The ‘Fez Action Plan’ and why it still resonates

In 2017, when I was working for the then President of the UN General Assembly, our office helped with some of the preparations for what was to become known as the ‘Fez Action Plan’, that was to be launched in Fez, Morocco with leaders of different faiths and religions from around the world attending and contributing.  The plan was adopted by the United Nations in the same year and was the result of two years of consultations. Its aim was to bring Member States and leaders of all faiths together in order to prevent incitement to violence that may lead to atrocity crimes, to combat hate speech, counter the rhetoric of violent extremism, as well as promote the values of peace and security, respect for human rights and enshrine the principles of coexistence and social justice. You might reasonably say that the lofty ambitions and hopes of those Member States involved in the Fez Action Plan were perhaps over ambitious and over optimistic. But then the same might have been said of Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King as they embarked on their respective, long journeys, journeys that were often waylaid and interrupted by imprisonment or in the case of King, assassination.

On the fifth anniversary, in July 2022, Morocco, jointly with the United Nations Office for the Prevention of Genocide and the Responsibility to Protect organised a High-level Symposium to commemorate the adoption of the Fez Action Plan. This ongoing process has led to a retreat that is to be held in Rabat on November 21st, organised by the UN Human Rights Council – of which Morocco is a member – and which is expected to be attended by the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, Volker Turk, along with 60 representatives from the 18 Member States who make up the Council.

The retreat may be dismissed as a talking shop by some. Others will cite the membership of countries such as Sudan, Cuba and China as proof that the Council can’t be taken too seriously so long as its membership contains countries that have a poor human rights record. Others will say that human rights in countries such as Cuba and China extend to health and employment rights and that are not enjoyed by some of those countries who are critical.  But the retreat will bring together a very broad array of top diplomats, and whose laser focus will be on the seemingly quite deliberate undermining of the Fez Action Plan, particularly and most egregiously by Israel. A meeting of minds in Rabat may also have consequences as the UN General Assembly prepares to consider a Resolution from Malaysia calling for the expulsion of Israel from the United Nations altogether.  

*Mark Seddon is a former Speechwriter to UN Secretary-General Ban ki moon & former Adviser to the Office of the President of the UN General Assembly