Morocco Elected Chair of Sahara-Sahel Observatory

PERSISMA, Rabat – Morocco was elected on Wednesday chair of the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (SSO) for a four-year mandate during the 20th Board of Directors of this organization and its 5th General Assembly (GA), held in Rabat on April 25-27.

Besides the election of the Kingdom to the presidency of this organization in the person of High Commissioner for Water, Forests and the fight against Desertification, Adeladim Lhafi, France was elected first vice-president, while second and third vice-presidents have been assigned to Niger and Sudan respectively.

The new office of the SSO also includes two members, namely Egypt and Mauritania, while Tunisia, which hosts the SSO headquarters, sits as a permanent member.

The Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) is an international, intergovernmental organization operating in Africa’s Sahara-Sahel region.

OSS was founded in 1992 in Paris and moved its headquarters to Tunis (Tunisia) in 2000.

OSS members include 22 African countries, five non-regional countries, ten organizations (including sub-regional organizations representing West Africa, East Africa and North Africa), and a non-governmental organization.