Return of the Second Deputy Speaker of the Senate from a working mission to Uzbekistan

This Friday, April 11, 2025, the Second Deputy Speaker of the Senate, Honourable Fabrice Nkurunziza, returned from a working mission he carried out in Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan, from April 5 to 9, 2025, where he participated in the work of the 150^th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), organized under the theme: “Parliamentary Action for Social Development and social Justice.”

During this Assembly, participants were able to take stock of the progress of social development in their respective countries with regard to poverty reduction, job creation, and social cohesion.

In this regard, it was noted that major challenges remain, such as unemployment, pension systems, sparing resources, and social inequalities. However, there are some groups which are more vulnerable than others, including women, youth, migrants, people with disabilities, older workers, indigenous peoples, and minority groups, who are most exposed to multiple forms of discrimination that prevent them from progressing in society.

As this is a major challenge hindering social development, the participants in this assembly advocated a multidimensional approach and a set of country-specific policy reforms, focused on:

– investing in people, particularly in the areas of education, healthcare, and the environment;

– democratizing the economy focused on creating quality jobs and;

– strengthening institutions through support from international financial organizations which can create an enabling environment for development.

The participants in this assembly committed to working to:

• strengthen the legislative and accountability role of their own parliaments as a necessary condition for governance reforms at all levels;
• strengthen the representation of women and youth in parliaments and all major decision-making bodies;
• work together to develop a new global agreement focused on social development, adapted to the current order and guaranteeing justice and peace for all peoples of the world.

During that meeting, the Second Deputy Speaker of the Senate, Honourable Fabrice Nkurunziza, shared national experiences with the other participants on the theme “Parliamentary Action for Social Development and Social Justice,” where each participant was able to contribute the experience of their origin country as a complement to each other.