Chairperson of the Moroccan Parliamentary Representation at the PACE Takes Part in 29th Lisbon Forum

The Chairperson of the Moroccan Parliamentary Representation at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Rep. Salma Benaziz, took part, on October 16-17, 2023, in the 29th Lisbon Forum on “Human Rights, Environment, and Economic Crimes: Youth at the Forefront.”

In the first part of the Forum, Rep. Salma Benaziz shed light on the Moroccan experience in climate change, renewable energies, and sustainable development. In this respect, she noted that the Kingdom of Morocco is one of the leading countries that acted early in the face of the repercussions of climate change, particularly by launching the program of hydroelectric dams, aiming to preserve water, produce energy, and irrigate agricultural lands.

In the same respect, she underscored that the Kingdom of Morocco is one of the countries that least cause greenhouse gas emissions at the global level (less than 0.2%). She also added that despite this fact, the Kingdom remains a victim of some repercussions of climate change like drought and floods.

On the same occasion, Rep. Salma Benaziz highlighted the importance of sustainable development in the Kingdom, as reflected by the 2011 Constitution that establishes the right to live in a healthy environment (Article 31). In the same regard, she tackled the major national sustainable development strategies.

During the second part of the Forum, Rep. Salma Benaziz spoke  on the role of youth in sustainable development. In this context, she shed light on the Moroccan experience in the area as she noted the qualitative participation of youth in the proceedings of the Committee in Charge of Elaborating the New Development Model, which issued several propositions related to climate, agriculture, and renewable energies.

Besides, Rep. Salma Benaziz stressed the important role of youth in addressing the various phenomena, factors, and practices that endanger the future of humanity, like wars, climate imbalances, economic crimes, and human right violations. She also underscored the importance of empowering youth in terms of values and culture to address such dangers.

Rep. Benaziz also underlined the imperative and decisiveness of betting on youth to face these challenges as it is a matter of the future, the power of change, and given that youth are the most dynamic category of human resources in societies.

Moreover, Rep. Salma Benaziz called for providing several necessities that encourage youth to contribute to building cohesive societies such as working on the reorientation of youth energies towards deeper and more serious matters, as well as encouraging them to utilize technologies to work on positive and strategic sectors and to embrace positive values and contribute to development and construction.

The Moroccan Representative concluded her intervention by urging  to integrate youth in public affairs management and enable them to enrich it by propositions and ideas. She also called for constructing representative and executive institutions on the basis of vigilance and constructive criticism, in addition to making youth feel the impact of public policies and public spending on their life by granting them access to the job market in a way that guarantees their dignity and integration in public life, and enhances their trust in their countries and institutions.