We Also Agreed That We Will Take Practical Steps to Advance This Dialogue by Organising

Committee on Middle East Questions

Oral report by the Committee President

On both Sunday and Wednesday we met over two sittings and were very fortunate to have a full house of participants on both occasions. This enabled us to have very lively, good participatory and constructive discussion. We started by revisiting the mandate of our Committee. After an extensive exchange of views we reaffirmed our commitment to facilitate dialogue between the parties involved in the conflict.

We also agreed that we will take practical steps to advance this dialogue by organising several round tables to which we will invite not only Palestinian and Israeli parliamentarians but also lawmakers from other Parliaments in the region, and beyond. We will also invite experts and representatives from civil society organisations that have something to contribute to these discussions.

The Committee debated a number of possible topics for these dialogue sessions and finally settled on the matter of water, and its different dimensions, in the region for the first dialogue session.

The Committee has now entrusted the Secretary General who has generously undertaken to devote the necessary time and effort to develop a detailed agenda for the first session. We have asked him to do this through consultations with all parties involved and to make the necessary practical arrangements for this meeting. We and the Secretary General have agreed that this should take place in the next three months before the Secretary General says farewell to the Organization.

We then discussed future possible topics for the dialogues sessions and concurred that youth and gender equality in the context of the region, were worthy matters for consideration.

The Committee is concerned about the serious issue of detained members of the Palestinian Parliament and therefore we were glad and grateful to be briefed by the President of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, Mr. Letelier, on its work with regard to them. The Committee appreciated this opportunity to exchange information with the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians and decided to continue to have similar briefings in the future.

The Committee also agreed to discuss broader subjects during its future sessions. Specifically, it will dedicate part of its next session to a discussion on the crisis in Syria and its repercussions in the region and beyond. The Committee proposes to invite representatives from the Parliaments of the most immediately concerned countries for a discussion on that occasion.

Lord Judd

20 March 2014