IPA CIS Secretary General met with leadership of international organizations

In the margins of the WTO Parliamentary Conference, IPA CIS Council Secretary General Alexey Sergeev had several meetings with leaders of international organizations headquartered in Geneva and maintaining partner contacts with the IPA CIS.

At the meeting with IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong in the IPU headquarters, Alexey Sergeev shared on current and further efforts of the IPA CIS within the IPU in its new capacity of an associate member, granted to the IPA CIS at the IPU Assembly earlier in March this year. Inter alia, he mentioned the initiative of hosting the autumn session of the IPU in St. Petersburg in 2017 – the idea fully supported by the IPA CIS. Martin Chungong expressed confidence that, considering the results of the visit by the IPU Evaluation Mission, a positive decision will be taken during the following IPU session in October.

IPA CIS Council Secretary General also visited the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and met with ICRC President Peter Maurer. Both leaders noted the positive dynamics of the cooperation of the two organizations in line with the Cooperation Agreement of 2004. The meeting focused on discussing the holding of joint international events, e.g. the international conference International Humanitarian Law and Humanitarian Consequences of Using Weapons in the IPA CIS headquarters in autumn this year, as well as the possibility of organizing a joint conference on the 150^th anniversary since the adoption of St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868 laying a foundation of the modern international humanitarian law.

Alexey Sergeev also met with UN Under-Secretary General – Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Christian Friis Bach. The parties discussed the progress and the cooperation prospects including in the field of model law-making through the IPA CIS PC on Economy and Finance. Considering the current momentum and the dynamics of the contacts between the IPA CIS and UNECE and the need to streamline and formalize them, they expressed the need for drafting a cooperation document between the two organizations.

Alexey Sergeev also met with Secretary General of the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Elhadj As Sy and Director of IFRC's European Regional Office Semyoen Misiri. The parties stressed the great momentum in their bi-lateral relations, especially following the signing of the Cooperation Agreement in 2012. As a separate matter, the IPA CIS and the IFRC discussed the prospects of the upcoming celebrations of 150 years of the Russian Red Cross in the Tavrichesky Palace in spring 2017. "Given that the then established Russian Red Cross Society extended its operations across the entire Russian Empire, this anniversary is significant for the majority of the current IPA CIS member nations", noted Alexey Sergeev.