Hon. Waven William and Hon. Egbert Aglae, assisted by Parliamentary Research Officer Ms. Emma Didon, attended the various meetings at the 146th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly, from the 10th to the 16th March 2023. The Assembly began with a meeting of the African Geopolitical Group at Paddock 6 of the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), in which agenda items such as the Reports of the IPU Executive Committee, Emergency Items, and vacancies within the 146th Assembly was brought up and discussed. During this, Hon. William suggested an amendment to an Emergency Item that emphasized the fast-tracking of the process of ‘loss and damage’ for climate-vulnerable countries.
The Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Roger Mancienne, then joined and led the delegation, while attending the inauguration ceremony held on the 11th March in the Grand Hall of the Exhibition World Bahrain (EWB). The ceremony shone a light on the recent increase in armed conflicts, xenophobia and discrimination that has plagued the world in its entirety; the speakers present wished all parliamentarians present to enjoy fruitful deliberations and hoped that the 146th Assembly would be a forum that started open, collective work for the future.
In his capacity as Vice-Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Sustainable Development, Hon. William attended a meeting on the 12th March which focused on the resolution titled “Parliamentary efforts on achieving negative carbon balances of forests”. Hon. William contributed by stressing the need to sensitize, educate and raise awareness on the importance on the management of forests and trees. He noted that emphasis needs to be placed in schools so that our youth can be encouraged to take up the campaign and contribute to forest management and environmental protection. On the same day, Hon. Mancienne gave his intervention on the topic of the General Debate of the 146th Assembly. Hon. Mancienne began by expressing his full support for the call of promoting peaceful coexistence and fighting intolerance to build inclusive societies and noted that parliamentarians must lead in seeking solutions as representatives of the people. The Speaker expressed Seychelles’ commitment to joining these efforts despite not experiencing major threats to our national peace; however, a call to continue work in combating sexual and domestic violence was made. Hon. Mancienne concluded by stating that “the world can only meet these challenges by unity of effort”. Also on the 12th March, Hon. Aglae attended the Forum for Young Parliamentarians, which focused on cybercrimes, youth empowerment and unemployment, as well as climate change. Hon. Aglae made an intervention where he reported on the newly established youth election for the Seychelles National Youth Assembly. In addition to this, an honourable mention was given to the active and engaging work being undertaken by the Media, Youth, Sports, and Culture Committee (MYSCC) of the National Assembly.
Five Emergency Items were submitted on the 12th March to be voted on by the Assembly. The Seychelles delegation in its entirety was given 8 votes, which was used to vote on two Items, namely: “Raising awareness and calling for action on the serious humanitarian crises affecting the peoples of Afghanistan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Ukraine, Yemen and other countries and on vulnerability of women and children” and “Creation of a global fund for countries vulnerable to natural disasters to address loss and damage from climate change”.
On Monday 13th March, Mr. Speaker, Hon. William, and Hon. Aglae attended a panel discussion titled ‘Parliamentary action on biodiversity: Translating global commitments into national action’, in which Hon. Mancienne gave a short intervention on Seychelles’ ongoing actions in the preservation of its biodiversity. Recognition was given to the challenge of protecting our coastal areas, with Hon. William emphasizing the need to sensitize the public on biodiversity preservation. He also noted that Parliamentarians have major roles to play in the undertaking of national planning and risk reduction, which are key to minimizing the effects of climate change. This followed with a panel discussion centered on Climate Change, where Hon. William discussed the work done by various oversight committees of the National Assembly, such as the ‘Committee on Government Assurances’, the ‘Food, Security and Sustainable Development Committee’, and the ‘International Affairs Committee’.
On the afternoon of the same day, the Seychelles delegation attended a bilateral meeting with the Ukraine delegation, which began with the head of the Ukrainian delegation thanking Seychelles for its support in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Hon. Mancienne reaffirmed the support of the Seychelles government, while noting that existing links between Russia and Seychelles were being maintained for a variety of socioeconomic reasons. The Ukraine delegation requested that Seychelles support their cause for an international tribunal against the Russian aggression, to which Hon. Mancienne expressed that Ukraine had Seychelles’ consideration and a final decision is yet to be made. Both delegations took a moment to discuss their shared ecological and climate issues, before concluding.
On Tuesday 14th March, Hon. William attended the Bureau Meeting of the Sustainable Development Committee, where he stressed the importance for IPU to create a mechanism responsible for conducting oversight on the agreed COP Action Plans and Commitments. This recommendation to improve oversight pressures will be taken to the relevant IPU body for consideration. The bureau then discussed the proposed topics to be taken up at the 147th Assembly in Angola; this culminated in a combined proposal from India and the UAE on ‘the role of parliament to ensure equity, responsibility towards affordable renewable energy and reducing fossil fuel production’. Hon. William put forward an inclusion to hold a side meeting of the General Assembly of Angola that should be supported by global scientific data on the status quo on global food security. This was agreed upon by the Committee.
On the final day of the Assembly, Hon. Aglae participated in an ‘Accountability Segment’ where participants gave their progress report, respective of their country, in relation to the previous IPU Resolution on climate change. Hon. Aglae gave a brief presentation on the work of the National Assembly’s Environment Policy Implementation Committee (EPIC) of the Secretariat, specifically the Mangrove restoration project. Hon. Aglae explained that EPIC is now planning to apply for a grant with SeyCCAT to improve the project with a mangrove nursery and boardwalk where the restored habitat can be viewed and where students and delegates can learn more about the necessity of mangroves in climate change mitigation.
