Rabat : The Parliamentary Dialogue Forum of Senates and Equivalent Councils of Africa, the Arab world, Latin America and the Caribbean has proclaimed the city of Rabat the capital of South-South cooperation.
According to the Final Statement of the Forum, organized on Friday March 04, 2022, under the patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, by the House of Advisors in the Kingdom of Morocco, the presidents and representatives of senates, shoora councils, equivalent councils, and regional parliamentary associations in Africa, the Arab world, and Latin America and the Caribbean acknowledged and highly appreciated the role played by the Kingdom of Morocco, under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, in launching and supporting any development and solidarity initiative aimed at supporting South-South cooperation.
Appreciating the summaries of all the speeches and discussions, as well as the studies and reports presented in the Forum, the Final Statement stressed the imperative of reinforcing South-South coordination, cooperation, and synergy between the countries of Africa, the Arab world, Latin America, and the Caribbean at the bilateral levels, strengthening mechanisms for regional integration and inter-cooperation, particularly in the fields related to safeguarding sovereignty, food, energy, and health security, economic exchange, sustainable development, and constant coordination and consultation through permanent institutional channels.
The Final Statement contains numerous recommendations, including the building of mutually beneficial partnerships and unlocking the dynamics of human and social development projects through the expedited development of cooperation strategies based on the values of solidarity, justice, and common interest.
It also recommended adopting efficient and continuous mechanisms that are able to eradicate famine, ensure food security, improve nutrition, and enhance agricultural sustainability, while encouraging scientific research on food production, developing agricultural methods, with a view to overcoming climate change impacts, desert encroachment, rainfall scarcity, and other climate factors.
In this regard, the Forum called for the establishment of a “parliamentary mechanism for cooperation and economic integration” consisting of representatives of regional and continental parliaments – that enables the promotion of legislative innovation in terms of enhancing South-South cooperation and strengthening the exchange of best practices between parliamentary institutions, in addition to working in a practical and swift manner to offer an “‘integrated roadmap proposal for joint cooperation” to the summits of country leaders, institutions, bodies, and African, Arab and Latin American inter-governmental conferences.
In addition, the Final Statement also called for the consolidation of the work of governments and parliaments to support and enhance the work of the United Nations international agencies, such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development (FAO), the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the World Food Programme, in partnership with all countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
The “South-South” Parliamentary Dialoque Forum, marked by the presence of representatives of Senates of more than 31 countries of the three geopolitical groups, is intended to be a parliamentary mechanism and a space for advocacy and exploration of new areas of multidimensional cooperation, according to a logic of strategic partnership and solidarity based on proximity and efficient and effective participatory action.
