Luanda – One thousand and 170 delegates are registered, so far, to participate in the 147th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), to be held from 23 to 27 this month in Luanda, the event’s spokeswoman, Idalina Valente, announced on Tuesday.
According to the parliamentarian, who was speaking at a press conference, registration is open until 13 October and the event's organisers hope to reach 1,400 delegates from 87 countries and 82 parliaments.
Idalina Valente added that the IPU assembly will provide a platform for parliamentarians, partner organizations and experts to share good practices and commit to the overall theme of parliamentary action for peace, justice and strong institutions.
"The theme is closely linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions, a key enabler of the entire development agenda," she emphasised.
She also said that the assembly, will consider actions to strengthen trust between people and governance structures, with a view to making public institutions more effective, accountable and representative parliaments capable of tackling the multiple interconnected geopolitical, economic and environmental crises facing the world.
She added that the IPU's member parliaments will elect the 31st president at the meeting, replacing Portugal's Duarte Pacheco, emphasising that so far four candidates, without naming which ones, are running for the post, all of them parliamentarians from African countries.
According to Idalina Valente, the IPU working group for the peaceful resolution of the war in Ukraine is due to meet with parliamentarians from the Russian Federation and Ukraine, while the committee for Middle East issues will meet to analyse the latest developments and chart a path to peace in the region.
The spokeswoman said that the IPU is also in close contact with the parliamentary leadership of Armenia and Azerbaijan, and has offered its good offices to help promote political dialogue between MPs from the two countries in light of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
At the assembly, the IPU is expected to take a step towards the accession of the Bahamas as its 180th member parliament.
The IPU was founded more than 130 years ago as the world's first multilateral political organisation, made up of 179 national member parliaments and 14 regional parliamentary bodies.
IPU promotes democracy and helps parliaments become stronger, younger, gender-balanced and more innovative. It also defends human rights through a committee made up of parliamentarians from all over the world. FMA/VIC/ADR/DAN/DOJ
