During this meeting organized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (Africa Office), Fatima Zahra Al-Salihi, Mourchida of the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, emphasized the many reforms that occurred in the religious field in Morocco, as part of the comprehensive civilizational reform project launched by the Kingdom under the enlightened leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.

In a speech entitled "Murchidates and prevention of violent extremism: lessons from the Moroccan experience," Al-Salihi explained that the reformist vision of the religious field in Morocco draws its strength from a comprehensive approach and a long-term vision to meet the needs and priorities of society.

The religious field, she explained, has experienced comprehensive revival and development under the leadership of HM King Mohammed VI, Commander of the Faithful, recalling the special interest given to this field through the involvement of women and the expansion of the scope of their work in the management of religious affairs and the fight against extremism and fundamentalism.

The training of the Mourchidates, Al-Salihi said, is part of a comprehensive and general strategic vision related to the policy of reform and management of religious affairs in the Kingdom. It is also part of an integrated royal vision revolving around the role of these Mourchidates in the consolidation of the values of citizenship and the improvement of the living conditions of Moroccans, she added.

Almalik, who was speaking at the official opening session of the 4th edition of the International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Systems for Sustainable Development (AI2SD'2022), welcomed this model that takes into account the objectives of sustainable development and makes the digital a pillar of this development.

The hundreds of Moroccan scientists distinguished at the regional and international levels reflect the efforts of Morocco which wants to be a digital leader in Africa, he said during this event organized under the patronage of HM King Mohammed VI by the Mohammed V University of Rabat, through the National School of Arts and Crafts (ENSAM).

He stressed the importance for the countries of the Islamic world to equip themselves with digital systems with applications of artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and blockchain, believing that "the concept of sustainable development is changing according to technical progress".

"The discussion around the subject of sustainable development is useless if we are content with yesterday's knowledge that prevents progress," said the Director General of ICESCO, emphasizing the need to "revise our educational methods, especially in institutions of higher education because today's universities must stimulate innovation and creativity" in young people.

On this occasion, he highlighted ICESCO's efforts to promote artificial intelligence through partnerships with the most important space institutions, while giving pride of place to strategies for the development of digital education in the Islamic world.

The organization encourages innovation initiatives, pays special attention to youth and links scientific research to current needs, he said.

For his part, Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation, Abdellatif Miraoui, said that the digital is at the heart of development, especially with the NMD that makes digitization an axis of transformation in various areas.

"The digital is in scientific research, in education ...", said Miraoui, calling to accompany young people in the process of digitization so that they are in line with the rapid technological advances that the world knows and take advantage of their skills.

The lower house highlighted, in a statement issued on the occasion of the commemoration of the Open Government Week (May 16-20), its determination to consolidate openness, communication and involvement, within the framework of what is set by the Constitution of the Kingdom, assigning to the Parliament a prominent place among constitutional institutions.

On this occasion, the House of Representatives recalls the importance of its adherence to the Open Government Partnership Initiative since October 2019, an adherence that the House has adopted on the basis of its clear commitments that are based on its constitutional and institutional status and on the competencies and functions entrusted to it by the Moroccan Constitution

On the same occasion, the lower house highlighted the results of the implementation of its commitments for the period 2020-2021, despite the coincidence of this period with the Covid-19 pandemic and its repercussions on the organization of activities and events that were previously scheduled.

Thus, regarding the first commitment related to the implementation of the constitutional provisions on participatory and citizen democracy, the House ensured the formation of a Petitions Committee composed of members of the majority and the opposition, and held two meetings with over 60 civil society organizations on participatory democracy.

With regard to the participation of citizens in legislation, the House ensures the publication of bills and proposals submitted to the review process on its electronic portal, with a view to enriching them and commenting on them.

In the same context, the lower house has set up a communication unit in charge of responding to requests for information and data issued by citizens, in accordance with the law on the right of access to information. In addition, the House ensures the regular publication of its deliberations during the plenary sessions and of the reports of the standing committees, in order to keep the public informed of its work and provide it with parliamentary information.

These accidents were mainly due to non-respect of priority, excessive speeding, non-control of vehicles and pedestrian and driver errors, the source pointed out in a statement.

A total of 33,019 traffic tickets were issued by the police during the same week.

The sum of fines paid by road traffic violators stood at 7,084,475 dirhams, the statement said.

"Today at #WHA75 [the World Health Assembly[ Member States re-elected @DrTedros to serve a second five-year term as Director-General of the WHO. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus's new mandate officially commences on 16 August 2022," the WHO tweeted​​​.

The WHO chief, who was first elected in 2017, was the sole candidate for the position. 

Before being appointed WHO Director-General, Tedros served as Ethiopia's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2016 and before that health minister from 2005 to 2012.

Speaking by videoconference at a high-level ministerial session part of the Conference to launch the Regional Index on Violence against Women and Girls (May 21-22) Hayar emphasized Morocco's "early" involvement in the field of gender equality, women's rights and fighting all forms of violence and discrimination.

The minister highlighted the foresight of HM King Mohammed VI who constantly emphasizes the requirement to strengthen the role of women and their integration in the process of sustainable development.

As a result, Morocco has strengthened its legal arsenal, updated its public policies on equality and gender mainstreaming, and created mechanisms to support women victims of violence, Hayar added.

"In application of the High Royal Directions, the Kingdom also launched the 2020 Marrakech Declaration to end violence against women under the presidency of HRH Princess Lalla Meryem," she recalled, adding that the initiative was praised and recognized by the United Nations and has instilled a new dynamic in the prevention, protection and care of women victims of violence.

