The Annual General Meeting of the British Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union was convened on Wednesday 7 December 2016 in the IPU Room at the Palace of Westminster to adopt the 2016 Annual Report and elect the Executive Committee for 2016/17. It was presided over by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, The Rt Hon Lindsay Hoyle MP on behalf of the House of Commons Speaker who is Honorary President of the Group.
BGIPU hosted from late November a delegation from Iraq led by the Chair of the Iraqi-British Parliamentary Committee, Dr Hanan Saeed Mohsin, with seven parliamentary collegues representing all the key factions of the Iraqi Parliament. The delegation sought deeper engagement with UK counterparts with the key message being that for the first time in decades all Iraqis were united in securing the future with current efforts to liberate Mosul from the control of Daesh being a decisive and important step.
BGIPU was represented at the 2nd High level Meeting of the GPEDC in Nairobi, including the IPU/AWEPA hosted Parliamentary Forum, by Lord Chidgey, of Hamble-le-Rice. In recent years, international discussions on aid and development have shifted their focus away from the delivery of aid to the effectiveness of development cooperation as a whole, known as the development effectiveness agenda with parliamentarians playing key roles in such deliberations.
Marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, IPU is launching an innovative self-assessment toolkit which assists parliaments in reviewing their functioning and working methods, and how these contribute to gender equality. This is a follow-up to the IPU’s landmark study on sexism against women MPs as part of the IPU’s commitment to advance gender-sensitive reforms in parliaments. BGIPU has been active in promoting the IPU’s work and sees the launch as a vitally important contribution to such efforts.
A meeting jointly organised by the IPU and the Moroccan Parliament, bringing together parliamentarians from all over the world, was held on 13th November 2016 in Marrakech, one week into the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22). The aim was to involve parliamentarians in promoting awareness of the issues being discussed at COP22, so that they could better hold their Governments to account for delivering on commitments made at COP21 in Paris in December 2015.
The UK parliamentary delegation to Cabo Verde was given the opportunity to understand the political, economic (and some of the) sustainability opportunities and challenges facing the country. It was clear that there was a desire to strengthen formal links with UK but the UK should be prepared to offer much more in terms of technical assistance and capacity support, not just an ever increasing number of tourists which creates good opportunities for growth, but also some risks.
From 6-12 November 2016 BGIPU-Chair Nigel Evans MP led a delegation to both Portugal and Cabo Verde. While the 2 days spent in Lisbon focussed mostly on the future bilateral relationship between the UK and Portugal in the context of Brexit, the second part of the visit in Cabo Verde gave the delegation an opportunity to learn more about a small country off the West African coast that is mostly known as a tourist destination, but deserves more credit for its political stability and democratic credentials in an otherwise troubled region.
From 6-11 November 2016, Gareth Johnson MP led a UK inter-parliamentary delegation to the Dominican Republic. During the visit, the UK MPs and Peers were greatly impressed by the huge economic potential and charm of the country, albeit also hearing about challenges in managing relations with neighbouring Haiti, including in managing complex border issues. In meetings with parliamentary counterparts, students and officials the delegation also discussed the future of bilateral trade post-Brexit.
Three Parliamentarians, Laurence Robertson MP (Conservative), Graham Brady MP (Conservative) and Lord (Dave) Watts (Labour) travelled to Brazil from 3-9 November 2016 on behalf of the Brazil APPG with funding support from the BGIPU. It is clear that Brazil is going through an uncertain time following President, Dilma Rousseff, recently being impeached. Against this background, the APPG met with a wide range of parliamentary and government counterparts to encourage better understanding and stronger inter-parliamentary links.
Co-chair of the APPG Nigel Mills MP and John Mann MP visited Tajikistan between 23 and 29 October 2016. The aim of the visit was to advance UK-Tajik relations meeting parliamentarians and government officials, and to review the effectiveness of DFID’s strategy in the country. Tajikistan is still transitioning from its Soviet past, while also facing the challenges of Islamic extremism and instability in neighbouring Afghanistan but UK engagement and assistance is valued and needed.
