UAE: Meeting of Women Parliamentarians of the Gulf States
The report was submitted by Dr Amal Al- Qubaisi, Member of the Federal National Council (FNC) at the current 118th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union which is being held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) in Cape Town, South Africa.
For the first time ever, said Al- Qubaisi, the conference provided a platform to women parliamentarians in member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to get together to discuss challenges as well as critical issues such as migrant workers, people trafficking, xenophobia and human rights as well as to exchange best practices on mainstreaming gender in parliament, strengthen women's knowledge of political processes; promote an exchange of experience between women from similar cultural and political backgrounds; maintain visibility on the question of women in politics, and encourage continuous participation of women in the political arena.
The said conference was hosted by the UAE's Federal National Council (FNC) in collaboration with the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
The 118th Assembly which concludes today has discussed the role of parliaments in striking a balance between national security, human security and individual freedoms, and in averting the threat to democracy, parliamentary oversight of State policies on foreign aid.
19 April 2008