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New York (United Nations), December 3, 2012 (MAP)
Three priorities related to the Arab-African issues and the consolidation of peace in the world will mark the Moroccan presidency of the Security Council of the UN, which is a highlight of the mandate of the north African country within the Executive Body.
The rotating Council presidency for December “is a highlight of our two-year term in the Security Council of the UN,” said Morocco’s UN ambassador, Mohamed Loulichki, explaining that this presidency will provide the opportunity to Morocco to “act as a catalyst in a number of priority issues for the Kingdom.”
In defining its priorities, Morocco aimed to remain faithful to its “Arab-Muslim affiliation – including the question of the Middle East, particularly Al Quds Asharif that remains at the heart of our concerns – and to its belonging to the African continent, while taking into account the issues dictated at international level,” the ambassador told MAP.
In this program, the Sahel and the worrying situation in Mali attract the attention of the members of the Council. In this regard, a ministerial meeting chaired by the Moroccan Foreign Minister, Saad Dine el Otmani is scheduled for December 10 in the presence of the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the Special Envoy for the Sahel former head of the Italian government, Romano Prodi and several ministers and senior officials of international organisations.
This debate could be crowned by a presidential statement prepared by Morocco, a source close to the secretariat of the Security Council said. This meeting is the “culmination of our presidency,” said Loulichki, adding that the seriousness of the situation in the Sahel and in Mali in particular, requires the establishment of a “concerted and coordinated international strategy.”
The crisis in northern Mali coupled with potentially dangerous instability for the whole region not only attracts the attention of the UN Security Council but also necessitates a swift and vigorous action to be carried out in cooperation with the sub regional organisations, in particular the Economic Community of the States of West Africa, (ECOWAS), sources in the Moroccan UN delegation said.
The crisis in the Sahel proves the “need to strengthen cooperation within the sub-regions but also between them,” a diplomat told MAP, calling for the adoption of an “inclusive and transparent approach for the sole benefit of the populations concerned.”
The Moroccan presidency will also touch on peacekeeping and peacebuilding. Morocco has a long history of contributions to the UN peacekeeping operations, particularly in Africa. A discussion is scheduled in this regard on December 12, the objective being to reflect on the improvement of cooperation between the different on-going peacekeeping operations.
Beyond the topics identified in this program, the Moroccan delegation indicated that the UN Security will be focused during the Moroccan presidency on the crises in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Syria.
