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The parliamentary delegation of the Canadian Branch that took part in the Bureau meeting of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF) held in Siem Reap, Cambodia, from January 28 to 30, 2016, is honoured to present its report. Soon after the end of the election campaign and the inauguration of the new government, the Canadian Branch, not yet officially reconstituted, agreed to make Robert Aubin, MP and Chair of the APF’s Parliamentary Affairs Committee (PAC), the sole Canadian delegate at the meeting. In addition to the Canadian Branch, the following branches also participated: Belgium/Francophone Community/Wallonia-Brussels, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), France, Jura, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, Ontario, Quebec, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Switzerland and Vietnam. Bureau business Meeting business began with speeches from Dr. Pen Pannha, chair of the legislation and justice committee of the Cambodian national assembly and vice-chair of the Cambodian branch of the APF; Pascal Terrasse, APF Parliamentary Secretary General (PSG); Adama Ouane, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) Administrator; Aubin Minaku Ndjalandjoko, President of the APF and speaker of the DRC national assembly; and Samdech Akka Moha Ponhea Chakrei Heng Samrin, speaker of the Cambodian national assembly. Agenda Address by the OIF Administrator. After adopting the agenda and the minutes of the Bureau meeting of July 6, 2015, the group listened to a speech by the new OIF Administrator, Adama Ouane. Mr. Ouane said that he was pleased to be attending his first Bureau meeting and noted the importance of cooperation between the two organizations. He also pointed to the challenges the group is facing internationally and underlined that the fight should continue with “weapons of mass construction.” He agreed that cooperation between the OIF and APF has increased in recent months. Mr. Ouane said that, to implement the roadmap set out by the Secretary General of the Francophonie, he has committed since taking office to tightening the linkages and intersections between our major programs. Despite a difficult budgetary situation, he reiterated his strong support for cooperation between the APF and OIF. Mr. Ouane said that some important issues for 2016 are the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, the creation of an institutional and regulatory environment that fosters business development, the strengthening of results-based management and the establishment of an effective monitoring and assessment system. He also devoted part of his speech to election missions, which are becoming increasingly intervention and contact missions. Mr. Ouane closed by reminding parliamentarians of the important role of the APF when the time comes to advocate for the Francophonie so that the parliaments agree to make the effort needed to realize the shared ambitions. Composition of the APF Subject to an administrative agreement on membership dues, Djibouti may rejoin the APF. Parliamentary Secretary General’s activity report Once the activity report was presented and adopted, the PSG began a useful discussion on the security of APF meetings and activities. A number of issues were discussed, including the shared responsibility for participants’ security, the training of participants through foreign affairs ministries, discretion regarding accommodations, changes to insurance coverage and administrative procedures. Mr. Aubin (Canada) commented on the importance of considering the personal risk each individual is willing to take in order to find a common denominator. Interparliamentary cooperation The programming was adopted as presented. Mr. Aubin asked the assembly about the various training internships for officials. By providing new funding for the internship established by the Quebec government and Laval University, are we duplicating what was already being done or complementing current programs? Treasurer’s report The report was adopted unanimously. Committee work All the committee reports were adopted unanimously, and no questions were asked. Work of the Network of Women Parliamentarians The report was adopted unanimously. Reports from regional chargés de mission Except for the report from the chargé de mission for Europe, which sparked a discussion about the situation in Moldova—which will be reviewed by the Political Committee—all the reports were adopted without objection or discussion. Review of the political situation in francophone countries What follows are the results of numerous discussions on the political situation in francophone countries:
·preventive lifting of supervision and implementation of cooperative actions to build the capacity of the Burkina Faso and Burundi national assemblies ·a mandate for the Political Committee to reassess the situation at its April meeting at the UN and suspend the branch if necessary. In the meantime, supervision of the Haiti branch was maintained. A proposal for a good offices mission after the presidential and legislative elections ·The situations in Congo, the DRC, Egypt, Niger and Tunisia were also examined. 42nd Session of the APF (Madagascar) The Madagascar branch presented a schedule for the session (July 8 to 12). Its theme will be “Shared Growth and Responsible Development: The Conditions for Stability in Francophone Countries and the World”. The meeting was agreed to unanimously. Recommendations on youth involvement in the Francophonie It was recommended that the francophone youth parliament contribute to this study and that the group’s position be formulated using their talent and expertise. Partnership agreements The partnership with UNDP was approved. The partnership with IPEMED was approved. These partnership agreements will be signed at the session in Antananarivo. The partnership with the Pan-African Parliament will be proposed at the Madagascar meeting. Honours awarded by the APF The various branches’ suggestions for the Ordre de la Pléiade were accepted as presented. Draft calendar of events for 2016 The draft calendar was adopted with the ever-present questions regarding the often too-short deadlines for knowing the dates and locations of various events. Communication Presentation of the revised and improved Facebook and Twitter accounts. Relations with the Association des secrétaires généraux des Parlements francophones The report was adopted without questions. Other business Belgium presented a development internship program. The PAC was asked to decide on the form of the Geoffrey Dieudonné prizes. Date and location of next meeting The lunch hour proved conducive to consensus, so the following APF Bureau and general meeting sites were agreed to.
Respectfully submitted,
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