The experience of Morocco in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic has been highlighted as part of the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, held at the UN headquarters in New York.
Speaking at a ministerial roundtable, on the sidelines of the forum, organized by the President of ECOSOC under the theme “Accelerating the achievement of the SDGs by 2030: facing the crises and overcoming the challenges”, the Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Leila Benali stressed that Morocco is firmly committed to a process of crisis management based primarily on two pillars: the control of the spread of the epidemic and the revival of the economy during the post-Covid period.
On the health level, a multidimensional strategy has been developed to effectively fight the spread of the pandemic, she noted, adding that this strategy aims to establish a management system of the health crisis including a steering committee, and a scientific and technical committee.
On the socio-economic level, the Minister mentioned in particular the measures taken to maintain the budgetary balance of the State and the support to the economy. In this context, it was decided to create a committee of economic watch, whose role is to ensure the governance of the State on the economic level and to establish a support fund for failing businesses and people who have lost their income due to the pandemic.
The Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development also took part as UNEA President in a side event organized by UNEP under the theme “Resilient recovery for all: transforming lifestyles and consumption patterns for well-Being and life on earth”.
At this meeting, Benali stressed the importance of a fundamental change in the way natural resources are extracted and managed to effectively address the triple global crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, as well as to achieve all the SDGs during this “Decade of Action.” In this regard, she stressed the need for a strong, connected and inclusive multilateralism to provide solutions to the crises.
On the sidelines of her participation in this Forum, the Minister held a series of meetings with several ministers and senior officials, including the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary-General and head of the UNEP office in New York, Ligia Noronha, the Chinese Minister of Ecology and Environment, Huang Runqiu, the Minister of Renewable Energy, Sustainable Development and Economic Planning of Dominica, Vince Henderson.
She also met with the Permanent Representative of Bulgaria to the UN, Ambassador Stoeva Lachezara and the future President of ECOSOC, as well as a group of European MPs.
