Joint parliamentary working groups will be set up to implement and monitor the plan, Galina Karelova said.
The signing ceremony was held in the in the Tavricheskiy Palace on the sidelines of the Fourth Eurasian Women's Forum. The document was signed by Chair of the Eurasian Women's Forum Council, Senator Galina Karelova and Chairperson of the Parliamentary Network of Women Parliamentarians in Africa and the Arab World Jehad Abdulla Alfadhel.
The main goal of the Memorandum is to expand interparliamentary cooperation in a variety of areas. The document says that the main emphasis will be made on expanding women’s rights and opportunities, their participation in public life and increasing their representation in the legislative institutions.
As Galina Karelova said, the Memorandum provides for 10 main areas of cooperation. They include: implementing joint educational programmes, promoting adoption of legislation to protect women's rights and dignity while using artificial intelligence, developing climate change adaptation programmes to address the specific needs of women and girls, implementing policies to protect women and children in conflict zones, coordinating strategic priorities on the agendas of regional and international parliamentary organisations that include representatives of both sides, especially as it relates to women's empowerment issues, sharing experiences and research data.
“This is the first memorandum of this kind that we sign with women parliamentarians of Africa and Arab countries. The Association of Senates, Shuras and Equivalent Councils in Africa and the Arab World (ASSECAA) was founded in 2002 and has 26 members representing upper houses of parliaments from both African and Arab states. The cooperation programme will be extended simultaneously to all countries. We have agreed on specific steps. The first is the development of a joint action plan for the year, which will include all 10 areas identified in the Memorandum. Joint parliamentary working groups will be set up to implement and monitor the plan. I am confident that our cooperation offers great potential both for the development of the women's agenda in our countries as well as for developing and strengthening parliamentary ties,” Galina Karelova concluded.