His Majesty the King has defined the African agenda on migration and developed a common African migration vision while bringing this African agenda on the multilateral scene, through the Marrakech Pact, the Moroccan delegation stressed.

Morocco’s delegation highlighted the aspects concerning following up the implementation of the proposals contained in the African agenda on migration, in this case the African Observatory on Migration (AOM) and the revival of the proposal to create a post of AU Special Envoy on migration, promoting the common African vision in the bi-continental Euro-African framework, reinforcing interactions between the African agenda on migration and the Marrakech Pact and presenting the main conclusions of the Forum on the reduction of the African diaspora’s remittance costs, jointly organized by Morocco and the Republic of Togo.

After the signing of the AOM headquarters agreement in 2018 between the AU and the Kingdom and the inauguration in Rabat of its headquarters, on December 18, 2020, the AOM has become a concretization of His Majesty King Mohammed VI’s mandate as Leader of the African Union on the Migration Issue, highlighted the Moroccan delegation.

The appointment of its Director on April 14, 2022, contributes to an important phase for its operationalization, which remains incomplete pending the acceleration of the staff recruitment process, which will propel the AOM operationalization, noted the Moroccan delegation.

In addition, it noted that it is time to reiterate the second key proposal of the Agenda, which is to create the post of African Union Special Envoy for Migration.

As the migration issue is an essential part of the partnership between the African Union and the European Union, His Majesty the King said, on the occasion of the 6th EU-AU Summit, that the challenge is to “to re-establish the truth; to reconcile the interests of Africa and those of Europe when they appear to be contradictory; and to replace the security-first approach with the mobility-development continuum.”

Moreover, on this basis, Morocco, which will chair the Euro-African Dialogue on Migration and Development, known as the “Rabat Process”, in 2023, will spare no effort to implement the African Agenda on Migration within the framework of a strengthened dialogue between Africa and Europe, the Moroccan delegation added.

Designated as a champion country for the Marrakech Pact implementation, Morocco has dedicated this recognition to Africa. The Kingdom has also placed Africa at the heart of the priorities of the First Ministerial Conference of the Champion Countries of the Pact implementation, organized in Marrakech on March 25, 2022, noted the Moroccan delegation.

Also, the First African Regional Review of the Marrakech Pact as well as the First International Migration Policy Review Forum (IMPR) were, for Morocco, an additional opportunity to bring the African Agenda on Migration to the international stage.

The African Diaspora is of particular importance to the Kingdom of Morocco and Togo. Thus, the two brotherly countries have co-chaired on January 12, 2023 in Rabat, the 1st forum on reducing the cost of remittances, said the Moroccan delegation.

This cost which reaches for a sending of 8% for Sub-Saharan Africa on the 1st quarter of 2021, against 6,4% at the international level, that is to say nearly three times the target No 10 of the Sustainable Development Goals, underlined the Moroccan delegation.

The Forum, which was marked by an active participation of the continent, is part of the “2021-2031 decade of African roots and the African Diaspora” and the continuity of the presidency by Togo of the High Committee on the decade of African roots and the African Diaspora, said the Moroccan delegation, adding that this Forum has helped to enhance the African Diaspora as a development vector and stability provider and especially to serve as advocacy for reducting the cost of transferring funds from the African diaspora.

Hence, the importance of the “Rabat Declaration” issued at the end of the Forum calling for reducing the cost of transferring funds from the African diaspora, said the Moroccan delegation.

Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse