The ISS Foundation “One More Smile” has been promoting job creation projects in developing countries for more than 16 years, especially focused on sustainable job creation and women’s empowerment. Recently, some of the foundation’s members traveled to Morocco to learn firsthand about the CODESPA project they have supported, which aims to promote employment in the tourism sector for 60 women in vulnerable situations.

Over the course of two days, representatives of the ISS Foundation partners visited both the Al Amal training center in Tetouan and the Tanafelt textile cooperative in Chaouen to learn firsthand about the impact the project has had on the beneficiaries and their communities. All of them share a situation of risk of social exclusion and few opportunities to access decent employment.

In Tetouan, they visited the Training Center Al Amal, where the training is provided, and experienced a pastry master class firsthand, with the support of the course beneficiaries. They also had the opportunity to speak with executives from two major Moroccan private companies, the Banyan Tree hotel group and the Marjane hypermarket chain, where some of the beneficiaries are completing internships as a complementary part of their training. At the end of the day, the ISS visitors presented 15 women with diplomas certifying their successful completion of the pastry training.

At the Tanafelt textile cooperative in Chefchaouen, they also spent a few hours with the beneficiaries and were able to test the looms used to make their textile crafts. These women, who live in nearby rural communities, are training in textile crafts to be able to enter the tourism sector in the province of Chefchaouen.

“The impact this has had on us is one of great satisfaction and pride. The results are impressive, and you don’t realize it until you see it with your own eyes. The excellence and professionalism of the CODESPA team in Morocco, as well as that of the “Al Amal” centers in Tetouan and the Tanafelt textile cooperative in Chefchaouen, motivate us to emphasize the importance of promoting partnerships like this to contribute to a better world”, Eulàlia Devesa, director of the ISS Foundation ‘One More Smile’ told us at the end of the trip.

The ISS Foundation ‘One More Smile’ has been collaborating with the Codespa Foundation on various decent employment projects since 2007. These projects have been made possible thanks to voluntary contributions from ISS employees, who donate the cents of their paychecks to provide opportunities for people experiencing social exclusion and limited opportunities to access decent employment.

Liliana Jiménez, one of the ISS employees who visited these projects in Morocco, expresses the impact this experience has had on her: “I am very satisfied to know that, with just a little, we can help all the women in need. Seeing the happiness on their faces, and how they have been preparing for these months to earn a degree and be able to move forward, is beyond words”.