Written by: Badr Ahmed

Amr Moussa, the former Secretary-General of the League of Arab States and former Egyptian Foreign Minister, returned to Cairo following a visit to the Kingdom of Morocco, during which he participated in the work of the Fès Summit on Universal Dignity, which was held on June 13 and 14 in the historic city of Fès, with the participation of an elite group of former heads of state, diplomats, thinkers and decision-makers from around the world.

Amr Moussa participates in the Fez summit

Moussa’s participation came as part of the delegation of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center in Azerbaijan, along with Dr. Ismail Serageldin, the center’s co-chair and former director of the Library of Alexandria, Mrs. Ameenah Gurib-Fakih, former president of the Republic of Mauritius, and a number of prominent international figures participating in the summit.

The summit was also attended by a number of current and former Moroccan, Arab, European and American ministers and officials, as well as the Egyptian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco, Ahmed Nihad Abdel Latif, the Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to Morocco, Jumana Ghunaimat, and the Ambassadors of Turkey and Azerbaijan, in addition to senior diplomats from the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and representatives of international organizations and prestigious think tanks and research centers.

The summit was convened at the invitation of Dr. Hakima El Haite, former Moroccan Minister of the Environment and President of the Dignity Summit, under the theme "Unleashing the Driving Force of Human Dignity." Its aim was to solidify the concept of human dignity as a foundation for dialogue among civilizations and for promoting peace, coexistence, and international cooperation. The summit also discussed the concepts of cultural diplomacy, ethical governance, and the role of heritage and culture in peacebuilding and conflict prevention.

During his main address to the participants, Moussa began his speech by referring to the words of God Almighty: “And We have certainly honored the children of Adam,” stressing that human dignity is indivisible and does not differ between rich and poor, or between East and West, or white and black, emphasizing that human dignity is a single universal value that must be preserved and respected without discrimination or selectivity.

Moussa also stressed that talk of human dignity remains incomplete unless it includes peoples suffering from occupation, oppression and violation of basic rights, stressing that the dignity of the Palestinian people is an integral part of universal human dignity.

Moussa pointed out that occupation, oppression, killing, destruction, land confiscation, and the humiliation of the Palestinian people all constitute a flagrant violation of human dignity and international law, stressing that respecting human dignity requires defending the rights of peoples, their freedom, and their right to live in security, peace, and dignity.

Moussa stressed that defending human dignity should not be subject to double standards or selective political considerations, and that human values remain one and indivisible regardless of geography or balances of power. He emphasized that the credibility of the international system is measured by its ability to protect human dignity everywhere without exception and to comply with the rules of international law without double standards.

The summit witnessed a series of high-level sessions and dialogues on the role of culture, diplomacy and dialogue between civilizations in confronting current international challenges, and concluded its work with the announcement of the Fez Declaration on Human Dignity, which aims to establish human dignity as a moral reference in international relations and multilateral action.

The city of Fez, with its rich cultural and civilizational heritage and long history of coexistence between cultures and religions, is a symbolic location for launching this international initiative, which seeks to promote dialogue, integration and understanding between peoples and civilizations and to uphold the values of human dignity and mutual respect.