Morocco Determined to Give Fresh Impetus to UfM Parliamentary Assembly – Lower House Speaker –

Morocco is determined to give fresh impetus to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM-PA) through an action plan including priorities at three levels, said Wednesday in Strasbourg, speaker of the House of Representatives, Rachid Talbi El Alami, who took over the presidency of this Assembly. The three main strategic lines of the Moroccan presidency can respond transversally to the main concerns facing the Mediterranean region today, said Talbi El Alami in a speech on the occasion of the handover to Morocco of the presidency of the UfM-PA. According to the speaker of the House of Representatives, these actions are also able to contribute to provide the Union with sustainable development solutions that directly affect thousands of people including mainly women, and which can have tangible results on the ground, especially with the current situation of the Ukrainian crisis. The three strategic lines concern the sustainable development as for Water, Environment, blue economy, energy and accompanied by concrete Mediterranean actions, stressed Talbi El Alami, who during the Moroccan presidency intends to propose to the Commissions of the UfM-PA to actively address energy security, the fight against climate change, food security and water security and this, in full partnership with the Secretariat of the UfM in Barcelona. The other two strategic lines include the employability of youth and inclusive growth as well as the socio-economic empowerment of women, added the speaker of the House of Representatives, who referred on this occasion to the main challenges and threats facing the Euro-Mediterranean region, including the security situation in the Sahel region, the peace process in Libya, the situation in Syria and Palestine, migration flows, peace and security in the region, the environment and climate change. Talbi El Alami pleaded, in this regard, for “the crystallization of a collective will to face the common challenges and move forward towards our common fate,” stressing the need to “work on the ground instead of letting the ground impose its reality and its conditions, through the development of proactive strategies both economically, culturally and security”. Recalling the importance of Morocco as a stable country, a land of dialogue, investment and productive action, the speaker of the House of Representatives stressed that the Kingdom, which has set an example in security efficiency and anticipatory action, is “fully aware of the interest of cooperating with its friends, colleagues, and neighbors to meet the various challenges posed”.