27th April, 2016

SDGs roadmap agreed by MPs from Eastern and Central Europe - MPs from seven countries and the European Parliament have pledged at a meeting in Romania
to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) using an inclusive approach focusing on “People, Peace, Prosperity, Planet and Partnerships”. The Central and Eastern Europe
regional seminar in Bucharest on 18 and 19 April was organised by the Romanian Parliament and IPU. In a closing statement, delegates stressed the role of good governance in
implementing the SDGs and urged all parliaments to make use of the new toolkit being developed by IPU to help determine whether their working
processes are capable of delivering the goals. The meeting coincided with the 125th anniversary of Romania's membership of IPU. To mark the occasion,
IPU President Saber Chowdhury addressed a special joint session of the Romanian Parliament, highlighting the country's valuable contribution to the
organization over the years.  He also praised the Romanian Parliament for adopting a comprehensive declaration on the SDGs. 

IPU President meets Romanian Head of State - During his official visit to Romania, IPU President Saber Chowdhury met President Klaus Iohannis in the

capital, Bucharest.  The two men discussed a wide range of issues, including the role of parliaments in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) and the new UN climate change agreement, the critical contribution of parliamentary diplomacy to world peace, and the refugee crisis affecting
Europe.  IPU's cooperation with the UN and European Parliament was also covered.  President Chowdhury’s visit, marking the 125th anniversary of
Romania’s IPU membership, included separate talks with Speaker Valeriu Stefan Zgonea, Environment Minister Cristiana Pasca-Palmer and Foreign
Affairs Minister Lazar Comanescu.   As well as addressing a joint sitting of the Romanian Parliament, President Chowdhury held an interactive debate with
students at the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, and travelled to Brasov in Transylvania to meet local authorities and civil society
representatives - focusing on the sustainable development of cities and communities in light of the SDGs.

MPs’ meeting breaks new ground at World Health Assembly - MPs will meet alongside the World Health Assembly next month in the first event of its
kind.  It follows WHO Director-General Margaret Chan’s historic first address to an IPU Assembly in Geneva last October, in which she exhorted MPs
to fulfil their unique and powerful role in delivering better health care to citizens.  The meeting will strengthen parliamentary involvement in the
World Health Organization and help ensure its decisions are translated into practical action by parliaments.  MPs will be able to share and hear ideas
on delivering the ambitious targets set under Sustainable Development Goal 3 on health - including universal health coverage – and the new Global
Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health.  The event, co-sponsored by Bangladesh, Italy and Lesotho, takes place on 26 May from
12:15 to 13:45 in Room 7 of the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The event is open to parliamentarians attending the 69th World Health Assembly as members
of their national delegation.

Turkey labour laws set for gender review – A series of meetings is being held in Turkey to review the country’s labour laws, analysing whether they
match up to world standards on gender equality.  International experts will join members and staff of the parliamentary commission on equal
opportunities, senior officials from the Prime Minister’s office and other key departments who are responsible for reviewing draft legislation, and MPs
from parliamentary committees dealing with labour, social affairs and justice.  The meetings will highlight international conventions on gender
equality – such as the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) – before examining Turkish laws to
identify areas where amendments may be needed.

CEDAW committee members Feride Acar and Pramila Patten will help lead the events, alongside Radiye Sezer Katırcıoğlu, who chairs the parliament’s
equal opportunities commission, and Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir, the regional director for UN Women. The meetings are part of a major project led
by IPU and UN Women to boost the Turkish parliament’s commitment to gender equality.  Fewer than 15 per cent of Turkey’s MPs are women - well below the
global average of 22 per cent.

Sierra Leone tackles Ebola prejudice and violence - MPs in Sierra Leone have received in-depth training at a workshop on ending the stigmatization of
survivors of the deadly Ebola outbreak.  A survey has found that 96 per cent of survivors had experienced some form of discrimination. The workshop, held
in the capital, Freetown, also provided key information on tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) and improving their health.

Forty MPs took part in the workshop, before taking the messages on Ebola and violence out into the community at two-day events in Freetown and the
eastern town of Kenema. More than 80 people took part in each event, including local leaders, police and legal officials, health, education and
social workers, civil society organizations, groups representing women and youth, and constituents. The events were organized by the Parliament of
Sierra Leone with IPU assistance.

Community engagement is at the core of the new Global Strategy for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health 2016-2030, which aims to end preventable
deaths and enable people to thrive. IPU - in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child
Health - is at the forefront of work to ensure that national parliaments continue to play a critical role in improving women’s, children’s and
adolescents’ health at the national, regional and global levels.

Mauritania MPs’ workshop targets violence against women - Female genital mutilation, child marriage and other forms of violence against women in
Mauritania will be the focus of a workshop in the capital, Nouakchott, on 18 and 19 May. More than 120 MPs, civil servants and other officials are
expected to attend the event, which is being co-organized by IPU, the country's National Assembly and the women’s parliamentary caucus.

Research suggests that some 69 per cent of women in Mauritania have suffered genital mutilation and that other infringements of women's rights are
widespread, including domestic violence and child marriage. The workshop will raise awareness of the issues among parliamentarians and equip them
with knowledge of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and other international standards. The
discussions will prepare the MPs for their role in examining and passing a new law tackling violence against women which the Mauritanian Government is
expected to submit to parliament later this year.

Opportunity for MPs to shape guide to SDGs - IPU is developing a toolkit to help MPs and parliaments around the world fulfil their role in achieving the
groundbreaking Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is inviting parliamentarians to comment on the draft. The 17 SDGs and 169 actionable targets were endorsed by governments
at a UN Summit in September 2015 and achieving them would transform not only the lives of the global population but also the world itself. The toolkit,
which includes a self-assessment questionnaire, is designed to enable MPs to identify good practice in order to mainstream the various goals in their
parliaments. It is currently being tested and MPs can get a copy by writing to postbox@IPU.org. The draft toolkit, in English, French and Spanish, is
divided into eight sections each targeting a key function such as lawmaking and oversight. IPU is inviting comments, ideas and suggestions by 15 May
2016 on how it might be improved.

IPU welcomes progress on human rights cases in DRC and Iraq - IPU has welcomed several positive developments on three cases involving the abuses
of the human rights of MPs in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Iraq. IPU’s Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians has been
working on the cases to seek redress and protection of the MPs. In the DRC, IPU has greeted a decision by authorities that enables former MP Pierre
Jacques Chalupa to travel abroad for urgently-needed medical attention and then return to the country. IPU had made a fresh appeal for travel documents
to be granted to Chalupa in a resolution adopted recently at its Assembly in Lusaka, Zambia. The reported release from prison of former Iraqi MP Mohamed
Al-Dainy and the granting of prison visits to family and lawyers of MP Ahmed Al-Alwani, have also been applauded by IPU. 

Rwanda community events focus on civil registration benefits - Rwandan MPs have taken part in a series of community visits to see how civil
registration is working at the grassroots level. The group of nearly 30 MPs visited 14 national districts in March, meeting officials and citizens to
hear their insights and concerns.  Efficient civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) are key to long-term planning and budgeting for social
development programmes, especially those promoting the health of mothers and their children.  The MPs communicated the importance of boosting
registration services and ensuring they were accessible and well-run. They also stressed the vital need for citizens to be better informed about the
benefits of registering events such as births and deaths.  The MPs were able to identify gaps in the system, and drafted questions to be put to relevant
government institutions.  District officials and civil registration officers committed themselves to improving registration rates.  The events took place
with the support of IPU.