Minister Delegate of Foreign Affairs Mbarka Bouaida Leads Moroccan Delegation to White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - February 18, 2015) - Minister Delegate of Foreign Affairs Mbarka Bouaida is leading Morocco's delegation to the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism, which opened yesterday with a roundtable discussion led by US Vice President Joe Biden.

Some 60 countries are slated to participate in the Summit, with both Secretary of State John Kerry and President Barack Obama delivering remarks. According to the official White House pre-summit statement, "Through presentations, panel discussions, and small group interactions, participants will build on local, state, and federal government; community; and international efforts to better understand, identify, and prevent the cycle of radicalization to violence at home in the United States and abroad."

Morocco has long been implementing such a multifaceted approach to countering violent extremism and terrorism at home and in the broader region, combining hard security measures; regional cooperation and intelligence sharing; and efforts to counter violent extremism through legislation, economic development, and the promotion of moderate Islam. Recently, Morocco initiated a program to promote religious moderation by training imams from Mali, Libya, Tunisia, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, the Maldives, and Nigeria

The efforts are paying off. According to the 2014 Global Peace Index, released by The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), Morocco remains an island of stability in a tumultuous region, ranked the most peaceful country both in North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt) and the Maghreb (Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya). According to the organization's 2014 Global Terrorism Index, not only has Morocco's ranking improved each year since 2010, but it is also the country least-impacted by terrorism in North Africa, and second only to Mauritania among Maghreb countries. A report issued earlier this week by The Inter-University Center on Terrorism Studies (IUCTS) and the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies similarly showed that while terrorist attacks in North Africa and the Sahel have reached the "highest annual total in the region in more than a decade," Morocco remains stable and secure.

The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP) is a non-profit organization whose principal mission is to inform opinion makers, government officials, and interested publics in the United States about political and social developments in Morocco and the role being played by the Kingdom of Morocco in broader strategic developments in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East.

This material is distributed by the Moroccan American Center for Policy on behalf of the Government of Morocco. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.