JEDDAH:With the participation of Saudi Arabia, the 144th session of the General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, held at the Bali International Convention Centre in Indonesia, has come to an end.
Representing Saudi Arabia, the Shoura Council delegation, headed by Dr. Abdullah Al-Asheikh, took part in the meetings, held under the topic ‘“Getting to Zero: Mobilizing Parliaments to Act on Climate Change.”
Mohammed bin Dakheel Al-Mutairi, secretary-general of the Shoura Council, participated in the meetings of the Assembly of Secretaries-General of the IPU, during which the latest developments in the union and the draft agenda for the next meeting were discussed.
Dr. Ayman bin Saleh Fadel, a member of the Shoura Council, participated in the meeting of the Standing Committee for Sustainable Development, titled “Leveraging information and communication technology as an enabler for the education sector, including in times of pandemic.”
Dr. Amal Al-Shaman, another member of the Shoura Council, participated in the meetings of the Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights in the IPU. During the meetings, the parties discussed the draft resolution to be adopted in the upcoming General Assembly regarding the parliamentary motion to advance local and regional development in countries with high levels of international migration. Participants discussed the importance of stopping all forms of human trafficking, in addition to other topics on the committee's agenda.
Hoda Al-Helaissi, also a Shoura Council member, took part in the meetings of the IPU’s Standing Committee on UN Affairs. She, along with her colleagues, discussed the UN’s High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, among other topics.
Meanwhile, members of the Permanent Committee for International Peace and Security in the IPU, including Dr. Hani bin Yousuf Khashoggi, held a meeting during which they discussed a draft resolution on reformulating the approach to peace operations in order to promote lasting stability.
The IPU is an international organization of national parliaments. It began in 1889 as a small group of parliamentarians dedicated to promoting peace through diplomacy and has since grown into a global organization.
With 178 member parliaments, 14 associate members and increasing numbers of parliamentarians from all over the world, IPU assemblies are held twice a year, with more than 1,200 representatives attending.