UN commends King Mohammed VI for his concern over future generations

UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications Melissa Fleming has paid tribute to King Mohammed VI for his concern over coming generations and his vision pleading for offering these generations a dignified life and building a future of peace, stability, progress and prosperity for all.

The UN official made the remarks in her opening statement before the 42nd session of the Committee on Information, which was held Wednesday in New York under the chairmanship of Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Omar Hilale.

In her statement, Ms. Fleming quoted a large excerpt from the King’s speech to the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals in 2010. “…We need to anticipate potential problems and start thinking about the broad lines of our action beyond 2015, so as to ensure the continuity of our endeavors and be prepared to meet new challenges. We should do this through collective action to strengthen the foundations of a global, harmonious, solidarity-based system to promote sustainable human development, in which efficient, equitable governance should play a key role so that we may offer upcoming generations a dignified life and build a future of peace, stability, progress and prosperity for all.”

Commenting the content of this royal speech, the UN official stressed that the King’s foresight has been further highlighted, particularly this year, which is marked by the unprecedented crisis of Covid-19. “The pandemic has irreversibly changed our world, turned our lives upside down and exposed existing loopholes of injustice, socio-economic inequalities, fear and disinformation,” she said.

Melissa Fleming highlighted the main activities of her Department, as well as the changes needed to adapt to the new realities triggered by Covid-19.

She shed light in this regard on one of the main new initiatives launched by the United Nations, under the leadership of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, entitled “Verified”.

The initiative is aimed at delivering trusted information, life-saving advice and stories from the best of humanity. The initiative also invites the public to help counter the spread of COVID-19 misinformation by sharing fact-based advice with their communities.

For his part, the Chair of the Committee on Information, Ambassador Omar Hilale, underlined the importance of the fight against disinformation and its devastating consequences, while welcoming in particular the efforts of the UN Chief and the Department of Global Communications during the pandemic.

In this connection, Hilale welcomed the launch in Morocco, by the UN Development Program (UNDP), of the “COVID 19 – AKID 2030” platform, which refers to the Sustainable Development Goals. The idea behind the initiative is to share messages of determination, confidence and hope, especially in these times of confinement, stress and uncertainty.

This approach is in line with the Kingdom’s determination to promote South-South cooperation and to share its experience in combating the pandemic with other countries, the Moroccan diplomat pointed out.

The Committee on Information is a subsidiary body of the General Assembly, tasked with dealing with public information questions. It also oversees the work of the Department of Global Communications and provides it with guidance on its policies, programs and activities.