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Rabat – At the fifth Session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) in Marrakech on Wednesday, April 17, delegates elected Morocco president of the forum.
The secretary of state to the Ministry of Energy, Mines, and Sustainable Development, Nezha El Ouafi, will lead Morocco’s one-year presidency over the forum.
ARFSD 2019 revolved around the theme “Empowering people and ensuring inclusion and equality.” The forum opened on Tuesday at the Palais des Congres de la Palmeraie in the ochre city of Marrakech.
Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani noted that the forum would explore how to speed up the implementation of socio-economic development initiatives and environmental protection in Africa, in accordance with the UN’s sustainable development goals and Development Agenda 2030.
Morocco and the UN Economic Commission for Africa co-organized ARFSD 2019, which will conclude April 18.
El Othmani opened the forum with a speech reaffirming Morocco’s commitment, as enshrined in the 2011 Constitution, to put in place the basis for sustainable development in Africa.
El Othmani stated, “We hope that this session will make it possible to analyze the current situation and propose solutions likely to achieve sustainable development for Africa and its peoples, in accordance with the spirit of the new UN Agenda 2030.”
He also stressed the significance of sustainable development as a global dynamic and a right for all citizens and Morocco’s role in implementing socio-economic development programs for the enhancement of renewable energies, energy efficiency, water saving, and the sustainable management of solid and liquid waste.
The newly elected board of the ARFSD includes Angola as deputy, Chad as second vice-president, Uganda as third vice-president, and Guinea as rapporteur.
Morocco takes over from Senegal to take charge of representing the forum’s recommendations to the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York in July.
