Return of the First Deputy-Speaker of the Senate from a working mission to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea

In the afternoon of this Sunday, September 29, 2024, the First Deputy-Speaker of the Senate, Honorable Denise Ndadaye, returned from a working mission she carried out in Malabo, in the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, where she participated in the eleventh consultation meeting of the Association of Senates, Shoura and Equivalent Councils of Africa and the Arab World (ASSECAA), which took place from September 26 to 27, 2024.

Speaking to the press, Honorable Ndadaye reported that this meeting focused mainly on strengthening joint parliamentary action in the developing countries to achieve regional integration.

She said that the participants discussed the ways and means to achieve development, the need to protect environment, the fight against pollution and desertification, and the challenges of artificial intelligence.

She presented some recommendations from this meeting, including strengthening unity and cooperation between the Senates of African and Arab countries, in order to jointly resolve strategic issues, the establishment of laws governing artificial intelligence, and the strengthening and modernization of means to combat pollution, desertification, and soil erosion.

The First Deputy-Speaker of the Upper House of Parliament explained that, during the parliamentary network of women parliamentarians, members of ASSECAA, they discussed the role of women parliamentarians in times of war and conflict.

She said that, on the sidelines of the meeting, she met the Right Honorable Maria Teresa Efua Asongono, Speaker of the Senate of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, the Right Honorable Enaam Mayara, Speaker of the Senate of the Kingdom of Morocco, who is also President of ASSECAA, and the Honorable Yapi Raymond N’DOHI, Deputy-Speaker of the Senate of Ivory Coast, and that their discussions focused on strengthening relations of friendship and cooperation between the Upper Houses of Parliament of their respective countries and that of Burundi.