You're Invited: Rooted in Change: Women's Leadership in Agriculture as Morocco's Carbon Opportunity
Dear Colleagues,
On behalf of the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) in Morocco, we are pleased to invite you to attend our UNCCD COP17 side event, "Rooted in Change: Women's Leadership in Agriculture as Morocco's Carbon Opportunity," hosted by HAF Vice President Souad Agnaou.
Date: Monday, 17 August
Time: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Venue: Room MET-04, COP17 Venue
Across Morocco's rural landscapes, women perform the majority of agricultural labor yet remain largely excluded from land rights, cooperative governance, and economic decision-making. HAF proposes that closing this gap is not only a matter of equity, but also a scalable climate solution.
The side event will present HAF's approach to integrating women more fully into agriculture, from land stewardship to cooperative leadership, to help unlock the human ecological conditions needed for sustained agroforestry and reforestation, while generating measurable and verifiable carbon offsets and strengthening community resilience.
Drawing on HAF's 26 years of direct experience with Moroccan rural communities and women's empowerment, the session will explore how gender-inclusive agricultural models can increase tree-planting success and carbon permanence, present a replicable framework connecting women's economic advancement with carbon market participation, and open dialogue on policy and financing mechanisms that reward gender-equitable land stewardship.
The discussion will be particularly relevant to climate finance practitioners, development agencies, NGOs, private-sector carbon market actors, and others working at the intersection of gender, agriculture, climate action, and carbon finance.
We warmly encourage you to join us for this important conversation and to share your perspectives and experiences from around the world.
We look forward to welcoming you to an engaging discussion on how women's leadership can help unlock Morocco's carbon opportunity.

Souad Agnaou, Vice President , High Atlas Foundation, Morocco
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Khalid CHERKI, National Focal point for the UNCCD Morocco
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Dr. Marijana Kapović Solomun, Representative of the Association for Combating Land Degradation and Environmental Protection “Mother Nature“ Central Easter Europe.
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Bayarchimeg Budee, Founder and CEO, A Vital Bond for Conservation Fund
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Alena Maslova, Representative, Green and Better World; Founder, Dobrosphera Kind Media; Sustainability Arts Expert
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The discussion will be particularly relevant to climate finance practitioners, development agencies, NGOs, private-sector carbon market actors, and others working at the intersection of gender, agriculture, climate action, and carbon finance.
We warmly encourage you to join us for this important conversation and to share your perspectives and experiences from around the world.
We look forward to welcoming you to an engaging discussion on how women's leadership can help unlock Morocco's carbon opportunity.
