Interview with Saeed Al Mutawa, MP – The United Arab Emirates Parliament's engagement with the SDGs

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), 25 February 2024. Over two hundred parliamentarians from around the world have restated the importance of including a parliamentary dimension in the future of multilateral cooperation on trade, considering the essential role that trade

Parliamentarians are good at taking the floor to speak. Indeed the origin of the word “parliament” comes from the French "parlementer”- to speak until you reach an agreement. However, beyond the words, IPU Member Parliaments also follow up on IPU assemblies, initiatives and resolutions with concrete actions. At the 139 th Assembly in October 2018, IPU Member Parliaments reported on measures they had taken over the past years as a result of IPU activity.

Gender equality and good governance were the main themes discussed at the first Regional Seminar on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Gender Equality to take place in the North Africa Middle East region. Organized jointly by the IPU, the Arab IPU, and the House of Representatives of Egypt, the seminar was attended by MPs from 15 countries in the Library of Alexandria, Egypt last week.

Members of Parliament from the Middle East, including Israel and Palestine, have declared that access to clean water should not be politicized and should not be used as a weapon in regional conflicts. In a second roundtable, organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s (IPU) Committee on Middle East Questions, MPs from Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine and the United Arab Emirates have also agreed concrete measures to tackle the water crisis that threatens to further aggravate regional instability. The areas earmarked for action include: mapping those communities most threatened by water scarcity, establishing a regional parliamentary network on water governance and supporting MPs’ on shaping equitable and sustainable legislation on water management.

Every year, people worldwide take a collective pause to recognize the importance of preserving and protecting our planet’s natural resources on Earth Day, marked on 22 April. Given the severity of the climate crisis, it’s becoming a more important landmark

When Benin requested support with the management of its chemicals and related waste, the IPU connected the west African Parliament with experts at the United Nations and organized a training course for parliamentarians. Less than a year later, the National