Accra
(Greater Accra) 16 September 2002- Ghana is to host a three-day sub-regional
conference for West African Parliamentarians to rectify the negative criticisms
of the New Partnership for Africa's Development Initiative (NEPAD).
The
conference, which is scheduled for Accra from 30 September to 2 October is
being organised by Ghana's Parliament in conjunction with the Association of West
European Parliaments for Africa (AWEPA). Parliamentarians from ECOWAS
countries, European parliaments, representatives from UNICEF, UNDP and experts
from the region are billed to attend it.
Mr Kosi
Kedem, AWEPA Co-ordinator of Ghana, on behalf of the parliamentary Planning
Committee in a press release, said African Parliamentarians had criticized
NEPAD on the grounds that, the initiative lacked Parliamentary input and the
conference was therefore to rectify the anomaly.
The theme
for the Conference is "The Role of Parliament in Relation to NEPAD,
Sustainable Development and HIV/AIDS." It is aimed at eliciting a
"Parliamentary Response" to the initiative in the format of an action
plan. The Planning Committee said it had observed that over the past decade the
development of the West African sub-region had been heavily constrained by war
and its side effects, debts and mismanagement.
The end of
the war in Sierra Leone, the democratisation of the governments in Ghana, Cote
d'Ivoire and Mali and the development of democratic institutions had opened
opportunities for more sustainable development in the sub-region, the release
said. The statement said most constraints that still impeded the development of
the region would be addressed by NEPAD, which is an initiative for the economic
and social revival of Africa.
"NEPAD
as an essential condition for development, focuses on peace and security,
democracy and political governance, economic and corporate governance and regional
integration," it added. The statement said a more enhanced role for
Parliaments is the initiative that places democratisation high on the agenda
and addresses issues of major concern to the African people.
The Speaker
of the ECOWAS Parliament, Professor Ali N. Diallo, Vice President of AWEPA, Mr
Par Granstedt, and Ghana's Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Hackman Owusu-Agyemang,
are to be the main speakers at the conference.
GRi…/
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