On October 24 the press conference of Hranush Hakobyan, Chairwoman of NA Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture and Youth Affairs and MP Alexan Karapetyan was held about the works done by RA NA Delegation at the 113th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
RA NA Inter-Parliamentary Union has become a member from 1995. The Inter-Parliamentary Union has three standing committees: Peace and International Security, Sustainable Development, Finance and Trade, Democracy and Human Rights. There are also ad-hoc committees functioning: the Coordinating Committee of Women parliamentarians deserves special attention, which has 12 members. It’s already second time that Hranush Hakobyan, MP, head of NA delegation is the committee member.
Mrs. Hakobyan noted that issues related to the role of parliament and the media in providing public with objective information, migration and development, importance of civil society. As Hranush Hakobyan said, the work of the gender partnership group, the results of the 10th meeting of women parliamentarians, issues of AIDS epidemic prevention, preparation of the agenda of the 11th meeting of the women parliamentarians at the 114th IPU Assembly taking place in Kenya next year and other problems were discussed.
Mrs. Hakobyan said that her speech in the Committee on Peace and International Security, was dedicated to providing impartial and objective information to the public, the role of MPs and mass
media, especially fighting against armed conflict and terror. The woman MP of the Azeri delegation in her speech raised the issue of occupied areas, refugees, alleged Armenian terrorists.
RA NA delegation participated at “Eurasia” geopolitical session, during which the group members participated with the candidates of the IPU President, Versnick, Belgian Deputy and Casini, President of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy.
After consulting with each other Pakistan, India and Mexico jointly presented the issue “Natural Disasters: The Role of Parliaments in Preventing, Restoring, Reconstructing and Defending the Vulnerable Groups,” which was adopted and discussed as an urgent issue.
On October 18 the meeting of IPU woman MPs with Versnick and Casini, candidates for IPU Presidents, during which Hranush Hakobyan addressed her question to the candidates about the protection of the women’s and children’s rights, trafficking, proposed arrangements for the struggle against AIDS.
At the session convened by “Eurasia” geopolitical group it was decided by voting to lay the obligations on the coordinating group of Belarus.
During the Assembly Mrs. Hakobyan also met Ingrid Udre, President of the Latvian Parliament, MPs of the parliaments of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Norway, Japan.
Hranush Hakobyan also participated in the seminar organized by the Women’s Advancement of IPU and UN, which was dedicated to the implementation of convention “All Kinds of Discrimination Against Women” and MPs’ role.
President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union was elected Mr. Pier Ferdinando Casini, President of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy, who will preside the Union three years. It was informed that the next, 114th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union will take place on May 7-12, 2006, in Nairobi, capital of Kenya.
