Youth Democracy Festival

Breaking taboos by speaking up

Fatim-Zahra Bencherki and Sonia Terrab from Morocco are the two creative forces of nature behind online media Jawjab. The online media platform gives young women a voice through the videobased programme ‘Marokkiat’. In September, they visit Denmark to meet with young people and debate taboos and how online media could be used to break the silence.

What are your expectations for the Youth Democracy Festival in Copenhagen?

For us, it is an incredible opportunity to take part in a dialogue about youth on a larger scale. We are excited to share our work of course, but also eager to get a new perspective on it. It is sometimes difficult to take a step back and see the big picture regarding your social and cultural environment. Building cultural bridges between Morocco and Denmark is interesting because of the differences as much as the common grounds we might discover. So we are very much looking forward to the discussion at The Youth Democracy Festival in Copenhagen. As social actors and content creators, events like these are important to us, in order to keep on questioning our certainties.  

What is your view on civic participation among young people in your country?

We live in a place where development, social issues and individual rights are a constant battle. This is why civic participation among young people in a country such as Morocco is vital. However, it is unfortunately still underdeveloped; mainly because young people are unaware of their strength and the impact they can have on their society. In neighbor countries, the youth is a tremendous democratic power. We really hope to see more young people get involved, share their perspective on the world, believe in themselves and help raise awareness on issues that can shape the future.  

Do you find it important for young people to engage themselves in their own society? And why?

Young people have a say in the society that is built today for tomorrow. Civic involvement is all about anticipation. Change in societies can happen extremely fast, especially nowadays. It is very well depicted in the HBO series “The Handmaid’s tale”; adapted from Margaret Artwood’s Novel. Well, that work of fiction is metaphorically pretty close to the reality of some countries in the past decade for example. When negative change already happened it is more difficult to take action and turn back time. Youth is the population that will have to live the longest with these changes. All of this is also true for positive change. Having young people involved and protecting the values they wish to find in the society they will live in, is crucial for the development of any country. 

Check out the youtube channel of Marokkiat below