III(B)(A). COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATION RELATED EVENTS from JUNE 2014 to JANUARY 2019
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III(B)(a). COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATION RELATED EVENTS FROM JUNE 2014 TO JANUARY 2019 PAN-COMMONWEALTH CONFERENCE OF COMMONWEALTH WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS AT LONDON FROM 25-29 JUNE, 2014. CPA Secretariat, London hosted Pan-Commonwealth Conference of CWP at London from 25-29 June, 2014. The theme of the Conference was “Women in the Post Millennium Development Goal Era”. 2. The Conference held discussions on the following topics: i. Funding and fighting an effective election campaign ii. A vision for the future of Gender Equality iii. Negotiating a better position for women and girls after 2015 iv. Gender and Social Policy – Making your mark v. The role for Women in the Post-MDG era vi. Women in decision making positions – The Board Room and beyond 3. Smt. Meenakashi Lekhi, MP (LS) and Ms. Bhavana (Patil) Gawali, MP (LS) participated in the Conference. Ms. Meenakashi Lekhi, MP (LS) also participated in CWP Steering Committee Meeting held on 28th June, 2014 in her capacity as CWP Steering Committee Member from CPA India Region and submitted a Regional Report. 4. An amount of Rs. 11,53,570/- has been spent on the airfare of the Members. Airfare in respect of Smt. Meenakashi Lekhim MP will be reimbursed by the CPA Secretariat, London. THE 60TH COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE IN YAOUNDE, CAMEROON FROM 2 TO 10 OCTOBER, 2014 The 60th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference was held in Yaounde, Cameroon from 2 to 10 October, 2014. An Indian Parliamentary Delegation led by Shri Pankaj Choudhary, Member of Parliament attended the Conference. The other member of the Delegation from India (Union) Branch was Shri Prem Das Rai, Member of Parliament. Shri Rakesh Kumar Jain, Joint Secretary, Lok Sabha was the Secretary to the Delegation. The Conference was attended from State CPA Branches viz. Dr. Kodela Siva Prasad Rao, Speaker, Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly; Shri Uday Narain Choudhary, Speaker, Bihar Vidhan Sabha; Shri Shri Gaurishankar Agrawal, Speaker, Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha; Shri Anant Shet, Deputy speaker, Goa Legislative Assembly; Shri Mangubhai C. Patel, Deputy Speaker, Gujarat Legislative Assembly; Shri Brij Behari Lal Butail, speaker, Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha; Shri N.H. Shivashankara Reddy, Deputy Speaker, Karnataka Legislative Assembly; Shri Thokchom Lokeshwar Singh, Speaker, Manipur Legislative Assembly; Shri Abu Taher Mondal, Speaker, Meghalaya Legislative Assembly; Shri Hiphei, Speaker, Mizoram Legislative Assembly; Shri Chotisuh Sazo, Speaker, Nagaland Legislative Assembly; Shri Niranjan Pujari, Speaker, Odisha Legislative Assembly; Dr. Charnjit Singh Atwal, Speaker, Punjab Vidhan Sabha; Shri Kalu Lal Gurjar, Chief Whip, Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha; ShriK.N. Rai, Speaker, Sikkim Legislative Assembly; Shri Ramendra Chandra Debnath, Speaker, Tripura Legislative Assembly and Shri Govind Singh Kunjwal, Speaker, Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha. Shri P.D. Rai, MP and Dr. Charnjit Singh Atwal, Speaker, Punjab Vidhan Sabha attended the Meetings of CPA Executive Committee on Saturday, 4 October, 2014 and Sunday, 5 October, 2014. During , the following topics were discussed in the form of Workshops and Final Plenary: (i) Unity and Diversity: The Role of Parliament; (ii) Joining hands for Women‟s Rights: The Role of the Parliamentarian in gender empowerment; (iii) Evaluating the emergent content of the post-2015 Development Agenda against the standard set out in the Commonwealth Charter; (iv) Good Governance for the 21st Century: transparency and accountability continue to be needs and requirements throughout the Commonwealth; (v) How can Parliament ensure that young people are placed a the centre of sustainable development?: The role of Education; (vi) Finance oversight in Westminster style and Francophone Parliaments; sharing good practice; (vii) What is the role of Parliament in providing for the most vulnerable in society?; and (viii) Parliamentarians and Public Trust: Do Codes of Conduct help? The Official Opening of the 60 Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference was held on Monday, 6 October,2014. The 1 Plenary was held after the Official Opening. Due to the and untimely death of Dr. William F. Shija, Secretary-General, CPA and non-attendance of the Secretary-General of Commonwealth, the acting Secretary- General of the CPA and representative of Secretary-General, Commonwealth addressed the 1st Plenary. The Addresses were followed by Question and Answer session. On Wednesday, 8 October, 2014, Workshops on the 8 Topics were held in two shifts – 4 Workshops in the morning shift simultaneously and 4 Workshops in the afternoon shift simultaneously. Shri Pankaj Choudhary, MP participated in