Yanouri Ph.D, AMA President


A PLATFORM FOR EDUCATION, PARTNERSHIPS AND PROJECTS BUILDING INTER-CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING AND ECONOMIC SUCCESS

American Moroccan Alliance (AMA), is a non-profit organization focused on fostering intercultural understanding in order to dispel common stereotypes and misconceptions. AMA was founded by Dr. Ahmed Yanouri in Dallas, Texas in 2014 in the spirit of building a cultural bridge between the United States and Morocco to develop and sustain amicable relations.

The mission of AMA is to build cultural and economic connections between the two countries through dialogue, advocacy and collaborative service and education projects. AMA aims to initiate projects that bring together professionals and ideas from both countries.

Projects include organizing educational study programs that allow for collaboration and exchange between teachers in the U.S. and Morocco, as well as partnering with other non-profit organizations in service learning projects. In addition, AMA will serve as a platform for joint projects and partnerships that promote economic and social development.

AMA hosts seminars, webinars, and conventions that promote and build inter-cultural understanding, both locally and internationally.