Activities ALL EVENTS
134th IPU Assembly in Zambia
20 March 2016
The inaugural ceremony of the Assembly took place on the evening of 19 March in Lusaka (Zambia). President of Zambia Edgar Chagwa Lungu, Speaker of the National Assembly Patrick Matibini, and President of the IPU Saber Chowdhury attended the ceremony.
Besides its cross-cutting theme Rejuvenating Democracy: Giving Voice to Youth, the agenda includes the matters of combating international terrorism, protection of cultural artefacts, etc.
The IPA CIS delegation at the Assembly is led by Vice-Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly Ilyas Umakhanov and includes other Russian MPs, Chair of the Standing Commission of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus on Regional Policy and Local Governance Svetlana Gerasimovich, and Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council Alexey Sergeev.
In the morning on 20 March, the IPU Governing Council supported the request of the IPA CIS Council to raise the status of the IPA CIS at the IPU to the level of associated membership.
During the Assembly, the IPA CIS delegation met with IPU President Saber Chowdhury. He congratulated the IPA CIS representatives on receiving the new status and confirmed his participation in the upcoming 44th IPA CIS Plenary Session on 20 May.
The meeting of Alexey Sergeev with IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong focused on operational matters of the cooperation of IPA CIS and the IPU and the tools of enhance the role of the associated members in IPU's activities. Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council also handed over to Martin Chungong the official invitation to the 44th Plenary Session.
In the margins of the Assembly Alexey Sergeev met with representatives of partner organizations. Seizing the opportunity, he discussed with PABSEC Secretary General Asaf Hajiyev the current cooperation dimensions (commissions, international terrorism) and the revitalization of the effective protocol between the two assemblies of 1998. The meeting with Dr Mahmud Erol Kilic, PUIC Secretary General, focused on parliamentary cooperation and exchange of delegations at respective events.
He also spoke with Ian Askew, Director, Department of Reproductive Health and Research, WHO, on the dedicated involvement of experts from the WHO in developing industry-specific instruments of the IPA CIS. Both parties agreed on the feasibility of streamlining the common efforts through a cooperation paper.
