Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 780381,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/780381/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 129,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Wangari Mwaniki",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13369,
        "legal_name": "Ruth W Mwaniki",
        "slug": "ruth-w-mwaniki"
    },
    "content": "Trade; and Committee on Social Affairs and Environment. Kenya has currently transitioned from chairing the Committee on Economic Development, Finance and Trade to membership of the Committee on Political Affairs. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, during the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly held in October and December 2017, the Kenya delegation was represented by the following Members: i. Hon. WangariMwaniki ii. Hon. Patrick Mariru iii. Sen. Prof. Margaret Kamar iv. Hon. Dr. Lilian Gogo v. Hon. CornellySerem; and vi. Hon. AthanasWafulaWamunyinyi It is worth noting that the Kenya delegation was also joined by Amb. Johnson Weru from the Kenya Mission to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union (EU) in Brussels whose advice and guidance were of great benefit to the delegation. The Kenya delegation participated actively in all the deliberations and issued statements with regard to topics that were under discussion among others providing and giving a statement on the political situation in the country. Considering that these meetings happened soon after the general elections, we assured the delegates that there was peace despite the ongoing political differences. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, some of the reports and subjects covered in the meetings of the three standing committees were on the following topical issues: The challenges in the field of security development, nexus in ACP and EU policies, the blue economy, opportunities and challenges for ACP states and improving access to basic health systems, notably to medicine in the fight against infectious diseases. The reports were thereafter discussed in the Joint Parliamentary Assembly where they were adopted and resolutions made. There was also a women’s forum, two external workshops and a youth conference with Asian students conducted before the main plenary sessions. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the Joint Parliamentary Assembly deliberated on various matters of concern to the Member states and also exercised scrutiny over the European Commission (EC), ACP and the EU Councils respectively through a question and answer debate. Further deliberations were conducted on a variety of topics namely the role of the natural resources in promoting sustainable development, demographic growth, sustainable tourism, enhancing resilience to climate change and natural disasters among others in addition to discussions with Commissioner Neven Mimica, a Member of the EC with responsibility of International Cooperation and Development. The Commissioner focused his statement on the future of the Cotonou Agreement which will be coming to an end in the year 2020 citing the need to adapt to the changing environment and to emergence of global challenges such as climate change and migration. Other debates also included urgent Motions on ongoing situations in Mauritania, Libya and Zimbabwe. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, before I conclude, there are two things I wish to highlight from the Report that demonstrate the importance of this organisation in strengthening democracy and supporting equitable and sustainable development. The first is the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) which had their inception in the year 2002 between the EU and group of countries that together make up the ACP group of states where they have been negotiating free trade EPAs. The overall objectives of the EPAs are to ensure sustainable The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}