Ghana hosts 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference

Ghana’s Parliament will host the 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) at the Accra International Conference Centre in Accra from September 30 to October 6, 2023. 

The event will be held on the theme: “The Commonwealth Charter 10 years on: Values and principles for Parliaments to uphold”.

It is billed to attract 600 delegates, including speakers and presiding officers, parliamentarians, clerks-to-parliaments, parliamentary staff and key stakeholders in the parliamentary governance sector.

Others will include observers and accompanying officials from 56 national branches (national legislatures) and 111 sub-national branches (state/provincial legislatures) across the nine geographic regions of the Commonwealth.

It will be held under the patronage of the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, who also doubles as the President of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and the President of the Ghana Branch of the association.

Objectives  

Briefing the media on the event, the Clerk-to-Parliament, Cyril Nsiah, said the conference was aimed at fostering dialogue and cooperation among member countries to address pressing global challenges within the context of Commonwealth values.

“The conference will emphasise the importance of parliamentary diplomacy in addressing these challenges and highlight the role of parliaments in shaping policies that benefit their citizens,” the Ghana Branch Secretary of the CPA said.

The conference is expected to commence officially with an opening ceremony on Wednesday, October 4, 2023, under the patronage of the President of Ghana and the Vice-Patron of the CPA, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who will be the keynote speaker.

The opening ceremony will be followed by workshops to discuss various topics relating to security, human rights, environment, economy, gender and other cross-cutting issues.

“Host nation’s workshop will be organised by Ghana to deliberate on the topic: “Combating the threat of terrorism to Statehood: The Role of Parliament,” Mr Nsiah said.

“We have invited the minister of National Security to lead discussions on the topic,” he said.

Side events

The Clerk-to-Parliament indicated that the event would be held alongside other conferences, meetings and workshops, including the CPA General Assembly, meetings of the CPA Executive Committee, the 39th CPA Small Branches conference and meetings of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP).

Others will be the meeting of Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD) Networks, the 57th meeting of the Society of Clerks at the Table (SoCATT), as well as a presentation of the 2023 Commonwealth Parliamentarian of the Year awards.

Mr Nsiah said as part of efforts to promote Ghana by showcasing the natural resource endowments, history, culture and traditions of the country to the international community, some tourist sites had been identified for visit by the delegates on Tuesday, October 3, 2023.