THE MAGHREB CENTER: Fostering Understanding and Development of North Africa and the Sahel
The Maghreb Center is a Washington DC-based academic think tank, formed in 2006 by US scholars and development practitioners, focused on North Africa. It is an independent, volunteer-driven, non-profit (501c3) educational and research organization whose mission is to promote and contribute to better knowledge and understanding of current social, political, security, economic, and environmental issues, initially of the five countries of North Africa, also known as the Maghreb: Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. Later, in response to growing regional interdependence and global concerns over the critical challenges facing the Maghreb and Sahel regions, in terms of irregular migration and population displacement, environmental changes and desertification, food insecurity, water stress, security and terrorism, the countries of the Sahel were added, namely: Mali, Niger and Northern Nigeria, Chad, Sudan and South Sudan, Senegal, and Burkina Faso.
In the pursuit of its mission, the Center organizes, in partnership with universities in the Washington DC area, including Georgetown, Johns Hopkins-SAIS, and George Mason, various events, such as conferences, seminars, lectures and round-tables; and issues free online publications, comprising Thematic Dossiers, the Maghreb Center Blog, and the Maghreb Center Student Blog.
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.
The Maghreb Center: Fostering Understanding and Development of North Africa and the Sahel