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Rabat – Saad Abid from Morocco has been awarded the 2021 Global Ties US International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) Decade of Social Innovation and Change Award.
Global Ties US is a Washington-based non-profit organization that promotes excellence in citizen diplomacy. The award recognizes an alumnus or alumna of the US Department of State IVLP for important achievements in driving social change through innovation in their home communities.
Abid, content creator on social networks, ecologist, and the founder and president of Bahri association, aims to raise awareness of environmental protection. He was the driving force behind the first Moroccan waste collector using an electric bike.
The only Moroccan and African to receive this prestigious award, Abid shares this accolade with Panama’s Raisa Banfield. Both are congratulated for their fight against climate change and for the protection of the environment.
The award recognizes Abid’s accomplishments over the past decade, including organizing beach cleanups, educating his 400,000 social media followers about environmental degradation, and encouraging youth engagement.
In a statement published by Global Ties on March 1, Vicente Lopez-Ibor Mayor, an IVLP alumnus and founder of the award, said: “Saad encourages his followers to take action and practice sustainable tourism.”
John Kerry, US special presidential envoy for climate, congratulated the winners in a video and said: “I am grateful to know that there are up-and-coming leaders like you in this fight.”
Saad Abid’s journey with the IVLP program began in April 2016 when the US embassy in Rabat selected him to represent Morocco in a 21-day fully-funded trip called Galvanizing Youth for Environmental Protection.
In September 2017, UN Secretary-General António Guterres invited Abid to attend a high-level meeting held at the UN headquarters in New York to discuss climate change.
Abid is best-known for launching the digital campaign Maymkench2026 to promote Morocco’s bid to organize the FIFA World Cup 2026.
