The forthcoming mission to the United States of America by a High Level Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) delegation to meet with US Congressmen and State Department representatives and United Nations Senior Officials, was at the centre of a meeting between PAM Secretary General, Ambassador Sergio Piazzi and the US Ambassador H.E. Gina K. Abercrombie-Winstanley, held at the US Embassy in Malta.
The role of PAM’s parliamentary diplomacy actions in the region was discussed and the impact on the political, economic and social spheres was highlighted.
PAM Secretary General informed the US Ambassador about the upcoming consultations with the UN Security Council following the contribution of the Chairman of the UN Security Council Counterterrorism Committee, Amb. Hardeep Singh Puri (Permanent Representative of India to the UN in New York), to the PAM VII Plenary Session in Malta in October 2012. PAM is the only regional organization able to propose a common approach to and an agreed definition of Terrorism.
The PAM Bureau, in another attempt to further advocate the two States solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, will visit the Middle East next April to meet Governments and Parliaments in the region, where particular attention will be dedicated to the living conditions for both Israeli and Palestinian peoples. PAM will also be among the participants in the UN Seminar on assistance to the Palestinians and to the Palestinian MPs detained in Israel, to be held at the end of February at the FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy.
Other issues raised during the meeting were the situation in the Sahel region and PAM’s active role in the socio-economic sector. With reference to the Arab Spring, H.E. Abercrombie-Winstanley and Amb. Piazzi agreed upon the need for security, transparency and accountability as priority pillars to support the flow of foreign investments in these countries, which are going through a difficult yet necessary transition period. It was further agreed that the US Department of Commerce will be invited to contribute to the Joint Inter-Governmental Conference – ‘Harnessing Trade for Growth in the Mediterranean’ – organized by UNECE in cooperation with UNCTAD and PAM, in Geneva at the end of May 2013.
With reference to PAM ongoing initiatives to support the strengthening of democratic institutions in Libya by organizing specific study tours for Libyan MPs to PAM member and partner countries, the US Ambassador will also look into options to associate the US Congress and Senate to the PAM programme.
The US Ambassador expressed her support and appreciation to PAM’s initiatives and particularly to the active involvement in assisting the international community in delivering the humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in Syria, where the situation is deteriorating to unsustainable levels.