Rabat – Partnering with the UN SDG Action Campaign and the Moroccan NGO Atlas for Development and the Council of Young Leaders of Tangier, the program gives young people from Small Island Developing States (SIDS) the opportunity to travel abroad on a boat to raise awareness on the impacts of climate change.
The initiative is part of the Ocean Ambassadors and Climate Change Program that will start on May 24, in Malta.
The young leaders from the Pacific Ocean, who volunteered in climate change issues and the deterioration of the ocean, will tour the capital city of Malta, Valetta, passing by New York, Granada (Spain), Tangier (Morocco), Ponta Delgada (Portugal), and many other cities.
The boat will dock in New York, Manhattan, where young people will celebrate World Oceans Day on the ship on June 8, marking the end of the tour.
For the World Oceans Day festivities, activities are planned in collaboration with the United Nations partners as part of the official UN program for that day.
President of the Moroccan NGO Atlas for Development, Hatim El Otmani, said that “given the time constraint, the Peace Boat will arrive in Tangier at 7 a.m. and will leave port to Portugal at 5 p.m.”
El Otmani added, “in the morning, the Peace Boat will visit a project in the region of Tangier related to climate change and sustainable development in general, followed by a discussion between the Peace Boat young ambassadors and their Moroccan counterparts.”
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The evening will see many activities aboard the boat, with different panels on climate change and its relation with the sustainable development goals, namely the education, peace, migration, economy, and the oceans.
As president of the NGO Atlas for Development and as co-founder of Youth SDG Action Morocco, Hatim El Otmani has won the Best Mobilizer for the Sustainable Development Goals award.
Partnering with the Embassy of Switzerland in Morocco, the Ministry in charge of relations between parliament and civil society, and the United Nations Information Center, El Otmani has recently launched the Academy 2063 as part of Atlas For Development, which focuses on the promotion of both the 2030 Agenda and the African Union 2063 while also focusing on Education and Health.
