Morocco Takes Part in 11th Conference of Speakers of African National and Regional Parliaments in Johannesburg

Morocco is taking part in the 11^th Conference of Speakers of African National and Regional Parliaments, held on September 1-2, at the seat of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) in Midrand, South Africa.

The Kingdom of Morocco is represented in this conference, which is held on the sidelines of the August sessions of the Standing Committees of the PAP, by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Rachid Talbi Alami.

In his statement, Hon. Talbi Alami stressed that Morocco participates for the first time in this pan-African conference, which will be an opportunity to discuss a series of issues of interest to Africa, including food security, drought, as well as the repercussions of the health crisis caused by the Covid-19.

The Speaker also added that Morocco has accumulated great experience in dealing with these issues, and it intends to share it with other African countries during this event, which is a space for dialogue and exchange between African parliamentarians.

According to a PAP statement, this 11th Conference is held on the sidelines of the sixth parliamentary term under the theme of the African Union (AU) for 2022: "Building resilience in nutrition on the African continent: Accelerate the human capital, social and economic development."

The objective of this gathering is to promote coordination and harmonization of parliamentary action and advocacy in relation to the national and regional implementation of the AU theme, the ratification of AU treaties, in particular the Malabo PAP Protocol, as well as the presentation of sustainable responses to the socio-economic repercussions of Covid-19.

The PAP is a consultative Assembly of the AU that brings together parliamentarians from AU member States. It was established under Article 5 of the AU Constitutive Act and formally started the performance of its functions on March 18, 2004.

Each member State is represented within the PAP by five parliamentarians from the majority and the opposition, including at least one woman, elected or appointed by their national parliaments or legislative bodies.

The PAP holds at least two ordinary sessions per year. It has ten standing committees whose responsibilities cover all aspects of the political, socio-economic and cultural life of the continent.