Ambassador Hilale: NAM Should Move “Beyond Outdated Approaches,” “Adapt to 21st Century Challenges

Belgrade – Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Omar Hilale called, on Tuesday in Belgrade, on the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to “move beyond outdated approaches and adapt to the multidimensional challenges of the 21st century”.

Speaking at a commemorative meeting marking the 65th anniversary of the founding of the NAM, Hilale noted that, given the challenges, crises and divisions that have emerged since the Movement’s creation, the body can no longer address 21st-century issues by simply reproducing the approaches and working methods that characterized its founding period.

The Movement is now called upon to develop its working methods and strengthen its consultation mechanisms “so that it can enhance its effectiveness and credibility, and reinforce its capacity to formulate practical and realistic proposals to address current and emerging international challenges”, Hilale said.

The NAM must be able to adapt to the profound transformations taking place within the international system and tackle new challenges such as climate change, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, cybersecurity, and new forms of transnational crime, the ambassador added.

Without seeking to replace the multilateral international system, the Movement should contribute to strengthening it by conveying the priorities and aspirations of countries of the Global South in a coordinated and constructive manner, while helping to advance them within the United Nations system, the diplomat recommended.

In this regard, he recalled that the Kingdom has made South-South cooperation with African countries one of its priorities, establishing solidarity-based partnerships in several strategic sectors, including food security, health, training and human development.

Aware of the challenges facing these countries, Morocco, at the initiative of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, has launched a range of structured initiatives, notably the Royal Initiative to facilitate Sahel countries’ access to the Atlantic Ocean, the Royal Atlantic Africa Initiative, and the Atlantic African Gas Pipeline project.

These initiatives embody the Kingdom’s commitment to the stability and sustainable development of the African continent and aim, in particular, to make the Atlantic space a platform for openness, connectivity and economic integration, Hilale stressed.

The Moroccan ambassador also highlighted the centrality of the Palestinian issue in Morocco’s foreign policy, emphasizing that, in His capacity as Chairman of the Al-Quds Committee, His Majesty King Mohammed VI has consistently reaffirmed the Kingdom’s commitment to preserving the legal, historical and cultural status of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, while supporting the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to exercise their legitimate rights and realize their aspiration to establish an independent Palestinian State with Al Qods East as its capital.

It is within the framework of this commitment, Hilale continued, that Morocco decided to participate in the International Stabilization Force in Gaza.

This contribution, he concluded, will notably include the mobilization of Moroccan military and security personnel, in addition to the deployment of a field military hospital dedicated to providing medical assistance to the affected population.