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Rabat – The Parliamentary Network held a one day conference on June 21 in the French Senate, inviting G7 parliamentarians and partner countries to discuss France’s priorities in anticipation of the upcoming G7 meeting to be held in August.
Moroccan Lahcen Haddad, a long-time member of Moroccan Parliament and vice-chair of the Parliamentary Network, used the conference as an opportunity to address global inequality and accountability.
The Parliamentary Network on the World Bank & the IMF is an independent NGO that aims to foster collaboration among legislators from around the world to address poverty – both in their home countries and abroad. They also advocate for increased transparency of international financial institutions.
The organization is open to all elected parliamentarians from World Bank member states. While participating in the Parliamentary Network, parliamentarians represent themselves and their constituents, not their countries’ governments.
While the Parliamentary Network held its main conference in Washington earlier this spring, similar goals were discussed at the recent meeting in the French Senate. Development, good governance and accountability, and fighting inequality were high on the agenda.
The conference was centered around France’s goals coming into the G7 meeting, with an emphasis on global inequalities, in addition to addressing how to align its national goals with G7 priorities.
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“The rise of inequalities is a serious threat to the cohesion of societies and economic development which benefits a large population. France places the reduction of inequalities and the social dimension of globalization at the heart of the debate. The promotion of such a model is a major political choice and will be the main concern of the French presidency of the G7,” Haddad said in a statement to Morocco World News.
The conference also served as an opportunity to discuss uses for the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) fund, which is approaching its renewal for the next three years.
IDA funds are the largest source of financial resources and support for developing and impoverished countries and rely heavily on donations from G7 countries.
Haddad has been a member of Morocco’s parliament since 2011 and is a long-standing supporter of improving inequality through sustainable and accountable action.
He was recently elected vice president of the international governing council for the Society of International Development (SID), an international network focusing on development, policy, and governance.
From 2012 until 2016, Haddad served as the Minister of Tourism and oversaw Morocco’s shift to becoming a leading tourist destination in the MENA region, specifically in sustainable tourism.
Before joining the government, Haddad worked for USAID as an international expert in human and social development and has taught at universities both in Morocco and the US.
