Leaders from across the continent joined ambassadors in examining how to counter terrorism and better prevent violent extremism through stronger cooperation between the UN and regional organizations.

The UN chief expressed deep concern over the gains which terrorist groups are making in the Sahel and other parts of Africa.

“Despair, poverty, hunger, lack of basic services, unemployment, and unconstitutional changes in government continue to lay fertile ground for the creeping expansion of terrorist groups to infect new parts of the continent,” he pointed out.

Furthermore, fighters, funds and weapons are increasingly flowing between regions and across the continent, he said, while terrorist groups are forging new alliances with organized crime networks and piracy groups.

“Just as terrorism drives people apart, countering it can bring countries together,” said Mr. Guterres, pointing to several initiatives across Africa, including in the Sahel, the Lake Chad Basin and Mozambique.

“The United Nations stands with Africa to end this scourge,” he added. “Above all, it includes our ongoing close collaboration with the African Union (AU) and regional and sub-regional African organizations.”

Mr. Guterres said the UN is delivering tailored assistance to African countries in areas that include prevention, legal assistance, investigations, prosecutions, reintegration and rehabilitation.  

Alongside Nigeria, the UN is also co-organizing the upcoming African Counter Terrorism Summit and is strengthening work together on important peace initiatives.

The Organization also advocates for new AU-led “robust” peace-enforcement missions and counter-terrorism operations, with Security Council mandates. He urged countries to support this vital work.

The new AU Chairperson, President Azali Assoumani of Comoros, noted that although terrorism has been around for ages “since the Libyan crisis in 2011 it has really exploded, and particularly in Africa.”

As a result, thousands of foreign fighters and combatants flooded into the Sahel, which helped with importing terrorist groups onto the continent, along with “an uncontrollable circulation of weapons”.

“In this way, progressively, terrorism took on greater and greater scope in Africa - from north to south, from east to west. And the terrorist contagion continues, broadening in almost all regions of Africa,” he said, speaking through an interpreter.

He vowed to “spare no effort” to ensure an AU flagship initiative to “silence the guns” by 2030, becomes a reality.

This mission was marked by various meetings with partners and field visits mainly in the regions of Oriental and Tangier Tetouan Al Hoceima, said a note published Wednesday on the website of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Led by the Ministry through its Program Management Unit (PMU), this supervision mission aimed to conduct a detailed review of the PPR EB performance and the progress made from financial, institutional and environmental and social points of view.

The field visit began with the fishing village of Tibouda in Nador, located in the heart of the Cap des Trois Fourches, the most prominent point in the Mediterranean. This site will be established as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in order to safeguard coastal and marine species and ecosystems.

The delegation also visited a seaweed farming cooperative implemented in Marchica (Nador) as well as fish farms in Cap de l'Eau and Mdiq.

During this mission, the PMU presented the state of progress of the Blue Economy program, including the creation of the Interministerial Commission for the Development of the Blue Economy (CIDEB) through a circular of the Head of Government (Circular 03/2023 of February 07, 2023).

During the meeting held with the Directorate General of Local Government (DGCT), the Governor Director of Local Public Services Leila Hammouchi highlighted the importance of the territories in the promotion of the blue economy and informed of the sending of a specific circular of the Minister of the Interior addressed to the walis, governors and presidents of regional councils.

During this dialogue, which is part of the 36th Committee’s session, the expert Fatima Diallo asked about the issue of expulsion of thousands of Moroccans, residing legally and for many years in Algeria, and on the measures taken for the restitution of their looted property and their compensation.

In the same vein, the director of global issues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates Ismail Chekkori noted that this issue, which is a human and humanitarian drama, has seen Algeria arbitrarily expel 45 thousand families in the midst of the religious holiday of Eid el Adha.

The Moroccan official added that the national response was part of the national solidarity, which had enabled the integration of Moroccans arbitrarily expelled from Algeria to work and access to social services.

Nevertheless, given the current context of Morocco's relations with Algeria, marked by the unilateral Algerian decision to sever diplomatic relations with Morocco, Chekkori asked the UN Committee to examine this issue with the necessary attention, so that justice is done.

A Moroccan multi-sectoral delegation, led by the Minister of Economic Inclusion, Small Business, Employment and Skills, Younes Sekkouri, participated in the meeting, which presented the Moroccan policy on immigration and asylum.

These talks also focused on consolidating the distinguished relations between the two kingdoms with a view to raising them to the highest level, the House of Representatives said in a statement, noting that these ties are characterized by friendship, mutual respect, continuous consultation and coordination on matters of common interest.

Sokhonn, the statement continued, reiterated, on this occasion, his country's support for the sovereignty of the Kingdom and its territorial integrity, as well as its respect for the efforts made by Morocco to reach a negotiated political solution to the Moroccan Sahara issue.

The Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister, who is making an official visit to Morocco leading a large delegation, said that the two countries are working to strengthen their relations on the economic, commercial, cultural, tourist, educational and parliamentary levels, emphasizing that his talks with Moroccan officials take place in this context.

Talbi El Alami, for his part, praised Cambodia's position in support of Morocco's sovereignty and its territorial integrity, referring to the results of the fruitful visit he made to Cambodia last year and the talks he had with the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Senate within the framework of his participation in the 43rd session of the Interparliamentary Assembly of Southeast Asian Nations.

