The Mid Year Meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Executive Committee was held at Hilton Resort and Spa Hotel, Flic en Flac, Mauritius from 20^th to 25^th of March 2018.

This is the Executive Committee Meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) that exists and works in tandem with the entire CPA in order to develop, promote and support Commonwealth Parliamentarians and parliamentary staff to identify benchmarks of good governance and to implement the enduring values of the Commonwealth.

This year’s Mid-Year CPA Executive Meeting met to consider and review a number of issues which include, among others, consider the CPA annual report and performance review.

The CPA Zambia Branch was represented by Hon. Lazarous Chungu Bwalya, MP. Honorable Bwalya attended this meeting in his capacity as Regional Representative for the CPA Central Africa Region. The Central Africa Region comprises Zambia, Botswana, Malawi, and Mozambique.

The Official Opening of the Mid Year Meeting of the CA Executive Committee was characterized mainly by speeches.

The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Mr Akbar Khan warmly welcomed everyone to the official opening of the Mid Year CPA Executive Committee Meeting in his capacity as Secretary General of CPA and master of ceremony for the event. He further expressed deep appreciation on behalf of everyone to the Speaker and President of the CPA Mauritius Branch Rt Honorable Santi Bai Hanoomanjee, G.C.S.K.

The Secretary General of the CPA went ahead and informed the meeting of the presence of the Chairperson of the CPA International Executive Committee, Honorable Emelia Lifaka MP, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Cameroon.

In her opening remarks, the CPA International Executive Committee, Honorable Emelia Lifaka MP, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Cameroon acknowledged that it was a great pleasure for her to preside over the 2018 Mid Year CPA Executive Committee Meeting in her capacity as the Chairperson of the CPA International Executive Committee since her election to that office in Bangladesh last year in November.

She was quick to re-echo the CPA Secretary General’s remarks in appreciating the Government, staff of Parliament and people of Mauritius for hosting this year’s Mid Year CPA Executive Committee Meeting.

 Further, the Chairperson of the CPA International Executive Committee recalled that just a week ago, on the 12^th March, there was a commemoration of the Commonwealth Day and that coincided with the celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the Independence of Mauritius. Both events offered opportunities to reflect on what the values of the Commonwealth meant to them and to reaffirm their commitment to the core values of the Commonwealth Charter, namely; democracy and development.

 The Chairperson of the CPA International Executive Committee Hon Emalia Mafiki Lifaka, MP informed the meeting that on the sideline of these events, there was a road shop being undertaken in Mauritius which formed part of the CPA Youth Programme working with the branches.

She shared the excellent time she spent with the students at the University of Mauritius discussing the values and meaning of the Commonwealth in the 21^st century. She further noted that it was inspiring to see the level of engagement by the students in CPA related issues.

The Speaker and President of the CPA Mauritius Branch Rt Honorable Santi Bai Hanoomanjee, G.C.S.K, in her welcoming remarks expressed her profound  pride of being one of the few sub-Saharan African countries that has since independence been constantly inspired by the fundamental values of the Commonwealth and have  on all occasions seized the opportunity  to consolidate these values namely democracy, the democratic processes, the rule of law, the independence of the Judiciary, fundamental rights and gender parity.

She further noted that Mauritius is placed 16^th out of the 167 countries in the Economist Intelligence Units Democracy Index 2017 on the basis of electoral pluralism, government functioning, political participation, political culture as well as civil liberties.