By Zineb Benalla
By Zineb Benalla
Generation Development (U.K), SIFE “Students in Free Enterprise,” Friedman Foundation for Educational choice & Friedrich Naumann Foundation joined international celebration of Milton Friedman Global effort to reaffirm the late Nobel laureate’s theories for the first time at Alakhawayn University in Morocco on Thursday September 20, 2012.
It is part of an international effort celebrating the life and legacy of Milton Friedman, who is considered one of the 20th century’s leading economists. Event organizers welcomed 100 of attendees to discuss “Freedom Economic Development and the Future of MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) post 2015 & Launched Maghreb Generation Development.”
“There is a lot Ifrane, Alakhawayn University Students and leaders can still learn from Milton Friedman,” said Robert Enlow, President and CEO of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, which Dr. Friedman and his wife, Rose, founded in 1996. “For those Ifrane and Alakhawayn University students interested in boosting their economy, improving government, and providing access to a quality education for all, they should attend Generation Development and SIFE’s Friedman Legacy for Freedom Day gathering,” he added.
The Friedman Foundation is based in the United States, aims to economic freedom, prosperity, rule of law, and democratic development. Friedman’s theories on free markets and limited government dominated the economic and political discourse in the latter half of the 20th century. Economic freedom has been shown in numerous peer-reviewed studies to promote prosperity and other positive outcomes. It is a necessary condition for democratic development. It liberates people from dependence on government in a planned economy, and allows them to make their own economic and political choices.
The Economic Freedom of the World Report ranked Morocco 102 out of 144 countries in 2012. The annual report, Economic Freedom of the World, uses 42 distinct pieces of data to measure economic freedom in 144 nations.
Friedrich Naumann Foundation Team, Sebastian Hempel Project director of the Maghreb region and Abdelouahad Bougriane, Project Coordinator of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, discussed and shared the role of institutions promoting freedom and liberal thought in a press conference with distinguished journalist Laila BenLarbi (Eco- Medias group), they explained the importance of intellectual entrepreneurs in the Maghreb region and in Morocco to promote freedom and engage youth and women.
This is a celebration for creative thinkers, lovers of freedom and the intellectually curious. It is a network of global thinkers bound by an intense interest about what is impacting the future of freedom, rule of law, development, and prosperity as well as improving the life of future generations.
Generation Development (U.K) aims through its Maghreb Network to lead the change in international development policy by engaging students and young professionals in the areas of human rights, economics, health, education and gender in Morocco and the whole Maghreb region and raise their voice to politicians and policymakers to engage all the key stakeholders: government, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, civil society and the private sector. This aims to produce a global partnership for development with a framework for mutual accountability, which is critical for advancing and achieving the MDGs.
We are expanding our work in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) through the Maghreb network to bridge the gap between developing and developed countries. Establishing this network in development and humanitarian issues is very important today to engage, inspire and inform policy in developing countries to encourage diversity, transparency and accountability, as well as sustainability. We would like to engage intellectuals and experts in Morocco and the whole Maghreb region to produce innovative approaches, challenge and influence the future development agenda that lies beyond the goals’ end date of 2015.
This comprehensive set of development goals, are an integral part of the United Nations Development Agenda. It is an international framework for development for action at the global, regional and country levels and which is compatible with our work at Generation development (U.K) with representation now in the Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, the USA and Canada, South East Asia and Latin America – our influence is growing.
Our prototype forum for development discussion now holds over a hundred members on issues ranging from poverty reduction, gender equality, social integration, health, population, employment and education to human rights, the environment, sustainable development, finance and governance. It is also, in many ways, what brings civil society to rally around the United Nations participatory processes.
Zineb Benalla is a legal consultant and project coordinator of Generation Development in Morocco
