The 140th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), under the chairmanship of HE the Speaker of the Advisory Council and President of the 140th IPU General Assembly Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud, yesterday unanimously adopted the emergency resolution on humanitarian assistance to Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi after these nations were hit by a hurricane.
The rapporteur of the drafting committee read out the report of the committee, calling for intensified international action to support the three states affected by Hurricane Idai, pointing out that leaders meeting in Doha expressed the need to support these countries to rebuild.
The General Assembly resolution calls on parliamentarians to urge their governments to support urgent United Nations appeals for Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe in accordance with the values of the international organisation and to contribute appropriately by ensuring that adequate human and financial resources are allocated to the concerned countries.
The resolution also called on national parliaments to urge their governments to take a leading role and take effective action to combat global warming, raise awareness about the impacts of climate change and adopt more sustainable livelihoods, and work with governments in partnership with the private sector to gradually progress towards clean and renewable energy.
The resolution also called upon the United Nations, the relief organisations and the international community to continue to focus on the most vulnerable groups in flood-affected areas to support them in rebuilding their livelihoods and enhancing their ability to care for their families and to pay particular attention to the needs of children, girls, women and other vulnerable groups at risk of abduction, trafficking, exploitation and sexual abuse.
The resolution urged all parties, both signatories of Paris Climate Change Agreement and non-signatories, to do their best to achieve their goals and to show their progress and future ambitions at the UN climate summit in September.
The resolution also urged all parties to invest in adaptation, financing, and innovation at vulnerable countries, as well as to urge high-income economies to provide more financial and technical assistance and help build capacity for middle- and low-income economies to help them deal with climate change.
The resolution called upon the international community to support the affected countries in developing comprehensive national mechanisms for disaster prevention and to enhance their readiness for effective responses, reconstruction, and rehabilitation, as well as to invite the Governments of the concerned States to invest in community risk reduction measures.
The General Assembly continued at this session the general debate on the main theme of the discussion, ‘Parliaments as Platforms for Promoting Education for Peace, Security and the Rule of Law’.
It also devoted part of the discussion to refugee education.
In their speeches, speakers addressed the role of education in development, the rule of law, good governance, ensuring human rights and tackling hate speech, violence and discrimination, pointing out that there is no development, no peace and no security without education and vice versa.
Speakers reviewed the experiences of their countries in the promotion of education to keep pace with modern era, both in terms of curricula and infrastructure, attractive school environment or through vocational and career training and care for teachers and students of different classes and stages of their studies.
Ahmed Bakr and Hanan Abu Asba from the Palestinian student parliamentarians of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) made a presentation explaining the suffering of half a million Palestinian students in 700 schools affiliated to the organisation in their quest to receive knowledge and science to achieve their aspirations and the dreams of their families and continue their right to education.
The two students called on parliamentarians and the international community to support Palestinian students and protect their right to safety and education.
In this context, UNRWA representative Abdulrahman presented UNRWA’s role in providing high quality education to Palestinian refugee students in the Middle East with the support and solidarity of many countries.
He stressed the importance of education in lifting refugees out of despair and poverty, adding that the UNRWA education system is recognized internationally and is a gift to humanity.
Professor Rajiv Uttamchandani presented the experience of his academy in delivering education to refugee girls in Bangladesh.
