HIBAPRESS
The Kingdom of Morocco and the International Organization for Migration officially launched, on Tuesday, the "Group of Friends on Sport and Migration."
This is a multilateral initiative, based in Geneva, which aims to structure a multilateral framework for consultation on the role of sport as a lever for social integration and the governance of migration.
In a remote intervention, during the opening of an event organized on this occasion, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, confirmed that the launch of this group represents a recognition of a lever that has long been on the margins of diplomatic work.
The Minister highlighted the role of sport, the field in which social tensions disappear to turn into a mechanism for social integration, a channel for youth involvement, and a tool for protection from vulnerability.
On the other hand, Bourita mentioned that Morocco's involvement in the subject of this group of friends falls within the framework of the vision of King Mohammed VI, the leader of the African Union on migration issues, who considers migration an opportunity and not a crisis.
He stressed that in the context of Africa, the most youthful continent in the world, sport constitutes a universal language of resilience and hope for African youth, adding that this Group of Friends initiative is fully in line with the spirit of this common denominator.
The Minister also stressed that the African Observatory on Migration, which is based in Rabat, will contribute fundamentally to the work of this group of friends, by providing strategic analysis, reliable data, and evidence-based research.
It should be noted that the establishment of the Group of Friends on Sport and Migration was among the main conclusions of the high-level event organized by the Kingdom of Morocco and the International Organization for Migration in New York, on September 26, 2025, on the sidelines of the eightieth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
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