Morocco

BERLIN

Dreams of a ‘Green Utopia’ Wither in the Maghreb

When the Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII), an alliance of 21 major European corporations, first unveiled plans to install a network of solar thermal, photovoltaic, and wind plants across the North African Maghreb region to generate electricity, the project was greeted as a ‘green utopia’.

In Limbo in the Saharan ‘Free Zone’

By Karlos Zurutuza

The road vanishes under the sand just after the border crossing at Tindouf, western Algeria. Another 20 kilometres into the desert, a billboard welcomes us into the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

Independent Media Losing Foothold in Morocco

By Abderrahim El Ouali

The Moroccan government’s announcement that it would issue new public media guidelines at the end of May has reignited a stormy debate around independent media in the kingdom.

U.N. Meet Holds Governments to Account on Women’s Equality

By Mathilde Bagneres

In 2008, delegates meeting for the annual U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) agreed that much greater investments in women and gender equality were a critical – and overlooked – aspect of sustainable development.