How Moroccan Ngos Illuminate the Nexus of Climate, Migration, Gender and Development
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Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations Graduate Program in International Studies Spring 2021 Institutional Stretching: How Moroccan NGOs Illuminate the Nexus of Climate, Migration, Gender and Development Shelby Mertens Old Dominion University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/gpis_etds Part of the Climate Commons, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Growth and Development Commons, International Relations Commons, and the Migration Studies Commons Recommended Citation Mertens, Shelby. "Institutional Stretching: How Moroccan NGOs Illuminate the Nexus of Climate, Migration, Gender and Development" (2021). Master of Arts (MA), Thesis, , Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/p7pm-qz19 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/gpis_etds/133 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Program in International Studies at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INSTITUTIONAL STRETCHING: HOW MOROCCAN NGOS ILLUMINATE THE NEXUS OF CLIMATE, MIGRATION, GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT by Shelby Mertens B.A. December 2013, Virginia Commonwealth University A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS INTERNATIONAL STUDIES OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY May 2021 Approved by: Jennifer Fish (Member) Hanne Haaland (Member) Erika Frydenlund (Director) Matthew DiLorenzo (Member) ABSTRACT INSTITUTIONAL STRETCHING: HOW MOROCCAN NGOS ILLUMINATE THE NEXUS OF CLIMATE, MIGRATION, GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT Shelby Mertens Old Dominion University, 2021 Director: Dr. Erika Frydenlund The global migration crisis the world has experienced thus far is only the tip of the iceberg. As the earth’s temperature continues to warm and extreme weather conditions worsen, millions of people across the globe will be displaced, and women in particular will face more difficult challenges. What the climate migration literature fails to study is these longer-term impacts beyond sudden onset disasters. Governments and institutions will be forced to respond and adapt to the new reality resulting from the climate crisis. This research provides a case study of Morocco and, by using institutional ethnography, investigates how NGOs working in areas of development, gender and the environment are responding and adapting to the growing concerns of climate change in a country that is already seeing an increase in rural-to-urban migration flows due to the troubles of the agriculture industry. Moroccan girls are also at greater risk of child marriage and labor exploitation as a result of drought and the water crisis. Are NGOs becoming more aware of this nexus between climate, migration, gender and development? And to what extent are NGOs being stretched beyond their mandates in order to address their community’s pressing needs? My study of 30 NGOs’ online presence shows that Moroccan organizations are consciously aware that their work indirectly addresses the impacts of climate migration, but they do this unintentionally. The NGOs choose to put climate migration on the back-burner in order to fulfill short-term needs. This study provides a micro-level view that represents a much bigger problem of climate inaction at the global level. iii © 2021, by Shelby Mertens, Old Dominion University, All Rights Reserved. iv In memory of my grandmother, Marcie. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Erika Frydenlund for her guidance throughout the entire research process. I greatly appreciate all the weekly Zoom meetings over the past eight months that helped push me as a writer, and her patience with reading and editing this thesis over and over again. She always believed in me. I would also like to give recognition to my other committee members, Dr. Matthew DiLorenzo, Dr. Jennifer Fish and Dr. Hanne Haaland for their valuable input and support along the way. Lastly, I would like to thank Shelley Cleverdon, Yossef Ben-Meir, Mike McHugo and Sonia Omar for participating in this study. The insight they provided as founders and staff of NGOs operating in rural Morocco was a massive contribution to the thesis. Lastly, I would like to thank my family and friends for their tremendous support throughout my graduate school journey. vi NOMENCLATURE IDMC Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre ILO International Labor Organization NGO Nongovernmental Organization UN United Nations UNESCO United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................x Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1 Geography & Governance .................................................................................................. 2 Climate Change in Morocco ............................................................................................... 3 Cross-Border Migration ...................................................................................................... 6 Internal Displacement in Morocco ...................................................................................... 8 Urban-Rural Divide & Social Inequalities ........................................................................ 10 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 14 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................................... 16 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 16 The Role of NGOs ............................................................................................................ 17 NGOs as Agents of Climate Action .................................................................................. 21 Climate Migration Literature ............................................................................................ 22 Problems with Climate Action at the Institutional Level .................................................. 26 Moroccan Climate Migration Literature ........................................................................... 27 Gender Migration and Development Literature ................................................................ 32 Gender Disparities in Morocco ......................................................................................... 36 Gender Migration and Development in Morocco ............................................................. 37 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 40 3. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................... 44 The Institutional Ethnography Approach .......................................................................... 44 Data Procedure .................................................................................................................. 49 Limitations ........................................................................................................................ 51 Social Location ................................................................................................................. 52 Themes .............................................................................................................................. 52 4. FRAMING AN ONLINE INSTITUTIONAL ETHNOGRAPHY: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA .......................................................................................................................... 56 5. ALL TALK, NO ACTION ....................................................................................................... 62 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 62 Holistic Education: Stretching to Meet Girls’ Needs ....................................................... 63 #GirlsinCrisis #WithRefugees .......................................................................................... 68 viii Chapter Page Gender-Climate Connection ............................................................................................. 71 Climate Migration From Human Rights Perspective ........................................................ 77 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 81 6. PERIPHERAL OUTCOMES: CLIMATE MIGRANTS AS A BONUS, NOT INTENTION ........................................................................................................................ 82 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 82 Addressing Climate