Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and UNHCR join forces to expand higher education access for refugees in Morocco
Ben Guerir / Rabat, 19 June 2026 — Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Morocco signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the UM6P Rabat Campus, formalising a strengthened cooperation framework focused on refugee education, research, innovation, social inclusion, and capacity building.
The MOU marks a deliberate shift from traditional humanitarian assistance toward a model centred on empowerment through education and economic integration — a joint commitment, according to both institutions, to opening pathways for refugees and asylum seekers in Morocco to develop skills and improve their long-term prospects in Moroccan society and the labour market.
The partnership builds on concrete existing activity. Under the academic scholarship programme known as the Dafi programme, around 16 refugee students have already graduated from UM6P, with three additional students currently enrolled in master’s degree programmes at the university. The new MOU is intended to scale and formalise this collaboration.
Beyond the UNHCR partnership, UM6P is also participating in the TAGDev 2.0 programme — a ten-year initiative running from 2023 to 2033, implemented by the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation and twelve African universities. Through this programme, UM6P is offering fully-funded scholarships for the 2026–2027 academic year in two master’s programmes: the Master in Technology and Innovation Management with a specialisation in Water and Energy Management, and the MSc in Agribusiness Innovation.
The scholarship is open to Moroccan nationals and refugees residing in Morocco from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, with particular encouragement for female candidates, displaced persons, and candidates from conflict-affected areas of Africa. The comprehensive scholarship covers tuition fees, living expenses, research costs, a laptop, internship placements, and entrepreneurship training.
UM6P is a non-profit higher education and scientific research institution founded with support from the OCP Group — Morocco’s state-owned phosphate giant and one of the world’s largest fertiliser producers — through its social and development arm. The university has built a distinctive identity around applied research, innovation, and African engagement, attracting students and researchers from across sub-Saharan Africa.
Morocco currently hosts approximately 19,382 refugees and asylum seekers from more than sixty countries, the majority from sub-Saharan African nations including Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal. UNHCR notes that Morocco’s dual status as both a host and transit country makes questions of education and integration particularly pressing in national refugee policy.
The UM6P-UNHCR partnership signals a growing recognition in Morocco’s higher education sector that refugee inclusion is not only a humanitarian imperative but also an institutional opportunity — particularly for a university whose African vocation is central to its strategic identity.
- UM6P official press release
- Call for Scholarship Applications under the TAGDev2.0 Programme for the 2026/2027 Academic Year at University Mohammed VI Polytechnic
This article is based on publicly available sources. MENA Higher Ed is an independent knowledge platform and has no affiliation with any of the organisations mentioned.