Vucic to open the Assembly of Inter-Parliamentary Union tomorrow

Vucic to open the Assembly of Inter-Parliamentary Union tomorrow

The assembly will be held at the Center Sava in Belgrade, the president's office said.

The assembly starts at 7.30pm.

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic will also attend the opening ceremony.

The Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, hosted by the Republic of Serbia and the National Assembly of Serbia, is being held from 13 to 17 October in Belgrade.

The opening of the IPU Assembly, which will bring together more than 1,700 parliamentarians and partners from the UN and civil society from around the world, will also be addressed by IPU President Gabriela Cuevas Barron, President of the Serbian Parliament Maja Gojkovic and Director General of the UN Office in Geneva Tatiana Valovaya.

The presence of Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, as well as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic were announced. By October 17, the Serbian Parliament will host representatives from about 140 countries, more than 70 parliamentary presidents, a record so far, as well as more than 700 MPs, including 30 percent women, and 17 percent MPs under 45.

The central theme of the IPU Assembly session is "Strengthening international law: Parliamentary roles and mechanisms and the contribution of regional cooperation", and MPs will discuss gender equality, empowering youth, human rights of parliamentarians and universal health coverage.

Serbia had become one of the first members of the IPU in 1891, shortly after this international organization was founded in 1889. The 141st IPU Assembly in Belgrade, in addition to marking the 130th anniversary of the IPU, will also mark a number of jubilees: 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, when the regional UNICEF ambassador will also be promoted, 70th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions and the 40th anniversary of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

The session will end with the adoption of the Belgrade Declaration. Belgrade will have the honour to host an IPU session full 56 years after it had hosted the 52nd Assembly in 1963 in the then Yugoslavia. This is also the first IPU Assembly held in a European country outside of Geneva in 20 years, as the last one was held in Germany in 1999.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union is a global inter-parliamentary institution established in 1889 as the first permanent forum for political multilateral negotiations, today boasting 179 national member parliaments and 12 regional parliamentary bodies, promoting democracy and helping parliaments to become stronger, younger, more gender-equal and more diverse.