Africa-Latin America Summit: Morocco’s African Leadership Highlighted in Panama City
The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Sidie Mohamed Tunis, highlighted, in Panama City, Morocco’s leadership in Africa in several areas of cooperation. “Morocco, under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, continues to show leadership in Africa at crucial times,” said Mr. Tunis, who was speaking at the Summit of Presidents of Regional Parliamentary Unions in Africa and Latin America, which has just wrapped up in the Panamanian capital. He also highlighted the coordination work carried out by Morocco, through the House of Advisors, to ensure the success of this meeting in the service of strengthening cooperative relations between Africa and Latin America. The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament also noted that the role of multilateralism remains essential to meet the challenges facing the world today, noting that South-South cooperation must be made a priority in the foreign policy of countries and within the framework of the action of regional and continental organizations. In his turn, the Chairperson of the African Parliamentary Union, Mohamed Ali Houmed, underlined the need to have an expanded parliamentary framework for dialogue, consultation and sharing of good practices and experiences, noting that this space must be in line with the ambitions of the African and Latin American peoples. He also considered that only “broad and strong” parliamentary cooperation can serve as a framework for new visions capable of achieving the aspirations of countries and peoples for greater progress and development. “Cooperation between South parliamentary organizations is a vision which can only prosper because it is based on solid historical foundations, shared values as well as on common concerns of the populations we represent”, he pointed out. The Summit of Presidents of Regional Parliamentary Unions in Africa and Latin America adopted the Panama City Declaration, in which the participants undertake to work with parliamentary organizations and bodies in the two regions in order to make the Africa-Latin America Parliamentary Forum a political platform to propose alternatives and solutions that are in tune with the expectations of the peoples of the South. Morocco was represented at this meeting by a delegation led by the Speaker of the House of Advisors, Naama Mayara.