Friday, 31 March 2017 – The National Assembly Speaker, Ms Baleka Mbete, MP is leading a multi-party delegation of the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa to the 136th IPU Assembly hosted by the Parliament of Bangladesh.
The South African Parliament is a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) which meets twice annually, i.e. during March/April, and in October each year.
Ms Mbete, will also participate in the General Debate, the theme of which is:” Redressing inequalities: Delivering on dignity and well-being for all"
The delegation also participates in various Standing Committees and related meetings.
The 136th session will tackle rising economic, political and social inequalities. Taking decisive actions to end economic, political and social inequality, will be the main focus of deliberations for the more than 650 MPs from 132 countries meeting in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Parliamentarians, including 53 Speakers of various Parliaments, will make concrete proposals on a range of issues, from ending rising inequality to promoting women’s access to financing, during the 136th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union(IPU) (#IPU136) hosted by the Bangladesh Parliament. Nobel Peace Prize laureate and children’s rights activist, Kailash Satyarthi, will be the keynote speaker during the meeting.
It is a standard practice that Speakers of parliamentary delegations have to participate in the highest structure.
The delegation departed on 29th March and is due back on 6 April 2017.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES
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