Events

Back

Spain-Morocco Relations: Sharing Perspectives in a Dynamic Neighborhood

From

27
10:30 am January 2020

To

27
3:00 pm January 2020

By invitation

 

Its location at the intersection of Europe and Africa makes Morocco a real crossroads, and the importance of Morocco as a trading route between both continents is key in its historic and cultural development. In the last decades, the bilateral relations between Morocco and Spain have become more extensive, deep and interdependent. Morocco is for Spain a key partner in multiple aspects, and vice versa. To discuss more thoroughly these aspects, the Policy Center for the New South is organizing in partnership with Casa Árabe a seminar on Monday, January 27, in Madrid.

This seminar will provide a platform to discuss the current challenges Morocco is facing but also the opportunities in working with Spain and the European Union towards a common objective in the domain of migration, security and economy. Due to their geographical proximity, the partnership between Morocco and Spain not only reflects the strength of political ties, but also their key role in acting as a valuable link between Africa and the European Union.

The African Union and the European Union promote a constructive and multidimensional approach to migration that complement existing dialogues and frameworks.

The first session will focus on the region of the Sahel, the increasing armed conflicts and regional and international efforts on peacebuilding. As the issue of security is closely tied to migration, the second session will highlight the role of the African Union in the migration policy following the La Valletta Summit in 2015, and experts will discuss the main outcomes of the policy. In the third session, experts will engage in a discussion about the African Continental Free Trade Area, the potential and difficulties of such an initiative.

AGENDA
9:00-09:15

Registration
9:15-09:45

Opening remarks

Karim El Aynaoui, President, Policy Center for the New South

Pedro Martínez-Avial, Director-General, Casa Árabe

Eva Martínez, Director-General for Maghreb, Mediterranean and Middle East, Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation
09:45-11:00

Panel I: “The Sahel: One Region, Multiple Threats”

Chair:

Javier Puig, deputy Director-General for the Maghreb, MOFA, Spain

Speakers:

El Mostafa Rezrazi, Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South

Angel Losada, Ambassador, EU Special Representative for the Sahel

Sergio Altuna, Researcher, Real Instituto Elcano

Q&A session

11:00-11:15

Coffee break
11:15-12:30

Panel II: “Africa-EU Migration and Mobility Dialogue”

Chair:

María Jesús Herrera, Spain office director, International Organization for Migrations

Speakers:

Nouzha Chekrouni, Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South

Len Ishmael, Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South

José Luis Pardo, Ambassador on Special Mission for Migration Affairs, MOFA, Spain

Q&A session
12:30-13:30

Lunch break
13:30-14:45

Panel III: “Maghreb: geopolitics of a non-integrated space”

Chair:

Haizam Amirah Fernández, Senior Researcher, Real Instituto Elcano

Speakers:

Rachid El Houdaigui, Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South

Martín Ortega Carcelén, Senior Lecturer, Complutense University of Madrid

Leila Zniber, Research Analyst in Economic Competitiveness, Moroccan Ministry of Economy and Finance and Administration Reform

