The Maghreb Center: Fostering Understanding and Development of North Africa and the Sahel
THE MAGHREB CENTER is an independent, volunteer-driven, non-profit educational and research organization (501-C3) based in Washington DC that concentrates on North African political, economic, social and cultural affairs. It was formed in 2006 as an academic think tank by U.S. scholars and development practitioners focused on the Maghreb (North Africa), including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. Recently, in response to growing regional interdependence, the countries of the Sahel region were added: Mali, Niger and Northern Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Senegal, the Gambia, and Burkina Faso.
The Center’s mission is to increase knowledge and understanding of the five countries of the Maghreb, considered part of the Arab world, and sometimes Africa, but with their own specificities, often overlooked in the United States, as well as those of the Sahel in the context of their growing global importance. To help communicate these, the Maghreb Center organizes various events, such as conferences, seminars, lectures and round-tables on current political and economic issues.Programs are open to the public, and feature US and regional experts, development practitioners, foreign policy specialists, and representatives of US and governments from the region and civil society.
The Center conducts research and issues free online publications, including Thematic Dossiers, the Maghreb Center Blog and the Maghreb Center Student Blog.
The Center seeks to strengthen educational and other ties between the US and the Maghreb and Sahel countries, and to contribute to the economic development of the region by providing socioeconomic development-related research to domestic and international organizations.
The Maghreb Center is independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion. For its funding, the Center relies on its members’ contributions, donations and research grants.
