Along with other areas of cooperation with world nations like economy, trade, culture, diplomacy and many others, Qatar, represented by the Shura Council, is also expanding its ties with parliaments and parliamentary bodies of the world.
The successful hosting of 140th IPU Assembly in Doha in April this year with the participation of over 800 MPs from 160 countries was the biggest display of this expanding parliamentary ties between Qatar’s Shura Council and the parliaments of other countries.
Now, the State of Qatar, represented by the Shura Council has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African Parliamentary Union (APU). The MoU was signed at the headquarters of the People’s Palace in Djibouti during the participation of the Shura Council in the 42nd Conference of Speakers of Parliaments of the African Parliamentary Union (APU).
The MoU was signed by Speaker of the Shura Council, H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud, and Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the African Parliamentary Union, Alassane Bala Sakande. Under the MoU, the two parties agreed to strengthen parliamentary cooperation and friendship between the State of Qatar and the African Parliamentary Union and bring peace among peoples as well as to enhance parliamentary channels of communication between the two parties, exchange parliamentary knowledge and expertise in the legislative, supervisory and administrative fields, and enrich common points of convergence and work for peace in the world.
In a speech on this occasion, H E the Speaker of the Shura Council said that the State of Qatar’s accession to the African Union as an observer would encourage communication between the Shura Council and the African parliaments on the one hand, and between African and parliamentarians from Qatar on the other.
H E Al Mahmoud stressed that the Shura Council, through this accession, will work to achieve the objectives of the APU for the establishment of a sustainable peace based on cooperation and dialogue and benefit the region and its peoples.
In April this year, parliamentary dialogue and diplomacy were at the forefront of 140th IPU Assembly in Doha, as over 800 MPs from 160 countries convened in the world’s biggest platform for global parliamentary exchange. In the final Doha Declaration endorsed at the Assembly, MPs from national parliaments underlined the critical role of education to enhance peace, security and the rule of law as well as support democracy and human rights.
The IPU is the global organization of parliaments. It was founded 130 years ago as the first multilateral political organization in the world, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations.
The IPU comprises 178 national member parliaments and 12 regional parliamentary bodies.
