Maltese Parliamentary Delegation to participate in CPA Conference in Mauritius

A Parliamentary delegation, comprising the Hon Maria Camilleri MP, the Hon Angelo Farrugia MP and the Hon Tonio Borg MP, will participate in discussions aimed at helping democratic institutions to prepare for the governance of the Commonwealth in the next millennium. The discussions will take place at the sessions of the 43rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference to be held in Mauritius from the 17th to the 24th September 1997. Over 250 Presiding Officers, Ministers and Members at the Conference will represent nearly 140 Parliaments and Legislatures from Commonwealth democratic nations, states, provinces, territories and dependencies.

The Conference will be preceded by a two-day Conference of Members from Small Countries at which close to 70 politicians will discuss issues facing Assemblies in abut 30 Commonwealth jurisdictions with populations of 400,000 or less.

The Conference will be held under the auspices of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the National Assembly of Mauritius, which has had a Branch of the Association since 1934. Hon Sir Ramesh Jeewoolall, Speaker of the National Assembly and the current President of the Association, will preside over the main Conference.

Delegates will be addressed by the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, H.E. Chief Emeka Anyaoku, on the organisation's intergovernmental activities, and have an opportunity to question him on the political issues facing the 53-nation body, including the future of those few nations not yet enjoying democratic governance.

The theme for the 43rd Conference is "Into the New Millennium: The Role ofGovernments and Parliaments".

Participants will consider the challenges facing Commonwealth nations in such diverse fields as: trade and investment; ethical standards in public life; human rights; the role of women in politics; the environment, and new communications technology.

Members attending the 17th Small Countries Conference will examine: the United Nations Small States Forum; multiparty politics; health care financing; and the cost of sustainable growth, especially in tourism.

Conference delegates will have an opportunity to exchange ideas on policy questions and to familiarise themselves with issues as they are developing in jurisdictions around the Commonwealth which share similar governmental systems and face comparable problems. They will thus help each other, and through them their nations, to prepare for the challenges of the new millennium.

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association is an organisation of approximately 14,000 Members of Parliaments and Legislatures throughout the democratic nations of the Commonwealth. It seeks to advance the development of democratic institutions and to promote greater knowledge of and co-operation between Commonwealth countries, operating from a London Secretariat under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, as Head of the Commonwealth, and Dr the Hon Navin Ramgoolam, MP, Prime Minister of Mauritius and 1997 Vice Patron of the Association.