Morocco’s Membership in Peace & Security Council boosts Peace, Stability in Africa

Morocco’s membership in the African Union’s Peace and Security Council will help the kingdom assert its leadership in promoting peace and stability in the continent, said Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita.

Morocco has a vision for peace in Africa and will act on all issues relating to stability in the continent, said Bourita in an interview with the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies (ISS).

Bourita put emphasis on Morocco’s extensive experience in peacekeeping operations in Africa saying that it will bring its expertise to the mechanisms of the council, which it effectively joined last April.

More than 60,000 Moroccan peacekeepers have participated within five UN peacekeeping missions in Africa and 11 Medical and Surgical Field Hospitals were deployed in 10 African countries and provided more than 530,000 medical services to the local populations.

Morocco’s vision is based on the link between security, regional integration and development, said the Foreign Minister, adding that Africa’s emergence hinges on development which in turn is inconceivable in the absence of peace and regional integration.

These three factors are key to averting conflicts in Africa and maintaining peace and stability in the continent, he said, noting that Morocco’s guiding principle is fostering African solidarity and unity.

In this respect, the Moroccan official stressed the need to avoid division and polarization within the council.

The election of Morocco to the AU Peace and Security Council is a step forward towards putting the AU on track of addressing Africa’s pressing issues of security and stability on which the continent’s development hinges.

Morocco, the unique candidate from the North-African region, was elected to the Council for a renewable two-year term (2018-2020) by 39 votes. The minimum of votes required is 36.

The Council, chaired by Algeria’s pro-separatist Ismail Chergui, has long been used by the Polisario-proponents to take decisions detrimental to Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara.

Morocco together with its friends said they will act as a bulwark against any attempt to derail the AU from its key tasks: promoting African integration and safeguarding states’ unity and territorial integrity.