KIMIHURURA - The ninth General Assembly of the African Network of Parliamentary Staff officially started yesterday in the Senate chambers.The five-day session brings together over 70 delegates to discuss ways to improve their performance, both as a network and in their respective national parliaments.
KIMIHURURA - The ninth General Assembly of the African Network of Parliamentary Staff officially started yesterday in the Senate chambers.
The five-day session brings together over 70 delegates to discuss ways to improve their performance, both as a network and in their respective national parliaments.
Burundi’s Landry Sibomana, the network’s head of ICT, told The New Times the meeting will offer a viable platform to share ideas.
"The session will serve as a forum for exchanging experiences among various parliaments’ personnel and discuss how well we make our organisation bigger and extend its scope of activities,” he said.
The network was established in 2003.
Madeleine Nirere, the Rwandan Senate's Deputy Clerk, said that the network’s gathering in Kigali provides a good opportunity for the visitors to better understand the history of the country.
"There are many people, especially in West Africa, who do not really understand Rwanda’s history,” said Nirere, who is in charge of legislation and parliamentary affairs.
The group visited Gisozi Genocide Memorial site before beginning the main session.
"They will also learn from our various developments like the use of ICT and issues related to gender mainstreaming.”
The network also plans to set up a database of research findings and information.
The delegations hail from Congo Brazzaville, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Gabon, Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Guinée, Madagascar, Mali, Maroc, Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Chad and Togo.
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