On day 5 of the 144th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), The Sustainable Development Committee continued discussions on its agenda, where the discussions centered on the next subject items resolutions, which are scheduled for adoption in the 146th IPU General Assembly. The proposed resolutions are ‘Reconnecting local communities with a local sustainable inclusive economy to achieve the target of SDG 8’ and ‘Parliamentary efforts in achieving negative carbon balances of forests’ where the Committee voted to select the latter resolution. Hon. William also lent his support to the resolution expressing that achieving all SDGs in line with Agenda 2030 will remain a challenge post covid and is now exacerbated by the Ukraine armed conflict. A challenge especially in terms of countries’ socio-economic development globally. The former resolution addressing SDG 8 will be adopted as a panel discussion for the 145th Assembly.
The day continued with a bilateral meeting with the Secretary-General of the IPU, Mr. Martin Chungong. Hon William raised the IPU’s SIDS member’s concerns such as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the small island economies which includes the high cost of living as well as the recent impacts caused by the Ukrainian armed conflict. Hon. William gauged the views of Secretary-General Chungong on the matter of SIDS being included as one of the geo-political special groups represented in the IPU, noting that the element of Inclusivity is very important seeing as the SIDS is not effectively represented. They both agreed that further thought and reflection by the other decision-making bodies within the IPU would be needed on the matter moving forward. SG Chungong commended Seychelles for its active involvement and participation in IPU.
The delegation later took part in a side event workshop, where Hon. William represented IPU as a panelist. The event was co-hosted by the WFD (Westminster Foundation for Democracy) titled ‘Roles of Parliaments in Accelerating Climate Action Delivery’. The panelists gave examples of best practices adopted by their respective parliaments that other countries could also adopt. Hon. William, however, spoke of the goals and commitment of the IPU respective to the topic at hand, informing the participants of the various ways in which the union encourages and builds capacity towards climate action delivery. Hon Vidot contributed to the debate with positive steps the parliament of Seychelles is taking by leading by example, to reduce emissions such as the installation of rooftop solar panels and rain water harvesting amongst other actions. certain positive steps taken by the government in areas of mitigation and adaptation were highlighted.
The last day of the Assembly began with the delegation attending the Governing Council where on the agenda was the ‘Decisions on the human rights of MPs’ and ‘Reports of specialized meetings’. A meeting with the President of the IPU, Mr. Duarte Pacheco then followed where Hon. William raised the issue of IPU regional meetings that the IPU President had previously suggested the Seychelles co-hosting. He requested for a checklist of the requirements and ideas of regional subject matters. He expressed concern of the poor participation of SIDS from the Pacific region and wanted IPU to look into the matter. They also discussed about the harmonization of best practices within the organization for member countries parliaments to be on par with international norms and the best practice of accountability of the member states through the submission of a country report. President Pacheco was presented with tokens from the National Assembly at the end of the meeting.
The Seychelles delegation also had a brief encounter with the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Indonesia, where Hon William congratulated her for the remarkable efforts by her government and parliament for the success of the 144th IPU General Assembly. He also expressed the wish for bilateral parliamentary cooperation.
The Assembly concluded with the adoption of resolutions, presentations of Standing Committee reports and the outcome document of the 144th IPU General Assembly. The Seychelles delegation participated actively and achieved the objectives of the various bilateral meetings held.
