UfM / Mauritania: A renewed commitment towards an enhanced cooperation

13 September 2018, Nouakchott. UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel, paid an official visit to Mauritania from 12 to 14 September. On this occasion, he was received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

During this meeting, the SG thanked the Minister for the support of his country to the UfM, highlighting Mauritania’s pivotal position in the region, between the North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, its membership to the Arab Maghreb Union, but above all its location as a natural bulwark of the southern edge of the Mediterranean countries. For all these reasons, Secretary General Kamel congratulated Mauritania for its commitment to the Mediterranean process and for its efforts and cooperation in areas of common interest, including migration and the fight against radicalism and intolerance.

On his side, Minister Ould Cheikh Ahmed warmly welcomed the SG’s visit to Mauritania. While highlighting the geostrategic role of Mauritania in the fight against extremism, migration and dialogue of civilizations, he expressed the willingness of his country to support the UfM and its renewed commitment towards this institution. The Mauritanian Minister also confirmed his participation in the III Regional Forum to be organized by the UfM on 8 October 2018 in Barcelona.

Secretary General Nasser Kamel was also received by the Minister of Islamic Affairs and Original Education, Ahmed Ould Ehil Daoud, with whom he discussed Mauritania’s vital work to overcome, culturally, the phenomenon of extremism and intolerance. To this end, the SG invited Minister Daoud to share this experience and to put Mauritanian expertise to the benefit of the UfM, by promoting, among others, the participation of young Mauritanians in UfM platforms working on these issues.

At the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the SG held working meetings with the Ministries of Youth, Social Affairs, Childhood and Family as well as Hydraulics and Sanitation. The aim was to identify the areas of cooperation in these areas of great interest for both Mauritania and the UfM. On the occasion of this visit, the SG was invited to give a speech at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, which was attended by a number of UfM accredited ambassadors, UfM senior officials and Mauritanian officials. The SG laid out the main lines of the UfM’s work and shared his vision for the future of the institution.