Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Hassan Benomar Receives President of the Global Parliamentary Network to End Infectious Diseases

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Hassan Benomar, received on Monday, June 6, 2022, at the House, the members of the UNITE Global Parliamentary Network to End Infectious Diseases on a courtesy visit to the House of Representatives. The delegation comprised Mr. Ricardo Baptista Leite, President of the Network, Ms. Ibtissam Azzaoui, Chapter Chair of the MENA Region, and Ms. Eleonor Silva, the Network's Executive Director.

At the outset of the meeting, Mr. Benomar welcomed the members of the UNITE Global Parliamentary Network to End Infectious Diseases, expressing his esteem and appreciation of this meeting, which would construct an opportunity to communicate and discuss several questions relating to general health and the roles of parliamentarians at the national, regional, and international levels to promote the health situation, and to combat deadly and infectious diseases through evaluation of public policies, enactment of laws, and control of government action.

For their part, the members of UNITE thanked the Deputy Speaker of the House for the warm reception and congratulated him on Morocco's achievements in several aspects. They also expressed their esteem for the Moroccan experience and the Kingdom's wise management of COVID-19 and its economic, social, and health repercussions under the enlightened leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.

The meeting was an opportunity for the UNITE members to give an overview of the realizations of the Network since its creation in 2017. In this respect, the Network gathers 280 members representing more than 80 countries in 10 regional branches, including the MENA Region.

The meeting also featured the presentation of the Network's action program and its goals to protect global health and combat infectious and deadly diseases and defend such causes at the parliamentary level by the year 2030.

Upon the meeting, Mr. Ricardo Baptista Leite extended, on behalf of the Network, an invitation to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Rachid Talbi El Alami, to take part in the Network’s general assembly, scheduled for December 2022, in Lisbon, Portugal.