Interparliamentary Activities and Reports

Meeting of the Permanent Delegation of the APF Bureau – November 30, 2020 The permanent delegation of the APF Bureau meets when convened by the APF’s President. It has the power to decide on exceptional administrative matters. It also monitors the implementation of interparliamentary cooperation programs in accordance with the guidelines given by the plenary assembly and presents the APF’s programs and annual budget to the Bureau. Between meetings of the Bureau, it exercises all the powers of the Bureau and reports on its activities at the next Bureau meeting. MP Francis Drouin, President of the Canadian Branch and First Vice-President of the APF, chaired the meeting on behalf of the APF’s President. The members of the permanent delegation discussed the political situations in Armenia, Lebanon and Mali. They also discussed security in the G5 Sahel region and a partnership agreement between the APF and the Interparliamentary Committee-G5 Sahel. It was also decided to send future APF missions to Armenia, Lebanon and Mali when delegates’ security can be assured. Members also discussed the election observation mission to Côte d’Ivoire and the rights of Ivorian parliamentarians. They also discussed the OIF fact-finding mission on the November 22 presidential and legislative elections in Burkina Faso. Together with APF Parliamentary Secretary General Jacques Krabal, the mission studied the pre-election phase and voting and counting. The defense of French and multilingualism within European institutions and on the APF’s digital portal was also touched on, as well as the international conference planned in partnership with the AUF. Finally, it was proposed that the APF should carry out two types of missions in the future: political missions and thematic missions.

Circular Economy – Sustainable approaches to build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic

The 17th Plenary Assembly of ParlAmericas provided an opportunity to share on the different measures that parliaments have taken or can take to implement sustainable and equitable production systems, considering the forthcoming economic packages for the reconstruction of our economies post COVID-19 pandemic, and to progressively meet the 2030 sustainable development agenda. The working sessions on November 16, 2020 (English and French) and November 20 (Spanish and Portuguese) facilitated an exchange of good parliamentary practices for the implementation of this agenda in the parliaments of the hemisphere. Each country delegation presented a statement related to the event theme at the plenary session of November 27, 2020. The plenary assembly concluded with the reading of the final declaration and the Board of Directors elections.

For more information, see the report: Report of the Canadian Section of ParlAmericas

The 2020 Westminster Seminar, which was the 69th edition organized by the United Kingdom Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, gathered parliamentarians and clerks from every region of the Commonwealth to exchange ideas and build knowledge around topics relevant to Westminster-style democracies. The theme of the 2020 Westminster Seminar, held virtually for the first time, was: “Preparing parliamentarians for a changing world.” The seminar ran a course of three half-day sessions. The following parliamentarians attended the seminar: Hon. Rob Black, Senator; Ms. Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, M.P., and Mr. Sameer Zuberi, M.P.