Parliamentary delegates from Sierra Leone, are in France on an eight-day visit to attend the 60th session of the Organization of Africa Caribbean, and Pacific States Parliament, (30th - 31st March 2022), and the ACP/EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (1st – 4th April 2022) in Strasbourg. This is the first in-person session of the two-body (OACPS, and ACP/EU), since the outbreak of COVID-19, in 2020.
Their arrival was confirmed by Sierra Leone Information Attaché to Brussel, and Europe, Betty Jessica Milton, in a news brief on their schedule while in France for the next eight days.
According to Milton, the Sierra Leone delegation is led by the Leader of Government Business in Parliament, Hon. Matthew Sahr Nyuma and other members including, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Ibrahim Ben Kargbo, Hon. Dickson Rogers, Hon. Saa Emerson Lamina, Hon. Aaron Koroma, Hon. Paran Umar Tarawally, the Clerk of Parliament, and Christiana Jalloh Secretary to the Committee.
The leader of the Sierra Leone delegation, Honourable Matthew Sahr Nyuma, expressed how happy they were to represent the country, especially at the first in-person-joint sessions of OACPS, and ACP/EU, followed by the outbreak of COVID-19. He expressed delight, and optimism toward fruitful deliberations that will attempt to address critical social, economic, political, and environmental challenges in member countries of the cooperation, during the two sessions.
The Member Parliament recalled, “we used to be part of the assembly’s meetings, but they were virtual, and these were married by lots of challenges ranging from poor internet connectivity and differences in time.” He revealed the voting patterns on certain decisions were affected as a result of challenges surrounding COVID-19 restrictions, and poor internet connectivity in some countries.
Honorable Nyuma told how vital it was to meet in person stressed, “we have to talk about the post-Cotonou Agreement in broader perspectives since that was not broadly possible during our virtual meetings. Reaching a consensus in those virtual meetings was very difficult,” he confessed. He said participants this time would have a clear insight into the Cotonou Agreement hence, enable positive contributions on “possible amendments” as they look forward into the future.
The session is expected to serve as a platform for members to exchange views on current global issues of interest. However, a special session according to the event agenda is planned to brief Parliamentarians on the new OACPS-EU Partnership Agreement.
Owing to the fact that global peace and security is currently been undermined as a result of the ongoing Russian and Ukraine war, members of the OACPS-EU committee on Political Affairs will be discussing issues of COVID-19, and the impact of the war on global peace and security.
According to the agenda, the formal opening of the 41st Session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA), will take place on Friday 1st April 2022, which will be followed by a ‘Special Parliamentary Celebration’ to mark 20 years of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement, and the future of the OACPS-EU Parliamentary Cooperation. It is expected that participants will look at the Rules of Procedure of the OACPS-EU Parliament-a Standing Order that regulates proceedings during Parliamentary Sessions.
Photo credit: Betty Milton
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