Moroccan Participation in the UPM parliament committees

Lisbon – The work of the five committees of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), which opened Monday in Lisbon, were marked by a strong participation of the Moroccan delegation composed of several members of the boards of representatives and advisers.

Within the Political Committee, the debate focused particularly on the role of parliaments of the UfM in the issue of recognition of human rights in the Euromed region was very rich and has allowed a fruitful exchange of views, told MAP the Hasnaa Abu Zaid MP.

“We had also the opportunity to present the Moroccan democratic model which was reinforced by the new constitution, but also to share with other delegations the various concerns around the issue of human rights and especially the rights of immigrants, an area where Morocco has developed a pioneering experience in the region, “she said, on the sidelines of the UfM, which will continue until Tuesday.

“We have been focusing on this occasion on the progress made by Morocco in the field of human rights,” said for his part, Abdelmalek Aferiat, Member of the House of Councillors, recalling the last resolution of the Security Council, which welcomed the efforts of the Kingdom in the field of human rights and renewed confidence in national institutions, particularly the National Council for Human Rights (CNDH).

The UfM has five standing committees namely the Policy Committee, Security and Human Rights, the Committee on Economic and Financial Affairs, Social Affairs and Education, the Commission for the Promotion of Quality of Life, Exchanges between Civil Societies and Culture, the Committee on Energy, Environment and Water and the Committee on Women’s Rights.

Created at a summit held in Paris in July 2008, the Union for the Mediterranean was eventually absorb the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (Euromed also says or Barcelona Process), which had existed since 1995 and gave the region a part of multilateral cooperation.

The Barcelona Declaration proclaimed three sets of goals: political and security partnership, economic and financial partnership and social partnership, cultural and human.

The PA-UfM, which Morocco is a member, is the parliamentary organ of the Union and that role is to provide a framework for multilateral cooperation between the elected representatives of the EU and those of the southern partner countries the Mediterranean.

It also aims to boost the development of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, exercise control over the actions and projects of this partnership and pass resolutions and recommendations to the ministerial conference of the UfM.