Euro-Mediterranean and Transatlantic Partnership:
Meeting Tomorrow’s Challenges Together
February 14th, 2024
Transatlantic collaboration between the Kingdom of Morocco and the countries of Africa, in particular the Sahel and Saharan countries, is central to the priorities outlined and emphasized by His Majesty King Mohammed VI.
Indeed, the Royal address to the nation on the 48th anniversary of the Glorious Green March emphasized the imperative of South-South cooperation rooted in the universal values of “Solidarity, mutual aid and openness.” These values are at the heart of the inclusive development that our entire continent urgently and vitally needs.
In this context we should mention the notable and unifying project of the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline which will pass through several sub-Saharan countries, and whose benefits and values His Majesty the King, with his visionary farsightedness, clearly elaborated.
The Alliance of Civilizations Chair at the Euromed University of Fes echoes the Royal Directives. Alongside Euromed University students from disciplines as diverse as engineering, management, political science, architecture, biomedical engineering, economics, the human and social sciences, and law, it advances this agenda in the academic and intellectual spheres.
The future leaders at the summit represented Mauritania, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Congo, Gabon, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and Ethiopia. They were joined by other students from the Mediterranean basin as well.
These emerging decision-makers, dedicated to the worthy cause of inclusive development, had the opportunity to make their voices heard and share their vision through a high fidelity simulation within the Parliament, on the sidelines of the Summit of Presidents of Parliaments and the 17th Session of Parliamentarians of the Union for the Mediterranean.
In order to raise awareness and mobilize stakeholders and other experts in the field, this first-of-its-kind event focused on the themes:
- Morocco & Africa Within the Framework of the Alliance of Civilizations & Cultural Diversity: Relations Based on Cooperation, Solidarity and Fraternity
- Transatlantic Expansion
- Sustainable Development Models, Systemic Thinking, and Climate Change
- Green African Innovations
- Circular, Local, and Integrated economy
- Transportation and Sustainability: Criteria, Indicators, and Impact
- Ethics and Energy
The event was organized into plenary sessions with presentations. It culminated in a number of recommendations by the students of the Euromed University of Fes at the summit. Additionally, these recommendations formed the core of the Call of the Future of the Euromed University of Fez, which was read at the 8th Summit of Speakers of Parliaments and the 17th Session of the Union for the Mediterranean Parliamentarians.
THE FIRST AFRICAN AND EURO-MEDITERRANEAN YOUTH SUMMIT OF THE EUROMED UNIVERSITY OF FES :
Headquarters of the Moroccan Parliament, February 16th, 2024
The students of Euromed University of Fez, Moroccans, Africans, and Europeans, seized the opportunity of their involvement in the First Euro-Mediterranean and African Youth Summit, held at the Moroccan House of Representatives on February 14th, 2024, to issue this Appeal on the promises of the future of the greater Euro-Mediterranean and African region.”
“We, the young people, appeal to the countries represented by your honorable assembly and to the African countries to provide the African continent with a Marchal plan for investment in education at all levels and in research. It is an investment in the future that will be shaped by us young people, and it is an investment whose dividends are far superior to any other investment. It is also the real bulwark against poverty, underdevelopment, radicalization, terrorism and illegal immigration”.
