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Outcomes and Commitments from the 66th CPC in Ghana
from The Parliamentarian: 2023 Issue Four: Separation of powers between Parliament, Executive & Judiciary
This edition of The Parliamentarian includes extensive coverage of the 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) held in Accra, Ghana, in October 2023. I am immensely grateful to the Parliament of Ghana for hosting the 66th CPC so successfully and I am pleased to take this opportunity to thank all the participants.
This year’s Conference theme was ‘The Commonwealth Charter Ten Years On: Values and Principles for Parliaments to Uphold’. This theme informed events throughout the Conference and its significance was set out eloquently in the powerful speech delivered at the opening ceremony by the CPA Vice-Patron and President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo who said: “I urge Commonwealth Parliamentarians to reflect deeply on the goal of the values and principles in the Commonwealth Charter and focus your discussions on the goal of attaining and maintaining the democratic ethos of this noble community. I commend the Commonwealth for its commitment to the rule of law, open and tolerant societies, equality for all and respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms.”
One of the ways in which the CPA implements our commitment to the Commonwealth Charter is through the work of our three networks. Last year, at the 65th CPC, important reforms were agreed with the goal of strengthening these networks.
The Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD) network was incorporated into the CPA Constitution to ensure that our work on disability inclusion is reflected in the governance of the CPA. I was very pleased to join the CPwD Regional Champions on an outreach visit to the Accra Rehabilitation Centre in the margins of the 66th CPC. It was an excellent visit and we will learn from it as we develop the programmes for future CPC meetings.
The Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) network met in Accra and there was a side event with UN Women on ending discriminatory laws. A strong message from the CWP business meeting was that more time should be provided at future CPCs for the CWP to meet and I am committed to ensuring that this happens. This was the first CPC since the adoption of a rule change last year requiring a minimum of one third of delegates to be women. As a result, 40% of this year’s voting delegates were women.
The CPA Small Branches network now includes jurisdictions with a population of up to one million following a rule change in 2022. There was excellent discussion at the 39th CPA Small Branches Conference which is a very important part of the CPC. Their work on climate change and disaster risk management has demonstrated exemplary leadership on these crucial issues.
This is the Commonwealth Year of Youth and I am pleased that one of the eight learning and development workshops in Accra was a youth roundtable. Our showcase youth programme is the biennial Commonwealth Youth Parliament (CYP) which was last held in Trinidad and Tobago in 2022. Next year, the CYP will meet in New Zealand. I know from my visit in March of this year, that there is a strong commitment across the Pacific Region to the importance of engagement with young people including in the run-up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa in October 2024.
As the President of Ghana said, the Commonwealth has commitments to the rule of law and respect for human rights. These commitments were reflected in learning and development workshops which included one that focused on the twentieth anniversary of the Commonwealth Latimer House Principles on the separation of powers and another which discussed human rights specifically. In 2024, the CPA will launch a CPA Parliamentary Academy course to support Parliaments in their important role of upholding human rights. The CPA Human Rights Working Group, chaired by Hon. Akierra Missick, MP of Turks and Caicos, has played a vital role in taking forward this work stream.
In September, we launched our new CPA Parliamentary Academy course on the role of Parliaments with respect to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We launched this to coincide with the UN SDGs Summit in New York. SDG4 focuses on the importance of access to quality education. In Accra, we held the inaugural Emilia Monjowa Lifaka Lecture in memory of our former CPA Chairperson. It was a very successful event and I am grateful to all involved, especially Betty Abeng from the Commonwealth Education Trust, who delivered a superb lecture that both provided a fitting testament to the late Hon. Lifaka and made the case passionately for the importance of urgent action to address the global learning crisis.
The 66th CPA General Assembly (GA) meeting in Accra addressed a range of important matters. The main debate was on the longstanding question of the CPA’s legal status. I am very grateful to the members of the governance working group, chaired by the Hon. Bridgid Annisette-George, Speaker of Trinidad and Tobago, for their hard work on status.
The GA agreed to establish a new non-charitable CPA with its own constitution and an interim Executive Board. This provides a first step towards the goal of achieving a new legal status as an international, interparliamentary organisation.
In the past two months, we have made significant progress in our discussions with the UK Government. The GA agreed to a parallel process over the next six months or so – continued efforts to secure legislation in the UK whilst beginning the work of seeking potential expressions of interest for an alternative host for the CPA HQ if UK legislation is not achieved.
The GA agreed a set of benchmarks for a potential new host and an associated set of assessment criteria with a scoring methodology. Any CPA Branch who might have an interest in hosting the CPA HQ can express that initial interest with a deadline of 31st March 2024 so that a report can be made to the Mid-Year CPA Executive Committee.
The GA held a topical debate on the very important issue of food security and sustainability. The CPA’s Parliamentarian of the Year awards were presented and I am pleased to take this opportunity to congratulate the four excellent recipients of the 2023 awards. I was also pleased to thank the outgoing CPA Executive Committee members for their work.
The task of organising the CPC is a huge one for the host Branch. I wish to put on record my appreciation to our outgoing CPA President, Rt Hon. Alban Bagbin, MP, Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana for his leadership. The GA received a presentation about plans for the 67th CPC in Sydney, New South Wales, in November 2024. I look forward to working with our incoming CPA President, Hon. Ben Franklin, MLC, President of the Legislative Council of New South Wales, over the year ahead.
After the GA, we held the usual short meeting of the new CPA Executive Committee at which the Hon. Arthur Holder, MHA, Speaker of the House of Assembly of Barbados, was elected as our new CPA Vice-Chairperson. I look forward to working with the Hon. Holder in his new capacity and I am pleased to take this opportunity to thank the Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, MP (Ghana) for his service as the outgoing CPA Vice-Chairperson.
The CPC is a very important part of the CPA’s work and we are always keen to receive feedback from participants so that we can learn from their experience as we plan for future CPC meetings. Please do get in touch via hq.sec@cpahq.org or complete the feedback form on our website.
Following the 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Ghana hosted by the Parliament of Ghana, you can read our Conference Concluding Statement to consolidate your learning from workshops and note important decisions from our governance meetings.
Visit the CPA website at: www.cpahq.org/66-cpc/