Hayar also recalled the accession of Morocco last February to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women that will enter into force in July 2022, and to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

During this conference, held by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in partnership with Jordan's Ministerial Committee for the Empowerment of Women, Morocco's experience in assisting women victims of violence was praised, together with the Kingdom's legislative achievements.

The conference brought together several women ministers as well as gender experts and representatives of relevant ministries, the European Union, the UfM, and the civil society.

The event was marked by the launch of the Regional Index on Violence against Women and Girls, as part of the regional program "Combating violence against women and girls in the southern Mediterranean" funded by the EU.

The Moroccan official will hold bilateral talks with her counterparts attending these annual meetings, held under the theme "Fostering Climate Resilience and a Just Energy Transition for Africa."

The 57th Annual Meetings of the AfDB and the 48th Meetings of its concessional window, the African Development Fund (ADF), will be attended by finance ministers and Central Bank governors from 54 regional member countries and 27 non-regional member countries of the AfDB Group.

These 57th assemblies, which mark a return to face-to-face meetings after the virtual meetings of the last two years, will be an opportunity to discuss ways to facilitate the energy transition of Africa in a context marked by climate change, whose impact is already remarkable on the countries of the continent.

The objective of these assemblies, whose theme is aligned with the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) scheduled to take place in Egypt in November, is to discuss ways to help African countries adapt to climate change, particularly through the mobilization of necessary resources.

The Annual Meetings are the AfDB's most important event. They bring together about 3,000 delegates and participants each year.

They allow the institution to review progress with its shareholders and provide a unique forum for exchange on key issues affecting Africa's development for representatives of governments, business, civil society, think tanks, academia and the media.

This financing completes a first of nearly 113 million euros, granted by the Bank in 2015, said a statement by the AfDB, published on the sidelines of the 57th meetings of the Bank, held in Accra.

The project involves the construction of two twenty-foot equivalent container terminals of three million, a specialized bulk station of four million tons and a general cargo terminal of 33 million tons, said the AfDB.

Nador West Med will be backed by a commercial, industrial, logistics and tertiary pole located in an integrated economic zone that will offer new employment opportunities, the same source said.

"At the crossroads of important routes for the transport of containers and hydrocarbons, the construction of this new port infrastructure in deep waters, consolidates the presence of the Kingdom of Morocco on the world's maritime routes," said the Director General of the AfDB Group for North Africa, Mohamed El Azizi, quoted in the statement.

"It will be a factor of attractiveness for the Eastern region. A real driving force for growth and regional integration," said El Azizi.

For his part, the country manager of the Bank Group for Morocco, Achraf Hassan Tarsim, noted that Nador West Med demonstrates how a state-of-the-art infrastructure, designed in harmony with its environment and its territory, transforms an entire region to open it to the world with the development of new industrial sectors and the creation of thousands of jobs.

Nador West Med also aims to increase the logistical competitiveness of the national economy and secure the country's supply of hydrocarbons, draining part of the world's maritime activity that transits through the Mediterranean basin.

In the logic of active complementarity, this new infrastructure complements the Tangier Med port, inaugurated in 2004.

This two-day symposium is devoted to the examination of the situation of Islam and Muslims in Africa while trying to deconstruct extremist discourses and propose remedies against all forms of radicalization.

In his speech, the director of Dar Al Hadith Al Hassania, Ahmed Khamlichi stressed the importance of this symposium in a better understanding of the fundamentals of Islam, especially in Africa, calling to draw the necessary lessons from the reflections that will be expressed during this event.

While noting that ''Islam in Africa is distinguished by certain specificities, therefore requiring enlightenment to eliminate the residues of beliefs that have marked its spread in the continent'', he said that this international symposium seeks to provide a better understanding of Islam and to address the heresies and other fatwas that preach dissension and extremism.

This international symposium will address several issues including the specificities and forms of religious practice in Africa, the adaptation of Islam with the African reality in all its cultural and religious diversity or the issue of Islam and Muslims in secular societies.

Initiated by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), this conference aims to present the regional index on violence against women and girls and discuss the use of its results in national and regional policies and in monitoring the implementation of ministerial recommendations of the UfM.

The session, chaired by Minister of State for Legal Affairs and Chair of the Jordanian Ministerial Committee for the Empowerment of Women, Wafaa Bani Mustafa, was attended by several women ministers, representatives of the relevant ministries, the European Union and the UfM, as well as ambassadors, civil society organizations concerned with human rights and the advancement of the role of women, gender experts and the media.

In a speech, Hayar stressed the early commitment of Morocco in the field of equality, promotion of women's rights and the fight against all forms of violence and discrimination practiced against them, under the clear-sighted leadership of HM King Mohammed VI who never ceases to emphasize on every occasion, nationally or internationally, the importance of consolidating their roles and their integration in the process of sustainable development.

In this regard, she highlighted the strengthening by the Kingdom of its legal arsenal, the development of public policies related to equality and gender mainstreaming, and the creation and institutionalization of support mechanisms for women victims of violence.

Hayar also cited the "2020 Marrakech Declaration to combat violence against women" launched by HRH Princess Lalla Meryem in application of the High Royal Directions, which was welcomed and recognized by the United Nations and gave a strong impetus and a new breath to the prevention, protection and care of women victims of violence.

In line with international commitments, Hayar recalled the launch of the national action plan for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 "Women, Security and Peace", as well as the Kingdom's accession in February 2022 to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which will enter into force next July, and to the First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The chairwoman of the session openly welcomed the achievements of Morocco, particularly on the legislative level, while congratulating the Kingdom for its accession to the two Optional Protocols.