Morocco Ready to Offer Border Security Training to Sahel G5 Force
Morocco expressed its willingness to offer training to the border security forces of the G5 Sahel force bringing together troops from Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad.
Speaking at a Francophonie ministerial meeting on security and development on the sidelines of the General Assembly, Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said Morocco is ready to share its expertise in terms of hard and soft power, mentioning in this regards the Kingdom’s multilayered approach to counter terrorism, notably through reforming the religious field and training Imams on the genuine values of tolerance and coexistence inherent to Islam.
He lauded the creation of the G5 force as a milestone in cross-border cooperation against terrorist groups, which have spawned in the region.
Bourita also commended the actions led by the International Francophonie Organization (OIF) in promoting democracy and reinforcing crisis management and conflict prevention mechanisms, citing the Hanoi Charter, the Bamako Declaration and Saint Boniface Declaration.
The Moroccan Foriegn Minister also recalled that his country is among the 20 first contributors in UN peace keeping forces.
He said that Francophone peacekeepers are best placed to contribute to UN peace promotion efforts in the French speaking countries in the continent, deploring the obstacles that stand in the way of further participation of African French speaking troops, notably in terms of equipment and training.
Therefore, he said, Morocco insists on training of African francophone peacekeepers, particularly in the field of the rule of law, disarmament, and humanitarian coordination.
He said the Francophonie organization has a crucial role to play in the field of promoting human rights and fighting violent extremism and terrorism.
At the economic level, the Minister welcomed the adoption of the Francophonie economic strategy in Dakar in 2014, adding that economic development is conducive to the efforts to install security.
The peace, security and development nexus was highlighted by the Minister, who shed light on Morocco’s full support for the OIF vision for the emergence of an “economic francophonie”.
In this respect, he called on French speaking Africa to build on its shared assets to foster an economic and digital francophonie that is poised to achieve a successful integration in the world economy.