Q&A session
14:45-15:00

Closing remarks

Rachid El Houdaigui, Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South

Karim Hauser, Head of International Relations, Casa Árabe
 
 
Speakers
Karim El Aynaoui
Executive President
Karim El Aynaoui is Executive President of the Policy Center for the New South. He is also Executive Vice-President of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and Dean of its Humanities, Economics and Social Sciences Cluster.   Karim El Aynaoui is an economist. From 2005 to 2012, he worked at the Central Bank of Morocco where he held the position of Director of Economics, Statistics, and International Relations. At the Central Bank of Morocco, he was in charge of the Research Department and equally a member of the Governor’s Cabinet. Previously, he worked for eight years at the World Bank as an Economist for its regional units of the Middle East and North Africa and Africa.   Karim El Aynaoui has published books and journal articles on macroeconomic issues in develop ...
Sergio Altuna
Associate Analyst, Elcano Royal Institute
Sergio Altuna Galán is an Associate Analyst in the Programme on Violent Radicalisation and Global Terrorism at the Elcano Royal Institute. He holds a BA in Translation and Interpreting from the University of Valladolid, an MA in Arabic Language, Literature and History from the University of Tunis al-Manar and a further MA in Terrorism Studies from the International University of La Rioja. He is also a Ph.D. candidate in International Security with a thesis on the determining factors of the jihadist narrative. He has developed a career as an international consultant between Spain and Tunisia, where he has been based since 2010, focusing on security in North Africa and the Sahel. He specialises in the creation of monitoring and evaluation tools to measure impacts in unstable env ...
Rachid El Houdaigui
Senior Fellow
Rachid El Houdaïgui is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South and an Affiliate Professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. He also serves as a professor of International Relations at Abdelmalek Essaadi University's Law Faculty in Tangier. His expertise encompasses international relations, geopolitics, defense and security, focusing on the Mediterranean region, North Africa, and the Arab world. He also serves as a professor at the Royal College of Advanced Military Studies in Kenitra and is a visiting professor at Cergy-Pontoise University (Paris), Cadiz University (Spain), and La Sagesse University (Beirut, Lebanon).   He is the founder of the Moroccan-Spanish review "Peace and International Security" and oversees the Observatory of Mediterranean St ...
Haizam Amirah-Fernández
Senior Analyst, Elcano Royal Institute
Haizam Amirah-Fernández is Senior Analyst at the Elcano Royal Institute and Associate Professor at the Instituto de Empresa (IE). BA from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and an MA in Arab Studies on a Fulbright scholarship from Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. He completed his studies at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) and at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He has lectured at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Georgetown University, Saint Louis University, Universidad San Pablo-CEU, and the Universitat de Barcelona. He has also worked for the United Nations in New York and for Human Rights Watch in Washington DC. He is a frequent commentator in the Spanish and international media. ...
Nouzha Chekrouni
Senior Fellow
Dr. Nouzha Chekrouni is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South. She has extensive experience in academia, diplomacy and political leadership.  She has served as His Majesty’s Ambassador to Canada (2009-2016), and Dean of the Council of Arab League Ambassadors to Canada (2015-2016). Dr. Chekrouni was Minister for the Moroccan Community Living Abroad (2002-2007), a Member of Parliament (2002-2007), and the Minister for Women and Social Issues (1998-2002). She holds a Bachelor Degree from the Philological Faculty at the University of Fez, a Post-Graduate Diploma and a PhD in Linguistics from the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris. Dr. Chekrouni has also completed a Certificate in Ethics and International Relations at Harvard University. She is a 2016 Sen ...
Karim Hauser
Coordinator of International Relations, Casa Árabe
Karim Hauser works as Coordinator of International Relations at Casa Árabe, where his areas of expertise include the socio-political transformations occurring in the Arab world. He previously led at Casa Árabe the Arabia Americana Program, designed to create a space for triangulation between the Americas, Spain and the Arab world, for which he edited three books on the Arab presence in the Americas. He has worked as a journalist for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), where he worked on the flagship program Newshour and as a Middle East correspondent for BBC Mundo. He studied International Relations at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) and earned a Master’s degree in Journalism at Goldsmiths College, University of London. ...
El Mostafa Rezrazi
Senior Fellow
