At the invitation of the Moroccan Parliament, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) will hold its 107th Inter-Parliamentary Conference and related meetings from 17 to 23 March 2002 at the Palais des Congrès in Marrakech.
The Inaugural Ceremony will take place on Sunday 17 March at 7 p.m. in the presence of H.E. King Mohammed VI, the President of the Moroccan House of Representatives Mr Abdelwahed Radi, the President of the IPU Council Mrs Najma Heptulla (India), and the IPU Secretary General Mr Anders B. Johnsson (Sweden). The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR), Mr Ruud Lubbers (Netherlands) will represent the UN Secretary-General.
The statutory Meeting of Women Parliamentarians will take place on the same day at 9.30 a.m. under the chairmanship of Mrs Badia Skali, a Deputy from the House of Representatives of the host country.
The UNESCO Director General, Mr Koichiro Matsuura (Japan) will address the 107th IPU Conference on Tuesday, 19 March on the subject of cooperation between UNESCO and IPU.
The role of parliaments in developing public policy in an era of globalisation, multilateral institutions and international trade agreements and parliamentary support for the Kyoto Protocol will be the two main subjects on the agenda. The Conference will also choose a supplementary item from among several proposals (see list overleaf). An emergency supplementary item may also be examined.
A panel on "The worst forms of child labour", organised in cooperation with ILO will take place on Wednesday 20 March at 10.30 a.m. It will be chaired by HRH Princess Lalla Meryem.
The 107th Conference in Marrakech will also give the delegations in attendance an opportunity to hold bilateral meetings and examine conflicts in several parts of the world, in particular the Middle East. The IPU Committee on Middle East Questions, which will also gather in Marrakech under the chairmanship of the French Deputy Yves Tavernier, will strive to promote the continuation of dialogue between members of the Knesset and of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).
The IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians will also meet, in camera, in Marrakech. Chaired by the Chilean Deputy Juan Pablo Letelier, it will examine allegations of violations of human rights (under both public and confidential procedures) in 33 countries, including public cases in the following: Belarus, Burundi, Cambodia, Colombia, Ecuador, Gambia, Guinea, Honduras, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Turkey. The public report of the Committee is available upon request. The Committee will also conduct hearings of representatives of the authorities and of the MPs concerned.
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