The 10th Plenary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) was inaugurated this morning during a ceremony addressed by H.E. Mr. Ilir Meta, Speaker of the Albanian Parliament, H.E. Mr. Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania, Sen. Lhou Lmarbouh, PAM President. UN Secretary General, H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, also sent his customary message to the Assembly.
Parliamentarians from the National Assemblies of the PAM member states will have the opportunity to debate and exchange views on the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as on the migration emergency and foreign terrorist fighters.
On the occasion of the 10th Anniversary since its establishment in Jordan, the meeting in Tirana will be dedicated to open debates on the future strategies and policies to be adopted by the Assembly. This exercise will facilitate PAM’s role in contributing effectively to the collective measures that the international community must undertake to face the many challenges of the Mediterranean region through the instruments offere
d by parliamentary diplomacy.
In addition to regional peace and security, the delegates will also tackle important themes such as the economic crisis, unemployment, climate change, water shortage, inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue, all elements necessary to counter violent extremism and ensure the promotion of political stability and socio-economic sustainable development.
Around 250 delegates, including high-level representatives from International Parliaments, the United Nations and other regional organisations, are participating and will also address the Plenary.
The first session of the Plenary was dedicated to the High-level debate on political developments and perspectives in the Mediterranean. The session was chaired by Sen. Dr. Mohammed Halaiqah, President of the PAM 1st Standing Committee.
The Keynote speakers included: H.E. Mr. Yury Fedotov, Director-General of the United Nations Office in Vienna (UNOV) and Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); H.E. Mr. Michael Moller, Director-General of the United Nations Office in Geneva and Secretary General of the Conference on Disarmament; Hon. Andrea Manciulli, Head of the Italian Delegation to the NATO PA and Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism; H.E. Amb. Florian Raunig, Head of the Presence in Albania of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
