The 35th edition of the Asilah International Cultural Moussem, organised by the Asilah Forum Foundation, opened on Friday evening with a colloquium on the theme "Climate change and food security: between technical approach and human efficiency", in the presence of a host of personalities from the world of diplomacy, politics, culture, arts, and media. The programme of this edition notably provides for a colloquium on "the Arab Spring" (28/29 June), the presentation of the 5th Mohamed Zefzaf Prize for the Arabic novel (30 June) in addition to a series of meetings-debates, just as it invites the public to appreciate a palette of plastic arts exhibitions, painting and engraving workshops for children, presentations of new publications, but also musical evenings animated by a constellation of national and foreign artists and troupes.

International financial commitments are insufficient to stem the effects of climate change, lamented UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a message addressed to the participants of the 35th edition of the Asilah International Cultural Moussem. In this message, which was read by the president of the Asilah Forum Foundation, Mohamed Benaissa, during the inaugural colloquium of this edition, Ban Ki-moon noted that these commitments are in no way sufficient to absorb the harmful effects of climate change on the food security of the world's population. The UN Secretary-General, on the other hand, praised the choice made by the Asilah Forum Foundation on one of the most complex themes, underlining the imperative inevitability of deciding, as a matter of urgency, on measures capable of stemming the deleterious effects of climate change which, according to him, compromise the efficiency of efforts aimed at achieving sustainable development, in third-world countries in particular. “Meeting the challenges induced by climate change is an essential prelude to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, as well as to the consolidation of the foundations of world security and peace,” he said. The 35th edition of the Asilah International Cultural Moussem, organised by the Asilah Forum Foundation, opened on Friday evening with a colloquium on the theme "Climate change and food security: between technical approach and human efficiency", in the presence of a host of personalities from the world of diplomacy, politics, culture, arts, and media.