A Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean high level delegation attended the 71st session of the General Assembly of the United Nations from 19 to 23 September 2016, in New York.
Delegates, led by PAM President, Senator Sen. Lhou Lmarbouh (Morocco), included, PAM Vice President and Head of the French Delegation to PAM, Hon. Michel Vauzelle, Head of the Italian Delegation to PAM and PAM Honorary President, Sen. Francesco Amoruso, the Head of the Monegasque Delegation to PAM, Hon. Nathalie Amoratti-Blanc, PAM President Emeritus, Mr. Mohammed Abou El Enein (Egypt,) and the PAM Secretary General, Amb. Sergio Piazzi. Amb. Qazi-Shaukat Fareed, PAM Permanent Observer in New York, and Amb. Peter Schatzer, PAM Permanent Observer in Vienna, formed part of the delegation.
The PAM parliamentary delegation attended the opening and plenary sessions of the UN High-level meeting on “Addressing large movements of refugees and migrants”, where the PAM President delivered a statement on PAM’s vision and initiatives for the Mediterranean region.
The delegates also attended the UN General Debate and a series of high-level events dedicated to critical issues for the Mediterranean, such as, inter alia, countering and preventing violent extremism, the entry into force of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, global challenges and regional responses in relation to large movements of refugees and migrants, and sustainable economy.
A series of high-level bilateral meetings dealt with the interaction between the UN system and the activities and mandate of PAM. These included consultations and exchange of views with Mr. Espen Barth Eide, on the negotiations taking place on the unification of Cyprus, with Mr. Martin Kobler, UN Special Representative for Libya, with Mr. Christopher Ross, UN Special Representative for Western Sahara, with Mr. Jean-Paul Laborde, Executive Director of the CTED of the UNSC, with Ms. Kyung-wha Kang, Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, with Mr. Wu Hongbo, Under Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), and finally with the UN Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon,. The meeting with Mr. Ban Ki-moon represented the opportunity to review 10 years of close cooperation in the fields of migration, climate change, sustainable development and counter terrorism.
Overall the meetings highlighted the strategic importance and added value of the partnership between the UN System and PAM, as well as the key role played by the PAM Secretariat in continuously strengthening cooperation and opportunities for initiatives relevant to the Euro-Mediterranean region. It is worth to mention a special request by Mr. Kobler for PAM to visit the Libyan Parliament in Tobruk as soon as possible.
With reference to cooperation in countering terrorism and violent extremism, and recalling the recent joint activities between PAM and the UN (UNODC and CTED), emphasis was put on the forthcoming joint events to be hosted by the Italian Parliament, on the importance of inter-religious dialogue and on the evaluation of the implementation by national parliaments of the Mediterranean region of the relevant Security Council resolutions, respectively. Furthermore, a list of dedicated activities was agreed upon, for implementation in 2017 and 2018.
The assistance of PAM was also requested by OCHA in order to use its network of parliamentary diplomacy in Syria and neighbouring countries to step up all possible actions to protect civilians and to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to those in need.
At the margins of the GA, PAM delegates had the opportunity to meet and exchange views with a number of international leaders and UN senior officials, including H.E. President François Hollande, H.E. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the former President of Slovenia, the State Minister of Monaco, Foreign Ministers of Italy, Syria, Russian Federation and Belarus, the Italian Minister of Interior, the UN Special Envoys for Syria and Iraq, the Secretary General of OSCE and the Vice President of the World Bank Group, among others.