Morocco, represented by a delegation from the two parliamentary chambers, took part in the work of the Parliamentary Hearing at the United Nations for the year 2023, which is being held Monday and Tuesday in New York to alert on the shortage of water and water management challenges.
The Parliamentary Hearing at the United Nations, held this year under the theme ” Water for all and for the planet: stop waste, change the game, invest in the future“, will bring a parliamentary perspective to the UN Water Conference, scheduled for 22-24 March 2023, in New York.
This two-day event was attended by the Moroccan delegation made up of representatives, Ahmed Touizi, President of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) Group, Mustapha Raddad, of the National Rally of Independents (RNI) Group and Omar Hejira, of the Istiqlalian Group of Unity and Egalitarianism, both members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) co-organizing the event with the Office of the President of the UN General Assembly.
Khaddouj Slassi, member of the Socialist Group in the House of Representatives, Kamal Ait Mik, member of the RNI Group in the House of Councillors, Hassan Choumais, member of the Authenticity and Modernity Group in the same House, Abdelouahed Darouich, General Counsel in charge of parliamentary diplomacy and Said Satraouy, head of the international relations division at the House of Representatives, were notably present at the launch of the work.
Speaking during the Monday session, the RNIst, Kamal Ait Mik, warned of regional and national conflicts over water scarcity, saying that the summer of 2022 has unveiled “a new reality of severe water scarcity. water, which the world has witnessed, as well as the emergence of conflicts in the way these vital resources are used”.
Thus, the Moroccan parliamentarian recalled that faced with this water stress, many countries have already put in place “ ambitious policies and invested in infrastructure to valorize new water resources, pointing out that one of the most important examples of these is the water policy implemented by Morocco, making it possible to ensure water security. of supply through the development of hydraulic infrastructures.
He specifies that this policy is characterized by the construction of 151 large dams with a storage capacity of 19.6 billion cubic meters, to which must be added 16 dams under construction with a total storage capacity of 4.8 billion cubic meters, and the establishment of 16 connection systems, indicating that the construction of 11 seawater desalination stations, while 7 new stations are under construction.
Ait Mik affirms that indeed, many countries, such as Australia, India and Morocco, have endeavored to develop efficient and effective solutions to preserve and enhance water resources and ensure their sustainability, considering that ” the current reality, which has clearly emerged over the past year, is not a fatality of fate, as long as answers exist and solutions are possible, whether technological, digital or organizational“.
The RNIste believes that in the context of the circular economy, the reuse of treated wastewater is one of the most effective means, as a real source of water that can be directed to agricultural or industrial uses or for cleaning. , calling for the reuse of wastewater by 10% throughout five years, then by 20% in the following ten years.
To achieve this, he explained that he ” would be appropriate to impose such objectives in national plans for sustainable development“, adding that among the ambitious solutions is also the renewal of groundwater tables, which prevent the intrusion of salt water, and treat water naturally, without energy or chemicals.
It should be recalled that the objective of the current hearing is to provide governments, parliaments and the United Nations community with a critical perspective on the identification of game-changers to better address the impending crisis of the water and create a healthy environment based on sustainable development for future generations.