Malta: First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Takes Part in International Conference on "Building Tolerance and Peace despite the Current Challenges: MENA and Europe"

First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Mohamed Sabbari, is participating in the International Conference on "Building Tolerance and Peace despite the Current Challenges: MENA and Europe" in Malta on June 1-2, 2023.

The Conference features the participation of parliamentarians, representatives of Foreign Affairs Ministries, and academics from the region's countries. During the Conference, the participants will convene in sessions to exchange expertise and shed light on the importance of civil society in addressing the current challenges and building tolerance in the MENA region and the Mediterranean.

The President of the Republic of Malta, H.E. George Vella, received the participants in the Conference at the Presidential Palace. On occasion, he gave an address where he stressed his country's interest in peace and tolerance initiatives worldwide. The Maltese President also highlighted the importance of stability in the Mediterranean for maintaining global peace and security.

The Conference is organized in cooperation between the Global Council for Tolerance and Peace and the Maltese House of Representatives. It will culminate in the Malta Declaration for Peace and Tolerance.

The Global Council for Tolerance and Peace is a non-governmental organization concerned with entrenching supreme human values and promoting tolerance and peace between peoples and States according to the orientations of the United Nations.

On the sidelines of the Conference, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Mohamed Sabbari, held talks with the Speaker of the Maltese House of Representatives, Hon. Angelo Farrugia. In their talks, Rep. Sabbari underscored the importance of consolidating the bilateral parliamentary links, uplifting coordination between the two legislative institutions within international parliamentary fora, and supporting tolerance and peace in the Mediterranean.

For his part, the Maltese Official expressed the willingness of his legislative institution to form a Parliamentary Friendship Group with Morocco soon to interact with its counterpart created by the House of Representatives. In the same vein, he expressed his desire to seize the opportunity of his participation in the Parliamentary Conference on Inter-Faith Dialogue in Marrakesh to hold talks with the Speaker of the House of Representatives on the means to support parliamentary communication between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Malta.

It should be noted that the Moroccan House of Representatives is an active member of the International Parliament for Tolerance and Peace, the parliamentary arm of the Global Council for Tolerance and Peace. In this context, Rabat and Dakhla hosted in July 2022 the Tenth Session of the IPTP with the participation of more than 80 parliamentarians from the various world parliaments.

The House of Representatives also concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Parliament for Tolerance and Peace to consolidate cooperation in tolerance and peace.