It is a proud and historic moment for Qatar to host 140th Assembly of IPU in Doha with the participation of parliamentary delegations from over 160 countries. The hosting of IPU 140th Assembly reflects Qatar’s significant position in the international community as well success of country’s diplomacy.
At the same time, it also reflects the defeat of Qatar’s opponents whose ceaseless efforts to malign Qatar since the imposition of siege in 2017 with fabricated accusations have ended in fiasco due to wise policies and diplomatic moves of Qatar’s leadership. Today, the whole world stands by Qatar and has rejected baseless propaganda campaigns launched against Qatar by the blockading countries.
With the participation of over 2,000 representatives including parliamentarians, UN partners and experts from 160 countries, the 140th Assembly of IPU will begin today in Doha.
The members of the parliaments from across the world will explore the relationship between education, peace and democracy in the general debate on ‘Parliaments as platforms to enhance education for peace, security and the rule of law’.
The outcome of the debate is also expected to help inform the parliamentary contributions to the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development at the UN in July 2019, which will consider the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals 4 (quality education) and 16 (peaceful societies, rule of law, strong and effective institutions at all levels).
Speaker of the Shura Council, H E Ahmed bin Abdulla bin Zaid Al Mahmoud said on Thursday that the Shura Council had taken all the necessary arrangements for the success of these events, to reach results that would favour the IPU’s support and its path to strengthen democracy and sustainable development. H E the Speaker said that he wanted to make it a milestone in the IPU history.
H E the Speaker expressed hope that the participants of the event had a chance to learn about the State of Qatar’s heritage, the generosity of its people and to acquaint themselves with the renaissance witnessed by Qatar in all fields thanks to the wise policies of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Global parliamentary coordination to counter terrorism and extremism conducive to violence will be a prominent theme at the Assembly. Delegates will consider what action parliaments can take to disrupt and mitigate the effects of terrorist activity.
As with all IPU Assemblies, human rights will feature strongly. The IPU Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights will consider the key role parliaments play in allocating resources and legislating to ensure universal health coverage by 2030. The Committee will also examine parliamentary responses to attacks on freedom of expression and the right to information, particularly in a changing media landscape where privacy and individual freedoms are under threat.
