The PABSEC Participation in the 146th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Manama (Kingdom of Bahrain), 11-15 March 2023
On 11-15 March 2023, Mr. Asaf Hajiyev, PABSEC Secretary General, took part in the 146th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Manama (Kingdom of Bahrain) organised upon the invitation of the Parliament of Bahrain.
Delegations of parliaments of 140 countries took part in the Assembly. At the Inaugural Ceremony was presented the address of His Majesty the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The participants were addressed by Ahmed bin Salman Al Musallam, Speaker of the Council of Representatives of Bahrain, Mr. António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations (by video message), Mr. Duarte Pacheco, IPU President, and Mr. Martin Chungong, IPU Secretary General.
The General Debate focused on the overall theme of Promoting peaceful coexistence and inclusive societies: Fighting intolerance. At the end of the session, the Manama Declaration was adopted, which calls on the parliamentarians to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, building hope for peace, democracy, sustainable and inclusive development.
The Assembly adopted resolutions on the topics considered by the Standing Committee on Peace and International Security “Cyberattacks and Cybercrimes: New Risks to Global Security”, and that on Sustainable Development “Parliamentary Efforts to Achieve Negative Carbon Balances of Forests”.
Within the framework of the Assembly, meetings of the statutory bodies of the IPU were held, as well as the 35th Session of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and the Forum of Young Parliamentarians of the IPU.
On the sidelines of the Assembly, the 2nd Conference of the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement (PN NAM) was held under the Presidency of Ms. Sahiba Gafarova, Chairperson of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan, PN NAM Chairperson. The Manama Declaration was adopted as the final document of the Conference, which reflects the common stand of the parliaments regarding the present challenges and opportunities for cooperation. At the Conference, the PABSEC was granted Observer Status to the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement.
In his speech at the PN NAM, Mr. Asaf Hajiyev, PABSEC Secretary General, briefly informed the participants on the current activities of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and underlined the importance of the countries' joint efforts to overcome the existing topical problems.
The Secretary General met with his counterparts from the TURKPA, the IPU, the APA and renewed his invitation to the Meeting of the Secretaries General, to be held in Istanbul, on 4 April 2023.