Speaker of the National Assembly Calls on BRICS Parliamentary Forum to Unite Against Economic Stagnation

For the soundbite of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula click here

Parliament, Saturday, 27 November 2021 - The Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has called on the Brazil, Russia, India China, South Africa (BRICS) Parliamentary Forum, to unite and rededicate their resolve in finding solutions to challenges of economic stagnation, rising unemployment and poverty.

Addressing the Forum this evening on the side-lines of the 143^rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) currently underway in Madrid, Spain, under the theme: "The role of BRICS Parliaments in ensuring equitable and inclusive post-pandemic economic recovery", Ms Mapisa-Nqakula said that it is evident that the Covid-19 pandemic has hit economies hard and she urged BRICS member countries to share common practices to resuscitate and rebuild their economies to ensure that there is employment for their citizens and to push back the frontiers of poverty.

She said people look up to their leaders and affix their hopes on them during challenging and trying times like this era where the world is under siege of the Covid-19 pandemic resulting in some closing their borders. "The threat of the new variant comes at a time when some economies were beginning to recover after the losses they suffered during the previous waves of Covid-19," added Ms Mapisa-Nqakula.

She continued: "Parliaments remain the beacon of hope for the toiling masses of our people who are at the receiving end of these challenges. People look upon us to provide solutions that are aimed at alleviating their hardships and to make their lives better."

Ms Mapisa-Nqakula called on the forum to increase trade amongst its member states and work on reviving tourism and hospitality industry as part of ways to fight for equitable and inclusive post-pandemic economic recovery. "I believe that our focus on skills exchange and opening of business opportunities, creation of business-friendly environment and the diversification of business opportunities in our member states could contribute into this noble cause," said Ms Mapisa-Nqakula.

She reiterated the importance of including women, youth, girl children, disabled and the most vulnerable members of societies in the efforts to rejuvenate economies post the pandemic as they are the most affected by the results of joblessness and rising poverty levels.

The Brics Parliamentary Forum is constituted by the National Congress of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the Parliament of the Republic of India, the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, and the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa.

It was founded, among other things, to strengthen and promote contacts at the leadership level of chambers, committees and groups of parliamentarians; perform inter-parliamentary exchanges and hold regular expert consultations; and create and develop new inter-parliamentary cooperation mechanisms.

Earlier today, other members of the South African delegation participated in various committees and forums of the 143rd Assembly. Those forums included the Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights, Forum of Young Parliamentarians of the IPU and the Standing Committee on Sustainable Development.

In the Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights, the delegates successfully moved for the adoption of several amendments to resolutions relating to legislation worldwide to combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse.

The following are amongst the wide range of draft resolutions whose amendments the South African Parliament moved for consideration by the IPU General Assembly before it concluded its business on Tuesday:

• Noting that the sale, trafficking and online child sexual exploitation and abuse is a growing international concern that needs cross border collaboration and coordination, and acknowledging the fight against it has to be high priority global initiative;
• Noting that the fight against online child exploitation and abuse is complicated by the increased access to the internet, fast-moving new technologies such as cryptocurrencies and Blockchain, the number of online platforms and Apps, with their untraceable nature in the commercial scale of child abuse materials, as well anonymously features of social media platforms, which made it harder to target abusers;
• Acknowledging the necessity of a multifaceted approach to effectively prevent online child sexual exploitation and abuse on all levels in order to protect children from such exploitation in the first place.

At the Forum of Young Parliamentarians of the IPU, the delegates stressed the importance of increased youth and women representation in world parliaments. This, they said, will ensure that issues affecting them are placed at the forefront of the agenda of legislative bodies.

Tomorrow, on day-three of the 143rd Assembly, Ms Mapisa-Nqakula will deliver an address to the Assembly's plenary under the theme: "Contemporary challenges to democracy: Overcoming division and building community".

The IPU is a global organisation of national parliaments. It facilitates parliamentary diplomacy and empowers parliaments and parliamentarians to promote peace, democracy and sustainable development around the world. The work of the IPU revolves around building strong democratic parliaments, advancing gender equality and respect for women's rights, protecting and promoting human rights, contributing to peace-building, conflict resolution and security, promoting inter-parliamentary dialogue and cooperation, promoting youth empowerment, mobilizing parliaments around the global development agenda and bridging the democracy gap in global governance.

The IPU was established in 1889, its membership is made up of 179 national parliaments. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.

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