VIEW FROM THE ACTING CPA CHAIRPERSON to join the CPA Secretary-General and Deputy SecretaryGeneral to speak at the 51st CPA Africa Regional Conference, held in Abuja, Nigeria. The Regional Conference included a programme of workshops examining COVID-19 challenges through a range of thematic lenses, including gender, youth and sustainable development, on the theme of ‘African Parliaments and the Challenge of the COVID-19 Pandemic’. Throughout the programme, we held several bilateral meetings, most notably with Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria and President-designate of the CPA Africa Region; Hon. Zakariya’u Galadima, MP, Chairman of the House Committee on Inter-Parliamentary Affairs (Nigeria); and the CPwD Chairperson, Hon. Dennitah Ghati, HSC MP (Kenya). The commitments of the CPA Africa Regional Conference
are reflected in several of the CPA Strategic Plan’s cross-cutting themes, and it was a pleasure to see our colleagues in Africa driving forward the CPA’s mission of advancing good governance and promoting democracy in these continuing difficult times. As we come to the end of this year and look ahead to the next, I am full of pride of the CPA’s achievements this past year and look forward to the implementation of the Strategic Plan. I also hope to see more CPA colleagues in 2022 at the upcoming MidYear CPA Executive Committee meeting, due to be hosted by the CPA Assam Branch in India and at the 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, due to be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, hosted by the CPA Canada Region.
COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARIANS CONVENE IN NIGERIA TO DISCUSS COVID-19 CHALLENGES AT 51ST CPA AFRICA REGIONAL CONFERENCE From 9 to 13 November 2021, Commonwealth Parliamentarians from across Africa met in Abuja, Nigeria to attend the 51st Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Africa Regional Conference on the theme of ‘African Parliaments and the Challenge of the COVID-19 Pandemic'. The main programme included workshops examining COVID19 challenges through a range of thematic lenses, including gender, youth and sustainable development. At the official opening ceremony, the VicePresident of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Prof Yemi Osinbajo, delivered the keynote address stressing the importance of the institution of Parliament in promoting democracy and fostering economic development. He also called on international leaders to put in place appropriate transitional climate change arrangements for Africa, saying: “the international community must meet its pledges to Africa and the developing world in terms of financing and technology, to support mitigation and adaptation to climate change.” In his welcome address, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria and President-designate of the CPA Africa Region, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila MP, appealed for full integration in Africa, taking advantage of the available regional legislative instruments to have a common passport, market and a single customs and monetary union. Hon. Christopher Kalila, MP (Zambia) addressed delegates on behalf of the CPA Africa Region Executive Committee, whilst Hon. Dr Zainab Gimba, MNA (Nigeria), as Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Africa Regional Chairperson, called for greater focus on gender inclusion and women’s participation in political, social, economic and development processes. The Acting CPA International Chairperson, Hon. Ian Liddell-Grainger, MP (United Kingdom) attended the Regional Conference in person as part of a CPA Secretariat delegation, alongside the CPA Secretary-General, Stephen Twigg and CPA Deputy SecretaryGeneral, Jarvis Matiya. Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Acting CPA Chairperson reiterated the CPA’s commitment to continue pushing for a change in the legal status of the CPA, whilst the CPA Secretary-General took the opportunity to welcome back several Nigerian sub-national Legislatures that have recently been re-admitted to the CPA’s membership. In the sidelines of the Africa Regional Conference, the CPA Secretariat delegation also held bilateral meetings with: the Speaker of the Nigeria House of Representatives and Hon. Zakariya’u Galadima, MP, Chairman of the House Committee on Inter-Parliamentary Affairs; the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD), Hon. Dennitah Ghati, HSC MP (Kenya); as well as various delegations from across the CPA Africa Region. The CWP Africa Region also convened for a Regional Steering Committee meeting and a gender-sensitisation workshop. The African Region of the Society of Clerks-at-the-Table (SoCATT) in Commonwealth Parliaments also held its Annual General Meeting in the margins of the Regional Conference. The CPA Africa Region is one of nine CPA Regions across the Commonwealth, and it comprises 63 national and subnational Legislatures.
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