Partnership between the Prince's Government and the Sciences Po Paris: Awareness-Raising Week on the Theme of "Humanitarian Crises and Refugees"

Ms. Isabelle Rosabrunetto, Director General of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, presenting prizes to the winners of the Solidarity Challenge:  a team of Moroccan students from the Sciences Po Paris-Middle East and Mediterranean Campus is being given a grant of EUR 12,000 to support access to employment for young people with disabilities in Morocco. ©DCI

The DCI brought together several of its high-level partners to speak to a hundred or so students of almost 40 different nationalities on the subject of "Humanitarian Crises and Refugees."

Representatives of United Nations Agencies (the High Commissioner for Refugees, the UNRWA and the World Food Programme) and major international organisations (the International Committee of the Red Cross) and renowned NGOs (Médecins du Monde, Handicap International and the Mérieux Foundation) gave lectures and led interactive workshops throughout the week.

The aim of this awareness-raising was to encourage students to reflect on international humanitarian law, the reality of humanitarian crises in Africa and the Middle East, the prevention of genocide and war crimes and the problems experienced by refugees in accessing basic services (health, food and education).

Gilles Tonelli, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, opened the week of teaching, emphasising that, "The students of theSciences Po, who come from forty or so different countries, are the future public and private decision-makers.  It is our duty to ask them to reflect on the difficult realities of humanitarian crises and inform them of the action that the Prince's Government is taking to help affected populations."

The results of the "Solidarity Challenge," a team competition to train students in setting up development projects, were announced at the official closing ceremony of the Winter School, in the presence of Isabelle Rosabrunetto, Director General of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. Three of the projects under consideration won awards, and will be implemented in 2017, with the support of the DCI, to benefit vulnerable children in Morocco.