Dr El Mostafa Rezrazi is a professor of Crisis Management, and Security Studies and a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South who focuses on Terrorism, Security and East Asia studies. His area of Expertise covers Afro-Asian Affairs, Strategic & Security Studies, Terrorism, Extremism and Deradicalization, mainly from the view of Criminal; Legal and Forensic Psychology.  He got his Ph.D. in Regional & International Affairs from the University of Tokyo in 1998, and later a Doctorate from the University of Mohammed V on the Psychological dynamisms of Suicide Bombers (2014). He is the executive director of the Moroccan Observatory on Extremism and Violence, Director of the African Center for Asian Studies, Rabat. Currently, he is Visiting Professor a ...
María Jesús Herrera
Head of Mission, International Organization for Migrations
She has a Law degree from the Autonomous University of Madrid. Currently she is the Head of Mission in the International Organization for Migrations (IOM). She was General Coordinator of the Movement for Peace (MPDL) between 2004 and 2010. Previously she worked as Assistant to the Diplomatic Advisor of Latin America in the Permanent Representation to the European Union in Belgium, for the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2001 to 2002. ...
Pedro Martínez-Avial
Director-General, Casa Árabe
A civil servant in the diplomatic corps since 1987, he has been stationed at the Embassies of Spain in Iraq, the Czech Republic, Cuba, Chile and Mexico, and until July 2017, he held the position of Consul General in Hamburg, Germany. When working in Spain, he has held various positions within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, where he was the Sub-Director General of the Institute of Cooperation with the Arab World and Sub-Director General for Cooperation with the Arab and Mediterranean Countries at the Spanish International Cooperation Agency from 1992 through 1997. From 2006 to 2008, he held the position of advising member of the Directorate General for the Mediterranean, Near East and Africa at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. Since August 1, 2 ...
Eva Martínez
Director-General for Maghreb, Mediterranean and Middle East, Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation
Career diplomat since 1991, before her current position, Eva Martínez was deputy Director for the Maghreb (2013-2017) at the same Ministry. Previously, she worked as Counselor for African affairs in the Spanish Representation before the EU (2008-2013) and Counselor at the Spanish embassy in Mexico (2003-2005). She has also seved as Counselor to the Spanish Embassy in Egypt, Deputy Director-General for the Middle East, and president of the African Cooperation Group of the Council of the European Union during Spanish presidency in 2010. ...
José Luis Pardo
Ambassador in Special Mission for Migration Issues, Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.
José Luis Pardo is a career diplomat, joining the Spanish diplomatic service in 1993. His professional career has focused on three areas: the Arab world and the Mediterranean (Second Headquarters at the embassies in Libya 1996-1999 and Jordan 1999-2002 and Counselor for Euromed-Processes of Barcelona-UPM 2005-2007), the European Union (Counselor for Community Affairs at the embassy in Berlin between 2002 and 2005 and Deputy Director General for Foreign Affairs and Commercial Affairs of the EU between 2007 and 2014) and Global approaches to migration since 2014 with his appointment as Ambassador of Spain in Niger, and since 2017 as Ambassador in Special Mission for Migration Issues. ...
Javier Puig
Deputy Director-General for the Maghreb, Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.
Javier Puig is Deputy Director-General for the Magreb at the Spanish Foreign Minister since May 2017. A career diplomat since 2002 he has served at the Spanish Embassies in Tunisia (2003-2007), Morocco (2007-2010), Guatemala (2010-2012) and Vietnam (2014-2017). From 2012 to 2014 he was assistant deputy director for the Magreb at the Foreign Minister. ...
Angel Losada
Ambassador, EU Special Representative for the Sahel
Angel Losada (Bern, 1953) is a Spanish diplomat who serves as EU Special Representative for the Sahel. He graduated in Law at the University of Navarre with Honours. He started his career at NATO when Spain joined the organisation and has a wide experience in multilateral affairs after his relevant posts in the Spanish Mission to the UN (1990-93) and NATO itself (1996-2000). He has also worked in conflict situations after serving as Spanish Ambassador to the ISAF Command Chain in Afghanistan after the end of the war (2004-2005). Mr Losada occupied other significant post in the Spanish Diplomatic Service such as Ambassador in Nigeria (2006-11) and Kuwait (2011-14). After working as Spanish Ambassador at Large for Libya and the Sahel, he was named EU Special Representative for ...
Leila Zniber
Research Analyst in Economic Competitiveness, Moroccan Ministry of Economy and Finance and Administration Reform
Mrs Leila Zniber is a Research Analyst in Economic Competitiveness Department of the Directorate of Studies and Financial Forcasting, within the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Administration Reform. She is active in a number of fields related to imports, current account, exchange rate and outward FDI. She got her Master in Economics from the ESCP-EAP Business School in Paris in 2008. ...