A delegation from the Gibraltar Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association will be attending the 63rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference and 36th Conference of Members from Small Countries being held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 1 – 8 November.

The Gibraltar Branch will be represented by Samantha Sacramento (the Minister for Housing and Equality) who is the leader of the delegation.

Opposition Member Edwin Reyes will also form part of the delegation. The Honorary Secretary of the Branch, Mr Paul Martinez, will accompany the delegation.

The theme of this year’s Plenary Conference is “Continuing to enhance high standards of performance of Parliamentarians”.

Gibraltar will also be participating in the Conference of Members from Small Countries, which will be held in conjunction with the Plenary Conference and is attended by parliamentarians from CPA Branches with populations of up to 500,000.

The themes for discussion at this year’s 63rd Parliamentary will be:

• Democracy must Deliver: Role of Parliament in addressing the Challenges; 

• The role of Parliamentarians in building stronger ties within the Commonwealth: including new trade issues, visa issues, travel restrictions, non-tariff restrictions etc; 

• Giving voice to the youth: Mechanisms for ensuring effective participation of youth in the governance process; 

• Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s): How can CPA Members work with their own governments in ensuring that the SDG goals have a proper gender lens to ensure success in the areas of alleviating poverty and women’s empowerment? 

• Critical Mass: Small jurisdictions and big problems – Logistics and infrastructure challenges; 

• CPA Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures: Progress in the past 10 years; 

• The Climate Change Debate: A challenge for the Commonwealth? 

• What factors fuel the rise of different kinds of nationalism?

In addition Minister Sacramento will represent the chair of British Islands and Mediterranean Region at the 21st Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Steering Committee Meeting that will be held during the course of the conference.

The Conference also has a regional element to it. In common with other regional groupings, the British Islands and Mediterranean region, which includes Gibraltar, will hold a separate meeting.

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