International Parliamentarians Congress

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Category: Press Release

Senator Kauda Babar became a member of International Parliament for Tolerance and Peace (IPTP)

Member of International Parliamentarians’ Congress Honorable Senator Kauda Babar became a member of International Parliament for Tolerance and Peace (IPTP), a representative body of Global Council for Tolerance and Peace (GCTP). He was invited on the 6th session of IPTP organized by GCTP in Montenegro but due to COVID-19 Visa restrictions he was unable to travel and shared his message/views for the session.

Chair of Milli Majlis (National Assembly) Azerbaijan, H.E Ms Sahiba Gafarova, appointed as the Vice-President of International Parliamentarians’ Congress (IPC) Islamabad

The Chair of the Milli Majlis (National Assembly) of Azerbaijan, H.E Sahiba Gafarova appointed as the Vice President of the International Parliamentarians Congress IPC. The chair of the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan, H.E Sahiba Gafarova is PhD Philology and a Professor holds the title of Honored Teacher. She is authored a number of textbooks, instruction manuals, monographs and academic articles. She commands the English and Russian languages. She chaired the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Subcommittee against Racism and Xenophobia in 2012-2014 and the Subcommittee on Gender Equality in 2014-2015. She served as a political coordinator of the Parliamentary Network Women Free from Violence as well as the chief speaker on the prevention of violence against women during 2015-2017. In 2016-2018, she was a member of the PACE Bureau and Chair of the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons. Besides, she headed the Azerbaijani delegation to the EuroNest Parliamentary Assembly in 2018-2020. At present, Excellency heads the delegations of Azerbaijan to the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-speaking Countries and to the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly. We warmly welcome H.E Ms. Sahiba Gafarova on becoming the Vice president of IPC and the Chairperson of the Committee on the “Election observation mission”.

Newly appointed Ambassador of Bulgaria to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, H.E Ms. Irena Gancheva, visited the International Parliamentarians’ Congress (IPC) Secretariat in Islamabad

The Ambassador of Bulgaria to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan H.E Ms Irena Gancheva visited International Parliamentarians’ Congress (IPC) on an invitation of Assistant Secretary General IPC Mr. ljlal Ali Khan. Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif-Secretary General IPC and Mr Ijlal Ali Khan-Assistant Secretary General IPC gave a warm welcome to H.E Ms Irena Gancheva at the IPC secretariat. Secretary General IPC delineated the IPC’s roles and its objectives to the Honorable Ms Ambassador and shared important thematic areas on which IPC has been working, including Election Observation Mission. H.E. Ms Irena Gancheva appreciated the role of IPC and its election observation missions around the world. Moreover, she shared her career specifics and highlight the importance of people-to-people interaction in order to strengthen bilateral relations. She added that she will support IPC in every possible capacity and wishes to join hands in future endeavours. The visit concluded with the exchange of souvenirs between Ms Ambassador and Secretary General IPC. She also explained the historic and cultural symbolism of the souvenir and briefed about the Ministry of tourism-Bulgaria, while sharing a tourism booklet. In the end, she invited Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif-Secretary General IPC and Mr Ijlal Ali Khan-Assistant Secretary General IPC to visit Bulgarian Embassy.

International Parliamentarians’ Congress (IPC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) in a virtual meeting

A virtual meeting was held between the Secretary General Jonghyun Choe of Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) and Secretary General Muhammad Ali Saif of the International Parliamentarians’ Congress (IPC) to sign an MOU, on 31 May 2021. Both the SGs shared their vision and endeavoured to work together. The Association of World Election Bodies A-WEB is the world’s largest international organization in the field of election management. It currently comprises 118 election management bodies (EMBs) from 108 countries. It works to foster the efficiency and effectiveness of conducting free, fair and transparent, and participative elections worldwide. IPC endeavors to establish a worldwide network of individual Members of Parliaments across countries, who voluntarily aim to work in unison to perpetually develop cooperation, synergy, and strategies across parliaments for achieving a prosperous and peaceful world through effective independent interaction among parliamentarians. IPC comprises six committees, one of which is the Committee on Monitoring and Observation of Elections in the World which enables IPC to monitor and observe the elections held in the world to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections and to seek guidance from the country’s electoral procedures. In this manner, IPC and A-WEB hold immense importance of mutual collaboration and cooperation of guidance to achieve their respective mandate and strategic objectives of strengthening the existing vision and mission of both organizations under: 1. Election Observation 2. Research/Publication 3. Joint seminars/workshops 4. Cross promotional activities

