Duarte Pacheco, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), extended his thanks to the Sultanate of Oman for playing an essential role in keeping peace in the region, and trying to bridge gaps between the conflicting parties in Yemen over the past seven years.
Addressing a press conference at the Majlis Ash'shura headquarters on Monday, he said the parliamentary experience in Oman has developed and described it as 'stable' and hoped for more participation from youth and women in representing the political scene in the country.
Speaking about the parliamentary role in addressing climate change, he said that climate change is a significant issue that must be addressed. He said there must be tangible cooperation from all countries to reach the desired goals, and pointed out the importance of the United Nations Climate Conference, which is under way in Sharm El Sheikh in the Arab Republic of Egypt. "We will support the initiatives at the conference," he added.
He said: "Climate change is real, and we all feel it daily. I understood that the Sultanate of Oman also suffers from the effects of climate change through unprecedented weather conditions that occurred in the past years. Many countries of the world are suffering from these climate changes."
FLOODING
The Pacific Islands may disappear in the coming years, and as a result of the floods that occurred in Portugal in August, more than 1,000 people died," said Pacheco, stressing that if the countries of the world fail to act the situation will be worse.
"As representatives of our people, we will defend them and commit governments to achieve those recommendations and results. The international parliament will follow up on the implementation of these agreements, and parliaments, on their part will approve them and follow up on their implementation. The completion of the procedures for approval by parliaments must be pursued faster, as we not only want formal agreements but seek to implement them in practice."
On the efforts of the Inter-Parliamentary Union to support participation of young people and women in the electoral process, the president of IPU indicated that involvement of youth in political decision-making is important as parliaments should represent the views of people from different age groups in different countries.
Stressing the importance of working as parliaments to combat international conflicts and stop wars, he said, "When we talk about the war in Ukraine, it is essential to establish channels of dialogue between Russia and Ukraine to end this conflict. Otherwise, not just the Russian and Ukrainian people will suffer, but the consequences will affect the entire world and the economies will suffer."
He also said that peace in Yemen is important. "Coexistence between both sides in Yemen is essential because they both are from Yemen, and they need to understand that they need to live together. People sometimes have different ideas, political perspectives, and religions, but they must coexist. We have to make them understand that only through peace we can have development and a better country."
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