The 15 young mediators with the Casablanca Lions Club's president during the hand over ceremony. Ph. SFCG.

The 15 young mediators belong to neighbourhood associations affiliated to the Réseau Maillage, a network of associations aiming at the development of young people living in popular districts.

The training, which was financed by Casablanca's Lions' Club, was conducted by the organization Search for Common Ground (SFCG), whose trainers provided the 15 young men and women with courses on mediation techniques and conflict resolution, in addition to psychology and pedagogy.

The practical side of the three-month training included simulation exercises, in which the trainees played the role of the persons in conflict and that of the mediator.

Trainees also reviewed documentation on mediation, and prepared their own projects on how to pass the message of mediation to the citizens in a simple way. Their works included different means of expression, including poems and sketches.

The mediators all agreed that, before benefiting their neighbourhood's residents, the training had a positive impact on them as individuals.

“Now I have learned to manage my own emotions. I no longer get overwhelmed with conflicts, and this helps me act in the right way in case of disagreement,” Houlam Radouan, one of the beneficiaries of the training, told Morocco Times.

Choosing the 15 trainees from among hundreds of young people active in many associations affiliated to the Réseau Maillage was not easy, according to the training's organisers. But the choice was based on the trainees' experience and degree of effective participation.

“The first criterion was being member of a Casablanca-based association, since the project has been launched in this city. But more than that, the 15 trainees are all young association militants very actively engaged on the ground,” Ahmed Ghiyat, president of the Réseau Maillage, told Morocco Times.

“They are also members who have been active since the creation of Maillage 4 years ago,” he pursued.

Casablanca citizens will be able to benefit from the mediators' services by visiting local mediation offices. The first offices will be opened in the districts of Sidi el Bernoussi, the Old Medina, and Hay Lalla Meryem.

The 15 mediators will start a practical training on July 15 in a leisure space which the Réseau Maillage will open in the Mohammedia Beach.

The space aims at offering 300 youngsters aged 15-25 coming from Casablanca's peripheral districts a space where they can practice sports, games, and open dialogue, a means to help them better use their free time during summer holidays. The young mediators will be in charge of monitoring the 300 youngsters.

Réseau Maillage and SFCG are considering the launching of a similar experience next September, but this time in the cities of Rabat and Salé.

Meanwhile, SFCG, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, will soon start another training Programme, devoted to institutional mediation. It will target lawyers and retired judges.

This Programme is part of the process launched by SFCG and the ministry to institutionalise mediation in Morocco.