Parliament of South Africa

11/26/2021 | Press release | Archived content

Gender and Children’s Rights Take Centre Stage at Day-1 of the 143rd IPU Assembly in Madrid, Spain

Parliament, Friday, 26 November 2021 - The South African Parliamentary delegation to the 143rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), taking place in the Spanish capital city, Madrid, today begun their participation in the various forums of the Assembly. The six-member delegation is led by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, and is comprised of the Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces Ms Sylvia Lucas, National Assembly House Chairperson for International Relations Madala Ntombela, Chief Whip of the Economic Freedom Fighters Mr Floyd Shivambu, ANC Member of Parliament Ms Judith Tshabalala and DA Member of Parliament Dr. Annelie Lotriet.

Today, the first of the five-day Assembly, the delegates participated in the Forum on Women Parliamentarians and the Committee on Human Rights of Parliamentarians.

The IPU established the Forum of Women Parliamentarians more than 30 years ago to ensure representation of the views of women within the IPU bodies and Assemblies. The forum provides women with an opportunity to learn about how member countries address gender equality and has over the years empowered and strengthened ties between MPs across the globe.

Today's meeting discussed the draft resolution entitled "legislation worldwide to combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse, which is on the agenda of the 143rd Assembly. In this regard, the forum dealt with the question of how legislation and policies to combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse can be survivor and girls' rights centred. The forum also discussed ensuring preventative measures on online sexual exploitation, abuse and children's education are gender-sensitive, taking into account the different needs of girls.

Ms Lucas, who attended the forum, said that it the parliaments of the world - particularly women legislators, have a role to play in passing laws that protect the rights of children and that issues affecting children are placed high on the agenda of parliaments.

She said: "Our laws must regulate cyberbullying and exploitation of children through various mechanism, including the use of technology. There was also a robust debate in the forum regarding gender representation in national legislatures and the need to increase the number of women lawmakers. The depressing reality is that, while significant number of parliaments have increased the number of women legislators, there are still many countries in the world with extremely few women public representatives. This is a matter that we must continue to raise." South Africa is currently ranked amongst the top ten parliaments with highest women representation.

The resolutions taken by the forum will be tabled before the Assembly's plenary, which kicks off tomorrow - Saturday, for further debate and decision.

The NCOP deputy chairperson stressed that the South African parliamentary delegation was approaching the 143rd Assembly of the IPU with a view that the issues of legislative oversight must be strengthened to enable parliaments to improve the lives of the people, including assisting developing countries in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic. (click here for the soundbite of Ms Sylvia Lucas)

Tomorrow, day-2 of the 143rd Assembly, the South African parliamentary delegates will participate in various committees and forums, including the Forum of Young Parliamentarians of the IPU and the Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights. The delegation leader, Speaker Mapisa-Nqakula, will address the Assembly's plenary on 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.

ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
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