"The role of parliaments in supporting implementation of resolution 1397 adopted by the United Nations Security Council on 12 March 2002 and particularly the paragrparagraph in which the Council expresses its attachment to ‘a vision of a region in which two States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side within secure and recognised borders’" was included on the agenda of the 107th Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), as an emergency supplementary item.
The 670 parliamentarians from 130 countries present in Marrakech approved by consensus, but with a reservation by Syria, this emergency supplementary item submitted by the Moroccan Parliament.
The MPs also heard an address by the Moroccan Prime Minister, Mr Abderrahman Youssoufi, which was delivered by Mr Mohamed Bouzoubaa, Minister in charge of Relations with Parliament. The Moroccan Prime Minister emphasised the need for "a strengthening of a multilateral system, in other words the establishment and consolidation of international rules accepted by all, particularly in the trade, monetary and environmental fields. More than ever, the planet needs renewed international cooperation and solidarity to check poverty, pandemics, the degradation of eco-systems and of wars. More than ever, the United Nations must be consolidated and overhauled so that it can prevent the unilateral exercise of the "law" and the "justice" of the strongest. More than ever, globalisation must be regulated and humanised so that its effects benefit the greatest possible number".
For Mr Youssoufi, "there is no doubt that the Inter-Parliamentary Union can and must play a greater role in international relations, in support of and in close cooperation with the United Nations. Because it embodies the voice of the people, the Inter-Parliamentary Union has a vocation to participate in the building of a more harmonious and less inegalitarian international society characterised by greater solidarity. Because it is a quasi universal institution, the Inter-Parliamentary Union has a vocation to contribute to a more human and a less exclusive globalisation that shows greater respect for the plurality of lifestyles and cultures".
The Moroccan Prime Minister also brought up the Middle East question. "Because it is a prestigious multilateral political forum, the Inter-Parliamentary Union must work in conformity with the spirit of its founders to promote peace, particularly in the Middle East, on the basis of international legality and the relevant United Nations resolutions, so as to ensure justice for the Palestinian people, who have been brutally assaulted and deprived of their immemorial national rights, and to give fresh hope to all peoples in the region. Clearly, this important objective can only be reached by guaranteeing the establishment of a strong and independent Palestinian State, which enjoys full sovereignty over its territory and has Al Quds Al-Shareef as its capital. This State, which will work together with the countries which defend the liberty and the dignity of human being, will strive to consolidate peace and the harmonious coexistence of the peoples in the area".
The Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Mr Koïchiro Matsuura (Japan), also addressed the Inter-Parliamentary Conference. "For some, globalisation threatens to bring cultural homogeneity and domination; for others, it threatens to accelerate the loss of local cultures and indigenous languages. For many, the uneven distribution of globalisation’s benefits means that the cultural costs are high but the economic rewards are low or non-existent", he stated.
"Rapid advances in new information and communications technologies (NICTs) and the media are fuelling the fears of developing countries that they are being left behind. At the same time, when contact is finally made with other cultures through the Internet and other channels, the effects can be shocking and disturbing", stressed Mr Matsuura.
In conclusion, the UNESCO Director-General felt that "lawmakers and representatives like yourselves have a vital role to play in improving intercultural dialogue. It is precisely in this area that responsible leadership and effective partnership are most necessary in order to overcome the prejudices, misunderstandings and fears that bedevil relations between different cultural communities".
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