GNEVA: The Shura Council has participated in the second Meeting of Preparatory Committee for Sixth Global Conference of Speakers of Parliaments and the second meeting of the preparatory committee for the 15th Conference of Women Parliamentarians that were held in Geneva, within the framework of the preparation for the two conferences slated to be convened in July 2025.
Deputy Speaker of the Shura Council and representative of the Arab Group in the preparatory committees, HE Dr Hamda bint Hassan Al Sulaiti, represented the Council in the two meetings.
In her remarks before the meeting of preparatory committee for the Conference of Speakers of Parliaments which discussed applying of multilateralism for bright future for the generations, she highlighted the global challenges facing the international community, including armed conflicts, climate change, as well as the continuation of food gap and cybersecurity.
The Deputy Speaker of the Shura Council affirmed that international Parliaments are required to play a significant role in addressing these issues through reforming the UN Security Council and UN institutions, stressing that an executive mechanism should exist to ensure adherence to international laws.
She focused on the State of Qatar's efforts in bolstering global peace through mediation and conflict resolution via peaceful dialogue. She highlighted the new technological challenges such as cybersecurity, emphasizing the importance of utilizing the technological advancements through responsible methods to achieve justice and stability.
At the meeting of the preparatory committee for the 15th Conference of Women Parliamentarians, she underlined the topic of political violence against women, noting that notwithstanding the steady progress of women engagement in the political work during the past two years, women still face massive challenges, as they are exposed to multiple forms of verbal and cyber violence, and sometimes physical threats.
She pointed out that such violence remarkably escalates during political conflicts and wars, citing the constant struggle of the Palestinian women who endured detention, violence and displacement throughout their careers to call for political and economic rights. This outright struggle underscores the fact that Arab women have been stoically enduring the political violence.
On another topic under the theme of women's role in the political participation, the Deputy Speaker of the Shura Council pointed out that 2024 witnessed an increase in the major elections but highlighted that many countries witnessed a decrease in the democratic process.
She underlined that education, and women economic empowerment have played a critical role in increasing their engagement in policy, but there is a need for an in-depth study of the circumstances and obstacles that beset women in all countries with the aim of preferring solutions that boost their participation.
During the same meeting, she addressed the role of women in building peace, stressing that women should significantly be engaged in all phases of peace processes, starting from negotiations to reconstruction, in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution 1325, affirming that the number of women participating in official peace processes is still low, albeit the significant efforts on the part of the United Nations.
By virtue of their diverse expertise and patience, women are capable of being active partners in achieving peace and stability once they are given the appropriate chance, she pointed out. She shed the light on the State of Qatar's efforts in supporting global peace through mediation and peaceful dialogue.
The two events were intended to lay the final groundwork for the agenda of the Sixth Global Conference of Speakers of Parliaments, in addition to identifying the major themes that would receive a sharp focus during the 15th Conference of Women Parliamentarians.The discussions tackled numerous pivotal issues pertaining to the current age, including boosting global peace, protecting human rights and empowering women in policy. The participants presented practical suggestions to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and utilizing technology in improving life quality of the entire humanity.
Additionally, the discussions focused on the importance of reforming the international institutions, particularly the UN Security Council to bolster the Parliaments role in achieving global peace and security, in addition to addressing the mounting climate and environmental challenges, and ways to improve international cooperation for conflict resolution.
The meetings focused on issues of women's empowerment, especially considering the challenges faced by women in politics and the violence many women activists experience in this field. The issue of the technological gap was also raised.The participants wounded up the two meetings with a briefing on the UN Summit of the Future that was held last September, during which they discussed the main outcomes and future challenges that beset global parliaments. It was emphasized that international cooperation and effective parliamentary participation are the perfect means of addressing the increasing issues such as climate change and inequality.