Morocco has long been a champion of interfaith dialogue and a leader in our fight against extremism, said, on Tuesday in Fez, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
The UN top official, who was speaking as part of the 9th Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, also commended the choice of the city of Fez to host this landmark event. “For centuries, Fez has attracted scholars and philosophers, mathematicians and lawyers, astronomers, and theologians,” he said.
Further elaborating, Guterres explained that “from Ibn Khaldun – the founding father of sociology… to Gerbert of Aurillac – who introduced Arabic numerals to Europe…to Maimonides – the Jewish scholar who served as Saladin’s personal physician…all and more were drawn to Fez, a place where cultures have met and mingled. This rich and ancient history makes Fez the ideal place to gather and reflect on the state of our world.”
Referring to the Forum, the UNSG described today’s world as a place marred by division, hate, injustices and conflicts. Divisions are widening, tensions are rising and conflicts – including the war in Ukraine – are devastating lives and undermining economies, he warned.
He noted that one way of overcoming these obstacles is through supporting an SDG stimulus for debt relief and restructuring for the Global South, and investments across all the Sustainable Development Goals.
He also praised the Alliance of Civilizations for helping show the way by embodying core values enshrined in the United Nations Charter: to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors.
The UN Chief voiced his conviction that “we can build an alliance of peace (..) if we make sure that all of us – regardless of race, descent, origin, background, gender, religion, or other status – can live lives of dignity and opportunity.”