11-15 October 2022, Kigali, Rwanda – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean participated in the 145th IPU Assembly, held in Kigali. On this occasion, PAM was represented by President Gennaro Migliore.
This year’s IPU General Debate focused on “Gender equality and gender-sensitive parliaments as drivers of change for a more resilient and peaceful world.”
During his speech, Hon. Migliore expressed concerns about the impacts of current conflicts on women’s conditions. As an example, the Russian aggression against Ukraine demonstrated that women and girls are more vulnerable because they are targeted by war crimes, such as trafficking, kidnapping, rape and murder. Moreover, they also represent most victims of forced migrations.
He also referred to the low level of women integration in spheres of power, decision-making, and conflict resolution, as an obstacle to the global aspiration of peace and security. Women at present are holding only 24.9% of the parliamentary seats in the PAM region.
President Migliore recalled that PAM had recently amended its statutes to ensure fairer representation among its delegations and launched the Women Parliamentary Forum, in July, which aims at enabling the sharing of the best policies and legislations implemented by PAM member states.
In addition, Hon. Migliore intervened in other panels of the meeting, regarding, inter alia, women empowerment, the geopolitical developments in the Middle East, counter-terrorism, and security crisis in the Sahel.
On the margins of the 145th Assembly of the IPU, PAM President held a number of bilateral meetings with other national and international parliamentary delegations.//