Rabat – The assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs at the UN, Ursula Mueller, shared her pleasure in discussing “global humanitarian challenges” with Moroccan Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani in a tweet on Wednesday, November 27.
Mueller tweeted an image of herself meeting El Othmani and Omar Hilale, Morocco’s permanent representative at the UN, in Rabat.
Mueller said she discussed Morocco’s “important role” in responding to global challenges with El Othmani. Also present at the meeting were the Moroccan President of the National Commission on International Law, Farida Khamlichi, and the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation in Morocco, Rania Machlab, according to Maghreb Arab Press.
The under-secretary is in Morocco to give a speech at a conference commemorating the 1949 Geneva Conventions today.
Mueller is set to be the keynote speaker at the “Challenges to Humanitarian Law” conference in Rabat. The Moroccan government and the ICRC are jointly hosting the conference in honor of the 70 years since more than 50 countries adopted four Geneva Conventions.
At the opening of the conference, El Othmani noted the importance of international humanitarian law. He remarked that Morocco is making efforts to “harmonize” national law with its international obligations by revising the penal code.
El Othmani also highlighted Morocco’s national commission for international humanitarian law, established in 2008 as one of the first of its kind in the world.
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The four Geneva Conventions signed in 1949 apply to the humane treatment of wounded soldiers, prisoners of war, and civilians. Morocco ratified the conventions at the time of its independence in 1956.
In 2011, Morocco signed on to two 1977 protocols attached to the conventions that covered additional protections for victims of international conflict and non-international armed conflict. In 2005, a third protocol was added to the Conventions, recognizing the “red crystal” as a third protected emblem, after the red cross and red crescent, but Morocco has not signed on to it.
Mueller began her three-day visit to Morocco on Tuesday, November 26.
