Assahafa.com
HM King Mohammed VI has always put the causes of Africa and the aspirations of its youth and children at the core of the strategies, cooperation initiatives, and partnerships established with the various African countries, said Morocco’s Lower House Speaker Rachid Talbi Alami.
Talbi Alami spoke at the opening of the 1st African Forum of the Children’s Parliament, organized by the National Observatory for Children’s Rights (ONDE) under the High Patronage of HM King Mohammed VI, and the effective Presidency of Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Meryem.
He pointed out that these strategies aim at achieving the ambition of an ascending Africa, the continent of the future that believes in its capacities, resources, and energies, and refers to its rich and unique history and culture.
The Lower House Speaker praised the roles of the ONDE in Morocco, presided by HRH Princess Lalla Meryem, and the actions it performs in favor of children, the guarantee of their rights, and the protection of their dignity.
Throughout more than three decades, he noted, this establishment has been an engine of initiatives and a source of proposals that aim to put the questions and rights of children at the heart of the national public policies, by way of implementing the astute Royal vision that dictates placing the questions of childhood at the heart of the dynamic of development and reforms conducted at the legislative, social, economic, and cultural levels.
“Over more than 25 years, the Children’s Parliament in Morocco, founded in 1999 upon a decision of HM the King, served as an institution for civic education and social upbringing, and a space for dialogue and exchange on questions that concern children, between children themselves and Government officials within the scope of questioning sittings that are no less important in tenor than the sittings of national parliaments,” he said.
This institution, he added, grows more efficient thanks to its ability to combine the national aspect through national sessions and the territorial-regional aspect through regional sessions, thus enshrining a territorial justice that fortifies and gains strength by prioritizing merit and school excellence as criteria for the membership in the Children’s Parliament where are represented children of the ages from 10 to 16, belonging to the different provinces of the Kingdom from Tangier to Lagouira, with particular keenness put into the integration of children with disabilities.
He stressed that this future strategic ambition relies partially on the human wealth the continent enjoys, at the front lines of which are youth and children, particularly given that 40% of the inhabitants of Africa fall under the age of 15 while 47% of them fall under the age of 18, which equally offers opportunities and poses challenges.
Source : map
