In the aftermath of Morocco’s deadliest earthquake in over 60 years, FHI 360 and two of our local partners mobilized to design rapid-impact projects that would both meet people’s immediate needs and help prepare for future crises.
The September 2023 quake, which struck a remote mountainous area southwest of Marrakech, claimed nearly 3,000 lives and left widespread destruction, affecting more than 300,000 people.
FHI 360, which has been working in Morocco for more than 40 years, immediately deployed a crisis response team, which conducted a needs assessment and met with local projects and partners. Together, we determined that the most effective way to aid the earthquake recovery was by implementing small, rapid-impact projects with established local partners.
Two of those partners, l’Association de Lutte Contre le Sida (ALCS) and l’Association Al Intilaka Pour le Développement, l’Environnement et la Culture – Afourer (AIDECA), and the communities they work with helped design the projects.
Reaching key populations
ALCS (the French language abbreviation for Association to Fight AIDS) had worked previously with FHI 360 across three projects to meet the needs of members of “key populations” in Morocco.
Key populations are defined by UNAIDS as men who have sex with men, sex workers, transgender people, people who inject drugs, and prisoners and other incarcerated people. All these groups have a higher likelihood of exposure to HIV; they also bear a disproportionate burden of stigma, discrimination and violence, often in hostile legal environments.
These populations “are strongly stigmatized and overlooked,” said Sarah Terrab, an ALCS contractor who lives in Morocco. In addition, people who are living with HIV have complex medical needs and cannot go without medical care for prolonged periods of time.
In the weeks following the earthquake, FHI 360 connected ALCS with a grant to support its work in meeting the immediate needs of these groups.
ALCS then mobilized resources, including a mobile medical caravan, to provide emergency aid. The caravan reached about 120 people per day and offered medical and psychological consultations, primary care, first aid, nutritional support, and art therapy for children.
“When the earthquake happened, a lot of people were in villages and couldn’t afford to travel to doctors and other needed resources,” Terrab said. “[The caravan] went to see every single person that needed help at that time.”
To increase access to stigma-free support following the devasting earthquake, ALCS also offered psychological support via online consultations (telehealth) that could be booked anonymously. Members of key populations, Terrab said, “cannot share with families or relatives. That’s why, when we can offer them free visits with psychologists, it’s a way to heal.”
Pivoting existing projects to meet immediate needs
The Inclusive Socioeconomic Development in Beni Mellal-Khénifra (ISED-BMK) project, which FHI 360 carries out, aims to strengthen the Moroccan economy by partnering with small businesses and agricultural workers, funding entrepreneurship, and increasing the capacity of local civil society organizations that work with women, young people and people with disabilities.
“The activities we do as part of ISED-BMK are needed all the time,” said Youness Tihm, FHI 360’s chief of party in Morocco, “but they are especially needed after an earthquake or any kind of emergency.”
As with ALCS, FHI 360 connected a local partner, AIDECA, with a grant. Initially, the project helped AIDECA (the French language abbreviation for Intilaka Association for Development, Environment and Culture – Afourer) meet the immediate economic needs of the under-resourced communities it works with by, for example, providing training and grants that allowed small businesses to relaunch their activities.
In addition, FHI 360’s crisis response team helped the ISED-BMK project modify some of its programming — enabling it to help with the earthquake response by providing infrastructure support, enhancing access to mental health services, supporting business continuity and connecting young people to civic engagement activities.
Now, the project is focused on helping local partners with crisis readiness and launching activities in two affected rural communities in Azilal province, Ait Tamlil and Ait Oumdis.
“We’re focusing on capacity-building for the business community, civil society organizations, elected officials and public institutions,” Tihm said. “If you want to be prepared for crises, you need the entire ecosystem to accept the necessity of being prepared, and you need the institutions to have the same understanding of what they need to become ready.
“This is where our intervention comes in. We are listening to local institutions and responding in a way that they see fit.”
Collaborating with local partners ensures that Morocco-based organizations lead the rebuilding efforts. This, in turn, contributes to the country’s long-term resilience and the well-being of its people.
