Casablanca – The leadership of King Mohammed VI is showing the international community the way forward in combating hate speech and promoting tolerance, coexistence, and mutual respect, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations High Representative Miguel Ángel Moratinos said Thursday.
Speaking to the press on the sidelines of the Global Conference on Promoting Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue and Tolerance in Countering Hate Speech, Moratinos commended Morocco’s role in bringing the issue to the international stage.
“His Majesty the King showed us the way,” Moratinos said, explaining that the monarch had demonstrated an approach focused on creating conditions for tolerance and mutual respect in international society.
The conference took place at the United Nations headquarters in New York and brought together member states, religious leaders, civil society representatives, and other stakeholders. Morocco, the UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, and the UNAOC jointly organized the event.
Moratinos said Morocco has become a “model” through initiatives that have gained international support and produced concrete outcomes. He welcomed the participation of dozens of UN member states and numerous civil society organizations in the conference.
He also pointed to Morocco’s contribution to international declarations and action plans addressing intolerance and hate speech. Among them, he cited the Marrakech Action Plan and the Rabat Action Plan.
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Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita also addressed the issue during the conference on Thursday, where he co-chaired the meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres and UN General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman.
Bourita presented the conference as part of Morocco’s continued efforts to strengthen interreligious and intercultural dialogue as a tool to counter hate speech.
He recalled that Morocco had spearheaded three UN General Assembly resolutions on the issue, including a resolution promoting interreligious and intercultural dialogue and tolerance in combating hate speech.
He also outlined five areas for international action, including education on respect for differences, greater integration of dialogue into social life, responsibility in public discourse, equal opportunities, and efforts to prevent hate speech in the digital space.
The conference followed earlier Moroccan initiatives at the United Nations and builds on General Assembly resolutions 77/318 and 79/316, which recognized dialogue between cultures and religions as an important tool in addressing hate speech.
Moratinos said Morocco’s initiatives had often resulted in international declarations and concrete action plans. He concluded by saying that Morocco is “showing the way” and that the King’s vision points toward the goals of the global fight against hate speech.
