As part of ongoing work in the Balkans and Bosnia in particular, this was a visit for parliamentarians to see for themselves the issues and concerns surrounding the area. The programme was extremely busy for the 5 days we were there and we met many politicians and visited not only Sarajevo but Mostar and Banja Luka.
The BGIPU will be marking the International Day of Democracy (15 September) and promoting the work of our membership with a series of thematic events across Parliament during the week commencing 9 September. The events will embrace the theme of this year’s International Day of Democracy of “Strengthening Voices for Democracy”.
The BGIPU in conjunction with the FCO, facilitated a meeting between senior members of the Syrian National Coalition of Opposition and Revolutionary Forces and UK Parliamentarians on Thursday 5th September. The visit of the delegation from the Syrian National Coalition followed just a week after the vote in the Commons on UK responses to the situation in Syria.
The BGIPU hosted a visit of Somali Parliamentarians to the UK for a capacity building and parliamentary strengthening programme. The 5 Members of the House of People met with Members, senior officials and clerks to learn about the functioning and procedures of the Westminster system. The visit formed part of the support offered by HMG to the Somali government and Parliament in establishing and strengthening the Somali parliamentary institution, since its re-establishment in August 2012.
A delegation from the Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia undertook an inter-parliamentary visit to the UK Parliament from 17-21 June 2013. In their exchanges with UK parliamentarians, the delegation highlighted the significant changes which had occurred in Bolivia in recent years and discussed economic and social issues, criminal justice issues, human rights, environmental issues and developments in Latin America.
On the 6th of June a panel including Mary Macleod MP, Roberta Blackman Woods MP and Dina Medland, a freelance journalist for the Financial Times, discussed, under the auspices of the BGIPU, whether stereotyping, misogyny and harassment through the media constitutes a form of violence against women in politics, and what measures may be taken to address such issues.
The BGIPU supported the APPG for Drug Policy Reform to take up an invitation by President Otto Perez Molina of Guatemala to attend the 43rd General Assembly of the OAS from 4-6 June, as Observers. This report represents Baroness Meacher’s reflections on the meeting.
The Rt Hon George Howarth MP, Chair of All Party Parliamentary Group for Vietnam, led a delegation of British Parliamentarians to Vietnam in May from the 25th to 31st May 2013 to help further strengthen the relationship between the UK and Vietnam.
The Steering Committee meeting was held in Brussels in the European Parliament, who co-host the Parliamentary Conference with the IPU. The prime purpose of the Meeting was to prepare for the Bali Ministerial Conference in early December 2013.
Lord McConnell led a delegation of UK Parliamentarians comprising Heather Wheeler MP, Ian Lucas MP, and Mark Pritchard MP, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda from the 24-29 May 2013, to examine and report on the ongoing conflict resolution processes and stabilisation initiatives for Eastern DRC and long-term reforms for DRC as a whole, as well as the human rights situation and state of democratisation in DRC and Rwanda.