Djibouti Visit Report and Message of the President, IPC

Djibouti is a country in East Africa which by its geographical location, connects the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea, is pivotal to intercontinental trade. It is considered as the gateway to the Horn of Africa & other East African countries giving it strategic importance. In 2017, the state of Pakistan initiated its ‘Look Africa Policy’ under the intention to further deepen its historical and political ties with the states in Africa by expanding its diplomatic missions across and instituting trade activities that are mutually beneficial for all stakeholder involved. The vision behind the ‘Look Africa Policy’ is not only strategic but also has the intent of human development and prosperity as its foundation. The IPC is a transnational network of parliamentarians who have joined hands to play a proactive role in promoting peace and sustainable development through cooperation and dialogue. The IPC aims to make collective efforts for strengthening democracy across the world by creating synergies among parliamentarians. The agenda of IPC is not limited to the strengthening of democracy, the IPC intends to bring together MPs to make collective efforts for human development and prosperity. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Djibouti had very limited diplomatic and trade interaction in history although both states hold tremendous potential in the context. Hence, keeping in mind Pakistan’s ‘Look Africa Policy Initiative’, the International Parliamentarians Congress (IPC) invited Honorable Mohamed Ali Houmed, President of National Assembly of the Republic of Djibouti to Pakistan, which he graciously accepted. The purpose behind the invitation was not only diplomatic but also to introduce IPC and its work to Honorable Mohamed Ali Houmed. Following the invitation Honorable Mohamed Ali Houmed arrived in Pakistan along with his 7-member delegation. The delegation during their stay in Pakistan met with all important stakeholders of the state and discussed the matter of mutual interest. It is with deep honor and pleasure that I state that the visit was highly successful and proved to be canonical in starting a new chapter of the Djibouti-Pakistan relationship. The delegation from Djibouti during their stay extended an invitation to IPC to visit Djibouti following which a three-member delegation of IPC visited the Republic of Djibouti in January 2021. The visit by IPC delegation was the first official visit of a Pakistani delegation to the Republic. During the visit, the delegation had the opportunity to meet top government office-bearers as well as the Djiboutian Naval force. I take the opportunity to present this report, which states down the details of IPC visit to the Republic of Djibouti and the matters discussed therein. Senator Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani President International Parliamentarians’ Congress (IPC)   Note: The report is available to download under the reports and publication section. 

International Parliamentarians’ Congress issued Election Observation report on Netherlands Parliamentary Election March-2021

The three-member delegation of the International Parliamentarians’ Congress (IPC) visited the Netherlands from 14 till 18 March 2021 to observe the Netherlands Parliamentary Elections 2021. The mission involved assessing the election process in terms of its compliance and standards for democratic elections and also includes the issuing of a detailed Election Observation Report. IPC released the Election Observation report on Netherlands Parliamentary Election March-2021 on today’s date to be shared with the public. The report is now available under “Reports & Publication” section or can be downloaded by clicking here. In order to provide any comments or suggestions, kindly direct all the queries to communication@ipcongress.org

Three-Member Delegation from International Parliamentarians’ Congress, On A Five-Day Election Assessment Mission to Observe Netherland’s Parliamentary Elections

The three-member delegation of International Parliamentarians’ Congress IPC from Pakistan reached Netherlands on 14th March and initiated observing the Netherlands Parliamentary Elections that commenced from 15th March 2021. The Election Assessment Mission (EAM) is headed by the Vice President IPC Honorable Mohamad Ali Homoud, along with other core members of the mission, Assistant Secretary-General IPC Ijlal Ali Khan and Senator Zeeshan Khanzada. The mission involves assessing the election process in terms of its compliance and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections. On day one, the delegation visited the 30 polling stations in the Hague City of Netherlands and observed their electoral procedures to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections and to seek guidance from Netherland’s electioneering process. After visiting the polling stations, the delegation met H.E Mr Shujjat Ali Rathore, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in the Netherlands, followed by a dinner hosted by him at his residence.

First Annual General Meeting of International Parliamentarians Congress

The first Annual General Meeting of IPC was held on 26 February 2021 at the IPC secretariat. The meeting was Chaired by the President of IPC, Honourable Chairman Senate of Pakistan Mr. Mohammad Sadiq Sanjrani and attended by both its national and international members. The Vice president of IPC His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Ali Homoud also attended the meeting via video conference. The agenda conferred in the meeting included progress of IPC in terms of its development as well as financial overview till December 2020. The President and Vice President appreciated the progress of IPC, and thus shared a progression plan for IPC future projects.

H.E. Mr. Mohammed MotaharAlashabi, Ambassador of Yemen to Pakistan, visited the International Parliamentarians’ Congress (IPC) Secretariat in Islamabad

H.E. Mr. Mohammed Motahar Alashabi Ambassador of Yemen to Pakistan visited International Parliamentarians’ Congress (IPC) on an invitation of Assistant Secretary General of IPC honorable Mr. ljlal Ali Khan. Mr Ijlal Khan Assistant secretary general IPC and Honorable Syed Abid Hasan technocrat member IPC welcomed H.E. Mr. Mohammed Motahar Alashabi at IPC secretariat. Mr. Ijlal delineated the IPC’s roles and its objectives to the Honorable Mr. Ambassador and shared important thematic areas on which IPC has been working till date. H.E. Mr. Mohammed Motahar Alashabi wishes IPC the best endeavors for the future and wishes to join hands. He hopes that the establishment of the forum would help develop a joint response against the common challenges in today’s globalized scenario. Mr Ijlal wishes to work with Yemen Government for collaboration on the current pressing issues on which the ambassador acknowledged the idea and soon the IPC will have member parliamentarians from Yemen too.