Commonwealth Parliamentary Association agrees new cooperation on parliamentary strengthening, human rights, climate change and gender equality with Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean
At a special ceremony on Thursday 18 November 2021, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM).
The new collaboration will bring the two organisations together to share expertise in several areas including parliamentary strengthening, sustainable economic development, the protection of human rights, addressing climate change, gender equality, responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and parliamentary diplomacy for peace and security.
The CPA Secretary-General, Stephen Twigg (right) and the PAM President, Hon. Gennaro Migliore MP (left) sign the MoU between the two organisations watched by the PAM Secretary-General, Ambassador Sergio Piazzi (back right). For further images please click here.
The PAM is an international parliamentary organisation, and a Permanent Observer at the United Nations General Assembly, which brings together 34 Member Parliaments from the Euro-Mediterranean and Gulf regions. Two of its Member Parliaments – Cyprus and Malta – are also Members of the CPA. The CPA is an international community of 180 Commonwealth Parliaments and Legislatures at national, state, provincial and territorial level who working together to deepen the Commonwealth’s commitment to the highest standards of democratic governance.
Through this new collaboration, the two organisations will bring together their Members to engage in productive discussions, share legislative experience, and work towards constructive approaches to achieving political consensus.
The signing of the MoU took place at the 43rd PAM Bureau meeting hosted by the PAM President, Hon. Gennaro Migliore MP (Italy) and the PAM Executive Body, composed of senior MPs from Italy, France, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Portugal, Algeria and Morocco as well as the PAM Secretary-General, Ambassador Sergio Piazzi.
The CPA Secretary-General, Stephen Twigg signed the MoU with PAM on behalf of the Association and said:
“One of the CPA’s strategic priorities is to increase its work with international partners and so I am delighted to sign this new MoU with PAM to cooperate on important areas, including human rights, good governance and the Sustainable Development Goals. There are many areas of shared importance between our two organisations and our Members will benefit from these new partnerships.”
The PAM President, Hon. Gennaro Migliore MP (Italy), said:
“We are really impressed by the wide scope of the CPA network as it links over 180 national, state, provincial and territorial Parliaments and Legislatures, divided up between the nine geographic regions of the Commonwealth. Therefore, we truly believe that our cooperation will lead to a very interesting and unique policy exchange. I am also confident that this agreement will allow for both parties to actively participate in each other’s activities, thereby increasing the valuable exchange of practices.”
Several other MoU signatories with PAM took place during the same ceremony including the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference, UNITE, University Parthenope and Vittorio Occorsio Foundation.
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The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association connects, develops, promotes and supports Parliamentarians and their staff to identify benchmarks of good governance and the implementation of the enduring values of the Commonwealth. The CPA is an international community of around 180 Commonwealth Parliaments and Legislatures working together to deepen the Commonwealth’s commitment to the highest standards of democratic governance.
For media enquiries, please contact communications@cpahq.org.
