AbuDhabi (VNA) - The Women Speakers of Parliament issued the Abu Dhabi Declaration with acommitment to effectively addressing challenges facing the world throughpromoting links and partnership between Governments and private areas,concluding their 11th Global Summit on December 13 in the United ArabEmirates (UAE).

The declaration committed to contributing to realising the UN 2030 SustainableDevelopment Goals, the Paris Agreement, the results of the United NationsClimate Change Conference in Marrakech and the Sendai Framework for DisasterRisk Reduction, theBeijing Declaration and Platform for Action, as well as to addressing all formsof discrimination and violence against women and girls.

It affirmed the 38 provisions of theDeclaration of the Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament entitledPlacing democracy at the service of peace and sustainable development andreiterating the principles and recommended actions of the summary report of theTenth Meeting of Women Speakers of Parliament entitled Innovating for GenderEquality.

Women speakers of parliament from more than 30countries to the Summit pledged to place the well-being of their people, peace,prosperity, and the integrity of both their planet and humanity at the core of theirparliamentary strategic objectives, and making them central to theirdevelopment efforts, towards responding to the needs of all people, includingthose on the economic and social margins, and improving the health andsocio-economic well-being of all, particularly women and girls.

They proposed the International Parliament Union (IPU) to consider aninternational parliamentary declaration on tolerance aiming at promoting and upholdinghuman values and the principle of tolerance to promote peace and security, andcombat terrorism and violent extremism.

Italso underlined the necessity to consider establishing an appropriatelyresourced structure for horizon-scanning in every parliament, which wouldinform parliament's legislative and oversight work regarding the implicationsof megatrends that affect our world, thus ensuring a better quality of life forfuture generations.

Thedeceleration also promoted youth empowerment and women's empowerment, thus increasingrepresentation and facilitating contribution of youths and women to legislationand policymaking.

Iturged the IPU to follow-up on the proposals and commitments included in the AbuDhabi Declaration and accommodate them in its work programme in such a manneras to promote continued and strategic partnerships with government authorities,scientists, academia, youth and representatives from the private sector andcivil society.

Speakingat a session on the Abu Dhabi Declaration earlier the same day, NationalAssembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan applauded the draft Declaration asrepresenting the will and commitment of female speakers of parliament tojoining hands to cope with global challenges and promote peace, security and sustainabledevelopment.

In the framework of the Summit, the Vietnamese top legislator also joined otherwomen speakers for a round-table talk.-VNA