Fifty Graduate Seeds met in Rabat, Morocco, to further develop the Graduate Association and examine the role of community service in graduate-initiated actions.
During the October 23-26, 2008 summit, the Afghan, American, Egyptian, Indian, Israeli, Jordanian, Palestinian and Pakistani Graduates, through intensive workshops, seminars, and discussions, adopted a mission statement and preamble for the Graduate Association.
MISSION STATEMENT
The Graduate Association serves as a vehicle for all Graduates, in their diversity, to network, encourage and create local and regional initiatives to end conflict and promote cross-border opportunities.
We act in service of our communities to respond to their various needs. We support the Seeds of Peace community by mentoring younger Seeds and helping to shape the future of the organization.
The Summit also served as a forum for staff and Graduate Seeds to brainstorm ideas for service projects for Graduates to carry out either in their own communities, or in cooperation with Seeds from other countries. Paving the way for these discussions, participants compiled a directory including information about themselves and their project ideas and distributed it to the entire group prior to arrival in Morocco. For many Graduates new to the Association, this was also a time to meet their Country Seeds Ambassador and reconnect with members of their delegation as well as Seeds from neighboring countries.
One hundred percent of the respondents in the post-Summit evaluation answered that they are more likely to participate in other Seed of Peace programming based on their experience in Morocco.
Morocco Summit Photos