Luanda - The speaker of the National Assembly, Carolina Cerqueira met Wednesday with the European Union (EU) commissioner for international partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, to whom she reported on the issues that have dominated the parliamentary agenda.
Carolina Cerqueira said that earlier this year the National Assembly approved the General State Budget (OGE-2024), which defines financial priorities in areas of national development, such as education, health, energy and water, basic sanitation and other programs with social impact.
The Parliament leader also pointed to education for peace and the strengthening of democracy as priority issues in the current legislature.
Carolina Cerqueira stressed the importance of the approval of the new General Labour Law, considering that it represents a step forward from the point of view of defending, protecting and extending the rights of workers, especially women.
She also highlighted the fact that the new General Labour Law is in line with the Civil Service Law.
Regarding Parliament's role in preserving and promoting peace, Carolina Cerqueira emphasized the involvement of parliamentarians, through the national groups, in the peace processes in the Great Lakes Region and in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The Angolan Parliament Speaker told her interlocutor that this process culminated in the approval, in 2023, of the Resolution to send a military contingent to deter and monitor the deployment of negative troops that destabilize the region and weaken the social and human fabric in the east of the DRC.
She also pointed to the involvement of Angolan legislators in the SADC Parliamentary Forum, an organization whose rotating leadership is currently held by Angolan President João Lourenço.
Jutta Urpilainen on her turn congratulated Angola for hosting the 1st Session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States and the European Union under the new Samoa Agreement.
Jutta Urpilainen added that Angola is a country with great human potential and plays a fundamental role in Africa in maintaining peace and resolving conflicts. DC/VIC/DAN
