UAE proposes creation of youth parliamentarians committee at IPU

Kampala, Uganda - April 8, 2012 (WAM) - The UAE has submitted a proposal to the 126th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly for setting up a committee for youth parliamentarians as one of the IPU organs, Dr. Amal Al Qubaisi, First Deputy Speaker of the UAE Federal National Council (FNC), has unveiled. Participating as member of the FNC delegation at the 126th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly and the 190th Session of the Governing Council, Al Qubaisi said the proposed committee would have its own agenda, meet in concurrent with the IPU assembly and its prime goal is to empower young generations to engage in political life. ''We will study all ideas concerning this committee and then submit them to the executive committee of the IPU's secretariat general,'' she told WAM. She also proposed that a technical team of the six IPU Geopolitical Groups be tasked with devising an action plan for establishing the committee. Dr. Al Qubaisi explained that she had coordinated with the IPU secretary general to provide adequate support for the initiative so as to bring it to life as soon as possible. She also disclosed the Parliamentary Division of the FNC had proposed at the meeting of the First Standing Committee (Peace and International Security) the convocation of an international parliamentary conference (during the next IPU assembly) on role of youth in the political process. Dr. Al Qubaisi outlined the UAE leadership's support for youth empowerment in political life, saying youth were educated politically and legally so as to channel their energies in the right track and enable them to play an active role in their community and decision-making process. She noted that youth accounted for 37% of the total electoral colleges in the 2011 FNC elections. - Emirates News Agency, WAM