Workshop on the topic “Good Governance for the 21st Century: Transparency and accountability continue to be needs and requirement throughout the Commonwealth.” Shri P.D. Rai participated in the Workshop on the topic “Evaluating the emergent content of the post-2015 Development Agenda against the standards set out in the Commonwealth Charter” and in Workshop on the topic “Finance oversight in Westminster style and Francophone Parliaments: Sharing good practice.” In the General Assembly held on Thursday, 9 October, 2014, Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Speaker, Parliament of Bangladesh was elected as Chairperson of the CPA Executive Committee for the term 2014-2017. The Speakers and Presiding Officers of National Parliaments and State CPA Branches attended the 60 Commonwealth Parliamentary Conferences. CPA PARLIAMENTARY AGRICULTURE COMMITTEES WORKSHOP IN CHANDIGARH, PUNJAB IN OCTOBER, 2014 The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) in partnership with the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Greenwich, United Kingdom and the CPA Punjab State Branch, India organized a workshop on the Role of Parliamentary Agriculture Committees in Chandigarh, Punjab from 29 to 31 October, 2014. Hon‟ble Speaker, Lok Sabha was the Chief Guest. She inaugurated the above Workshop in Chandigarh on 29 October, 2014 in Punjab Legislative Assembly Chamber, Vidhan Bhawan, Chandigarh. Shri Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav, MP, Lok Sabha and Member, Standing Committee on Agriculture and Sardar Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, MP, Rajya Sabha and Member of Standing Committee on Agriculture participated in the Workshop. The workshop was also attended by Hon‟ble Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab besides experts in the field. The objective of the above Workshop inter-alia included sharing of experiences, issues and good practices relating to the effective functioning of Parliamentary Agriculture Committees; key agriculture issues relevant to the Asian, Indian and South East Asian Region and taking a practical approach to building parliamentarians‟ capacity to address them; identify the particular challenges of capacity development of Parliamentary Committees in developing legislature, including issues of policy development and parliamentary staffing support. The topics discussed were as follows: - (i) Constitutional role allocated to Departmental Committees (ii) Women‟s land ownership in the Indian context (iii) National / Sub-Regional Agriculture Committee Experiences (iv) The contribution of Agricultural Science (v) The geographical and environmental challenges to sustainable agriculture (vi) Maximising incentives and opportunities for the rural poor (vii) Technical innovations in the Agricultural Sector 6TH COMMONWEALTH YOUTH PARLIAMENT IN MMABATHO, NORTH WEST PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURE, SOUTH AFRICA IN NOVEMBER, 2014 The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and the North West Provincial Legislature, South Africa organized the “6th Commonwealth Youth Parliament” in November, 2014. On the nomination of Hon‟ble Speaker, Lok Sabha, Smt. Raksha Nikhil Khadse, MP, Lok Sabha attended the above mentioned 6th Youth Parliament held in Mmabatho, North West Province of South Africa from 2 to 8 November, 2014 as “Mentor”. Young people across the CPA countries attended the 6th Commonwealth Youth Parliament (CYP). The CYP provided platform for young people to establish links with the Parliamentarians and like-minded peers. Young parliamentarians as “mentors” helped the young participants to understand various aspects of parliamentary democracy. Important parliamentary practices of various Parliaments were shared by experienced parliamentary officials. An amount of Rs. 2,78,000/- (approx.)has been spent on the airfare of the Member. GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS WORKSHOP FOR ASIA, SOUTH EAST ASIA AND INDIA REGIONS IN DHAKA FROM 18 – 20 NOVEMBER, 2014 – The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and the Bangladesh Parliament co-hosted the “Global Financial Crisis Workshop for Asia, South East Asia and India Regions” in Dhaka from 18 – 20 November, 2014. On the nomination by Hon‟ble Speaker, Lok Sabha, Dr. Kirit Somaiya, MP, Lok Sabha and Smt. V. Sathyabama MP, Lok Sabha attended the above mentioned Global Financial Crisis Workshop for Asia, South East Asia and India Regions in Dhaka from 18 – 20 November, 2014. The Workshop brought together Parliamentarians from across Asia, India and South East Asia CPA Regions to enhance the knowledge of members of Finance Committees about fiscal issues, international finance and its impact on national governments and finances and to allow opportunity for Members to identify good practice on Parliamentary oversight of financial, economic and monetary policies to improve governance in relation to the economy. The principal goals of the Workshop were to further develop Parliamentarians‟ understanding of IMF regional strategy and