Affirming that Cambodia is a gateway for Morocco to Southeast Asian countries and that Morocco is a gateway for Cambodia to Africa, the Speaker of the House of Representatives informed the official Cambodian and the delegation accompanying him of the Moroccan parliamentary experience, while emphasizing the importance of parliamentary diplomacy to strengthen communication, dialogue and regional and international coordination, as well as the exchange of experiences and parliamentary expertise.

This meeting was also an opportunity to discuss various regional and international issues of common interest, the statement concludes.

The MASI.20, an index of the 20 most liquid stocks, gained 0.09% to 842.24 pts.

The opening session of this day was marked by a Royal message, which was read by Minister of Industry and Trade, Ryad Mezzour.

This event, which brings together ministries, institutional stakeholders, professional federations and private operators, will serve as a platform for exchange on the strategic issues of development of the sector and the priorities of the new industrial strategy.

The National Industry Day, whose next editions will be declined in regions in order to highlight the local industrial potential and to deal with the specific associated stakes, will be registered in the global calendar of the economic events, as an annual reference get-together of the Industry in Morocco.

This first edition will meet several goals, including confirming the industry's position, as a national priority to make it an axial lever for the development of Morocco, and promote productive investment in industry nationally and regions, make it more attractive and enhance it.

The opening of this day took place in the presence of the Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch, the Minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Fettah, the Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development Leila Benali, the Minister Delegate in charge of Investment, Convergence and Evaluation of Public Policies, Mohcine Jazouli and the Minister of Transport and Logistics Mohammed Abdeljalil.

"The aforementioned prisoner has never been attacked by any official of the prison where he is serving his sentence and enjoys, like all inmates, the rights guaranteed by the law governing prisons," said the DGAPR in a statement.

"As usual, Amnesty International makes false allegations about the Kingdom of Morocco, peddling the propaganda of the enemies of the Kingdom's territorial integrity and turning it into +facts+ without the slightest effort of verification, especially by contacting directly the administration or the national institutions concerned with the protection of human rights, in flagrant violation of the foundations of the action of human rights that this organization claims to practice", deplored the DGAPR.

This legal documentation was signed at a ceremony chaired by Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fettah, alongside the Country Director at the Regional Office of the Maghreb, Middle East and North Africa Department at the WB, Jesko Hentschel, and the president of the commune of Casablanca, Nabila Rmili, said the ministry in a statement.

On this occasion, Fettah welcomed the quality and diversity of cooperation relations between Morocco and the World Bank Group, praising, in this regard, the support provided by the Bank to the reforms undertaken by the Kingdom, especially in the field of territorial development.

In this context, the Minister stressed that the additional financing granted by the World Bank aims to increase the investment capacity of the commune of Casablanca, to strengthen the resilience of the city of Casablanca to the effects of climate change and improve access to basic services in the program area.

For her part, Rmili thanked the World Bank for its support to the structuring projects launched in the city of Casablanca, stressing that the additional financing granted to the Commune will allow to broaden the scope of the reforms undertaken and to further strengthen the city's resource mobilization capacities.

AlMalik explained, in an address at an event on this occasion under the theme "Poems of Light", that "this forum will address issues related to poetry, will support poets and will make the World Poetry Day an annual celebration of exceptional poems each time in one of the capitals of Islamic countries".

The event was attended by poets from Morocco, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Senegal, Mauritania, Sudan, Maldives, Lebanon, Bahrain, Yemen, Cameroon and Tunisia.

During the proceedings of the 1st edition of the Free Days Forum, these personalities praised the central role of the Agency, co-organizer of this event with Al-Quds University, in view of its realistic methodology and its knowledge of life in the Holy City and its institutions.

In this regard, Imad Abu Kishk, president of Al-Quds University, highlighted the efforts and work of the Agency for the good of the Holy City, its development, as well as for the resistance of its people.

He said that the Agency has started its prospective work in Al-Quds and Palestine to establish practical, realistic and achievable solutions within the framework of its sustainable development program.

In this sense, he expressed the recognition and appreciation of all Palestinians, especially the inhabitants of the Holy City towards this institution, which continues to work for Al-Quds, its people and its cause.

He stressed the importance of this Forum which is a platform for reflection in search of creative, innovative, realistic, practical and feasible solutions.

For his part, Adnan Al-Husseini, head of the Al-Quds Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization, highlighted the role of the Agency and the assistance it provides to meet the needs of the inhabitants of the Holy City.

He stressed the importance of harnessing the nation's capabilities to support the people of Al-Quds and its institutions, and to work to preserve its youth and provide support to face the plans of the occupation.

Furthermore, he emphasized the importance of the Forum, which aims to meet the needs of the Holy City's inhabitants.

The Mufti of Al-Quds, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, expressed his thanks to the Agency for its "blessed and benevolent efforts to support the vital sectors in the Al Quds.

For his part, the deputy governor of Al-Quds Governorate, Abdullah Siam, praised "the role of the Agency, which works under the direct supervision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, to maintain the presence of the Holy City in the institutions of the Kingdom and in the minds of the Moroccan people."