Thus, the Serbian researcher, Mihailo Vucic, stressed that the Vision of His Majesty the King for the management of the pandemic “is based on the pillars of solidarity between the State and its citizens, of anticipation, of prevention, and of a holistic approach that puts the health of the citizens at the heart of the priorities”.

He was joined by the Mauritanian journalist, Ismail Ould Rebbani, who affirmed that “the pandemic has once again highlighted the foresight and the wisdom of the Vision of His Majesty the King Mohammed VI”, stressing that Morocco has been able to successfully manage this crisis.

Referring to the Initiative launched by His Majesty the King at the level of African Heads of State, to create an operational framework to support African States in the various phases of the management of the pandemic, Rebbani declared that this crisis has demonstrated that Morocco is a “reliable partner” for African countries.

For his part, the Congolese journalist, Freddy Mulumba, stressed that while implementing the Royal Vision, a special fund for the management of the Covid-19 pandemic has been set up, with the objective of upgrading the national health system and of financing measures to mitigate the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic. In this context, the Serbian expert highlighted the massive show of solidarity that has made it possible to endow the Fund with nearly 35 billion Dirhams.

The mobilization of all the Government sectors and all the segments of society were also the focus of the four experts’ statements. In this vein, Belgian journalist Daniel Van Wylick underlined that the holistic approach, adopted by the Kingdom in the fight against the pandemic, allowed a rapid mobilization of the national industry for the production of a sufficient quantity of protective masks that was able to cover the needs of the population.

As an innovative and an anticipatory measure and as of April 9, 2020, the Kingdom made it compulsory to wear a protective mask in public areas.

In the same spirit, Mulumba recalled that in application of the High Royal Directives, the health service of the Royal Armed Forces was quickly mobilized to deploy its resources to counter the challenge of the pandemic. He stressed that it represents, once again, a point of the coherence and the holistic approach that underpinned the Kingdom’s response to the pandemic.

While addressing the pioneering measures undertaken by the Kingdom to mitigate the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic, Vucic also stressed that Morocco has set up a system of direct payments to the most affected segments of the society by the pandemic, including households in the informal sector.

These four experts made their statements in the context of the Sahara Debate, a citizen-run show intended as an open and a democratic platform for dispassionate and serene analysis on the issue of the Moroccan Sahara.