الحمـد لله، والصـلاة والسـلام علـى مـولانـا رسـول الله وآلـه وصحبـه

Your Serene Highness, the Prince of Monaco, Chair of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation ;

Madam Director General of UNESCO,

Mister Executive Secretary, of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission ;

Dear Partners of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development ;

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to be with you today, at the third meeting of the Foundations Dialogue, hosted by Your Foundation, – the Prince Albert the II of Monaco Foundation.  Morocco had the honor of hosting the second meeting, at the Hassan II International Center for Environmental Training, in Bouknadel in 2022.

It gives me great pleasure to contemplate this pendulum, as it swings between our two shores – South and North, and recognize this sea – the mare nostrum, as a source of unity, rather than separation.

Your Serene Highness,

It is always a great privilege to be in your company, as a distinguished and reliable partner, with whom we have collaborated since 2010.

Madam Director General,

We gather here, at this Foundations Dialogue, to ensure the success, of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.  Launched by the IOC UNESCO, we joined as a founding member of the Alliance. The Decade is a crucial, comprehensive, global project which, over the next seven years, aims to build ” The Science We Need for the Ocean We Want.”

We come together here, to act for the Decade, and we are fully in line with the mission.  We have always considered that taking action, is the most effective way to serve the causes we defend.

In Morocco, under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, we have run a Clean Beaches program since 2001.  We introduced the Blue Flags project. We rehabilitated the Marchica lagoon on the Mediterranean coast – an extraordinary environment, that was once suffocated by effluents, and which is now regenerated to the point that oyster farming has been reintroduced.

Two programs we have led for years are now part of the Decade.  First, the Sustainable Coastline Trophies, builds on another of our programs – Clean Beaches.  This recognizes and rewards practical action that is carried out in Morocco, including the enhancement of beaches, development of artificial reefs for the fry populations, implementation of mobile purification plants, as well as scientific research on algae.

The second program is #bharbalplastic or #beachwithoutplastic, a summer awareness program focusing on the cleanup of plastic waste ocean pollution. #bharbalplastic drives action for waste collection and reprocessing using a circular economy approach.  The enormous scale of this campaign has enabled us to raise awareness with millions of young people, adults, businesses, associations, researchers, and coastal communities.

We are now about to introduce a third program that fits the Decade objectives.  This involves supporting university students, to strengthen their knowledge of the ocean. This is a project for the entire African continent.

We, in collaboration with the Hassan II International Center for Environmental Training, have developed training resources, notably online, which we intend to mobilize for the Decade. We are accustomed to working as a network across Africa. Four years ago, we launched the African Youth Climate Hub, which engages young people, provides training via an online platform, and supports projects as an incubator.

Morocco is deeply committed to cooperation across Africa, as advocated by His Majesty, King Mohammed VI, himself.  Africa needs substantial, broad-based support. We strive to jointly develop and share concrete steps for successful sustainable development throughout the continent.  We are taking action for Africa, its youth, and more broadly, that of the South, whose resilience must be strengthened in the face of the threats of climate change that affect the entire African population.

We specifically reiterated this in the Bouknadel Declaration, which we presented at the Lisbon Ocean Conference in 2022. We will do so again, at the Barcelona Conference in 2024.

We must act resolutely and quickly to protect our Atlantic and Indian Ocean coastlines from rising sea levels and pollution.  I say this for all of Africa, my continent.

Your Serene Highness,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am confident that you will hear and consider this call to action in our forthcoming proceedings, which I hope will be fruitful.

والسـلام عليكـم ورحمـة الله تعـالـى وبـركـاتـه.