Luanda - The vice-president of the European Parliament (EP), Marc Angel, advocated in Luanda the need for the OACPS-EU Joint Parliamentary Assemblies to involve civil society in their agendas, as it constitutes "an essential ingredient for good governance".
The socialist MEP from Luxembourg, who was speaking on the occasion of the official reception offered to delegates to the Constitutive Assemblies of the OACPS-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, highlighted that civil society plays a fundamental role in monitoring parliamentary actions and monitoring the decisions taken.
"Civil society is an ingredient for good governance, it acts as an agent among the community and has a fundamental role in monitoring the implementation of decisions taken", he maintained.
He welcomed the formal constitution of the Regional Joint Parliamentary Assemblies between the countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (OACPS) with the European Union (EU), within the scope of the Samoa Agreement.
In this regard, he asked the deputies to always take into account the fact that the table of Joint Assemblies represents 15% of the world's population, for whom the joint assembly forms an appropriate platform for resolving community issues.
On the other hand, the OACPS' co-president of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Carlos Zorrinho, emphasized the organization's partnership within the scope of the Cotonou Agreement, which should mark the dawn of a new tie between the African, the Caribbean and the Pacific people.
"In a time of global disorder, we have a multilateral partnership that works and respects sovereignty, with shared values and finds solutions for the people", highlighted the Portuguese MEP socialist.
The OACPS-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly is co-chaired, on the European side, by Carlos Zorrinho, a Portuguese MEP, and, on the OACPS side, by Anita Rita Sithole, a Mozambican deputy.
The OACPS organization brings together around 1.5 billion people from 3 continents and 79 countries, 48 from Sub-Saharan Africa, 16 from the Caribbean and 15 from the Pacific, which makes this organization a significant force.
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