Declaration of Rabat issued by the Conference on “African Parliamentary Cooperation in Light of the Present Challenges”

We, the Chairpersons of Foreign Affairs and Defense Committees in African Parliaments, meeting in Rabat, the Kingdom of Morocco, on July 6-7, 2023, within the framework of the Conference organized by our respective assemblies on “African Parliamentary Cooperation in Light of the Present Challenges;”

Affirming our strong engagement in favor of African unity and integration through positive and constructive African legislative action that addresses the various challenges in our continent;

 Underscoring the fundamental role of our Parliaments in promoting democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and good governance; We

1. Confirm that African parliamentary cooperation provides substantial support to the action of African States in dealing with the challenges the world currently faces, and which arise in our continent in alarming acuteness, particularly the question of food security and the threats that affect peace and security;
2. Recall that the food and nutritional situation in Africa, which has deteriorated due to the Covid-19 pandemic and is still regressing because of the global security situation, is a matter of the food sovereignty of a continent that encloses around 600 million hectares of uncultivated arable lands, being 60 percent of the world total, and that has the potential of feeding the entire planet;
3. Consider that the food crisis, although it can be curbed by external aids, can only be resolved on a long-term basis through a joint African food and agricultural strategy that enables the optimization of the comparative assets and advantages of all the countries and regions of the continent;
4. Reaffirm our strong commitment to the values of democracy and pluralism and underscore the role of African Parliaments in promoting sustainable development in favor of the populations of the entire continent;
5. Reiterate the commitment of our Parliaments in favor of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our countries and the unity of our continent;
6. Invite the African parliamentary community to fulfill its noble mission as a channel for communication and consultation able to unifying the peoples of the continent in matters where intergovernmental action is alone not enough to protect the continent against security vulnerability;
7. Intend to join efforts further, as representatives of the Foreign Affairs and defense Committees in our respective legislative institutions, to reinforce and support the joint African parliamentary action actively;
8. Propose the establishment, in Rabat, of an African Forum of Foreign Affairs and Defense Committees, whose permanent General Secretariat will be conferred to the House of Representatives of the Kingdom of Morocco as representative of the North African Caucus, and will be designated four representatives of the Central, West, East and South African Caucuses as Vice-Secretaries General of this Forum, which will be held annually to deliberate on the common concerns to achieve sustainable development for our African continent.

      Done in Rabat on July 7, 2023