House of Representatives Takes Part in Arab Regional Parliamentary Forum on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Member of the Board of the House of Representatives Ilham Saki and Chairperson of the Finance and Economic Development Committee Mohammed Chouki took part on Monday, December 13, in the Arab Regional Parliamentary Forum on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Forum took place via videoconference and debated the theme: "The role of parliaments in building back better for all.”

Speaking at the second session on “Responding to the COVID-19 crisis: Parliaments’ representative and lawmaking roles,” Rep. Ilham Saki noted that "the transformations emanating from this juncture forced governments to take exceptional national measures to protect public health, through legislation, policies and special programs aimed at facing the repercussions of the pandemic."

The Board member noted that the propagation of COVID-19 was a collective national challenge that all efforts have combined to confront. In this respect, she highlighted the insightful and proactive vision of His Majesty the King, through which he ordered the creation of a fund in the form of a special account to address the repercussions of the pandemic and the subsequent measures taken following the Royal directives. These actions have helped set a clear path for concerted national efforts between the Parliament and the Government and establish a comprehensive approach that consolidates the resources of authorities, public institutions, and other actors.

Regarding the roles played by the House of Representatives during the pandemic, Rep. Saki highlighted the House’s commitment to its constitutional legislative and control functions and its openness to citizens' concerns. In this respect, she added, “The House adopted the legal texts that lay the ground for the state of health emergency and several legislative texts relating to economic and social sectors.” The Representative also noted, “The legislative action of the Standing Committees was characterized by great vitality during the period following the declaration of the state of health emergency.”

Besides, she stated, "The precautionary measures and actions taken, to reduce the number of attendees and programmed meetings, in line with the exceptional circumstances, such as in comparative parliaments have not affected the continuity of action of the Standing Committees and their the active performance of their constitutional tasks, in legislation and control."

Rep. Ilham Saki concluded her statement by calling for "further and continuous mobilization, joint cooperation, flexibility and to serve society and its various concerns, and to place Parliaments at the center of the implementation of the goals of the Sustainable Development Agenda, regardless of the unexpected changes imposed by circumstances and events."

For his part, Chairperson of the Finance and Economic Development Committee Mohammed Chouki gave a statement on occasion, as part of the third session of the Forum, which focused on " Responding to the COVID-19 crisis: Parliaments’ budgeting and control roles." The Representative reviewed the role of the House of Representatives and its response to the circumstances of the pandemic. In this respect, he highlighted that the Moroccan Parliament has, through its constitutional roles and since the beginning of COVID-19, adopted the annual finance acts that took into account the challenges and repercussions of Covid-19 and prioritized meeting the needs of citizens and achieving the goals of sustainable development.

In his statement, the Chairperson of the Finance and Economic Development Committee elucidated the efforts of the House of Representatives to implement the economic and social plans and projects in light of COVID-19. In this context, the House passed an amending Finance Bill in 2021, which included a set of measures to address the pandemic's repercussions and promote and guarantee numerous rights such as the rights to health, social protection and education.

In order to address the repercussions of the pandemic, the House of Representatives adopted bills of a social nature, such as the enactment of special measures in favor of employers and workers registered with the National Social Security Fund and affected by the impacts of Coronavirus. In the same vein, the House also adopted a Framework Law on Social Protection, as the latter is pivotal to focus on the human component as a key actor in development and to build a State of social and spatial justice as part of a major social project and a new social revolution, whose bases were defined by HM King Mohammed VI, may God Assist Him, in the opening address of the legislative session on October 9, 2020.

Additionally, the Standing Committees within the House of Representatives held a wide range of meetings to discuss the repercussions of the pandemic and to hear Government officials concerning the measures taken to address Covid-19. This situation contributed to accelerating the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, increasing the budget allocated to key social sectors such as health, education, and employment and consolidating the development mechanisms.

Rep. Chouki added that the Moroccan Parliament contributed effectively to monitoring and controlling Government action during the pandemic through monitoring various development programs despite all the challenges posed by the health crisis.

The Forum was jointly organized by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), in partnership with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Forum aims to create a space for dialogue and exchange of experiences and expertise between the representatives of parliamentary institutions and other parties concerned with sustainable development. The Forum culminated in proposing key messages that will feed into the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development for 2022.