UN DSG, Jan Eliasson, has underscored the relevance of and contribution by parliamentary diplomacy in addressing the challenges being experienced in the Mediterranean Region, during a bilateral meeting with PAM Secretary General, Amb. Sergio Piazzi, held in Malta on 11 November 2015, on the margins of the EU-Africa Summit on Migration.
The operational partnership between the UN System and PAM was reviewed with particular emphasis on joint activities and programmes on issues such as, confidence building, peace support, counter-terrorism, migration, facilitation of humanitarian aid and protection of civilians, food security and sustainable development.
Mr. Eliasson expressed his appreciation for the PAM joint programmes with the UN bodies responsible for the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolutions on Foreign Terrorist Fighters. The UN DSG also highlighted PAM’s success in providing an effective complementary platform to traditional diplomacy, in the framework of ongoing negotiations and humanitarian operations in the various theatres of the Middle East and North Africa.
The findings and recommendations resulting from the latest mission by a PAM high level delegation to Syria and Lebanon, were reviewed in depth. Reference was also made to the role of the newly set-up PAM Rapid Deployment Teams, trained by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, whereby the capacity has been established for PAM MPs to travel, at short notice, to crisis areas, to support UN operations and programmes on the ground.
It was agreed to further strengthen the strategic cooperation at an operational meeting to be held in New York, in view of the PAM Plenary Session in Tirana next February