New York: The Shura Council participated in the Annual Parliamentary Hearings held at the United Nations headquarters in New York over two days, under the theme "Scaling Up Action for the Sustainable Development Goals: Financing, Institutions, and Policy."
The session was attended by HE Deputy Speaker of the Shura Council Dr. Hamda bint Hassan Al Sulaiti and HE Member of the Shura Council Omair bin Abdullah Al Nuaimi.
The session discussed ways to enhance parliamentary work to achieve Sustainable Development Goals and the role of parliaments in supporting and addressing challenges through financial and institutional reforms. It also included exchanging views on strengthening international cooperation to achieve the 2030 Goals.
During the session, HE Dr. Hamda bint Hassan Al Sulaiti emphasized that achieving sustainable development requires strong political commitment and integration of efforts between governments, parliaments, civil society, and the private sector.
Her Excellency highlighted the importance of legislation that promotes sustainability, environmental protection, and the encouragement of renewable energy use, along with launching awareness campaigns to foster a culture of sustainable development at the community level.
She also stressed the need to enhance accountability and transparency, and activate parliamentary committees to monitor the implementation of sustainable development policies, noting that supportive legislation is one of the most important tools for parliamentary oversight to ensure the achievement of these goals.
In a related context, Her Excellency underscored the importance of strengthening parliamentary oversight over budgets and international financial operations, and ensuring that aid is directed towards achieving real development in beneficiary countries.
She also pointed out that enhancing coordination between donor and beneficiary countries will contribute to maximizing the benefits of international cooperation programs, highlighting the State of Qatar's contributions in the field of developmental assistance.
Her Excellency further noted that encouraging responsible and sustainable investment by the private sector is a key element in achieving sustainable development, stressing the importance of partnership between the public and private sectors to ensure the sustainability of economic projects and create new job opportunities.
During his intervention on the session themed "Raising domestic resources for the SDGs: a case for tax reforms," HE Omair bin Abdullah Al Nuaimi emphasized that achieving tax justice requires simplifying tax laws, enhancing tax collection efficiency, and reducing corruption through the use of modern technology.
He also pointed out that the State of Qatar has enacted tax reforms aimed at achieving tax justice and increasing national revenues in line with international standards.
His Excellency stressed that trade is a major driver of economic growth and poverty eradication, calling for enhancing the capacity of developing countries to engage in global value chains and diversifying their products, as well as achieving greater integration in the global trading system.
The Shura Council delegation also participated in the 3rd meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the World Conference of Speakers of Parliament and the meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the 15th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament, held in New York last Tuesday.
On the sidelines of these meetings, HE Deputy Speaker of the Shura Council Dr. Hamda bint Hassan Al Sulaiti met with HE Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi Council of Representatives Dr. Shakhawan Abdullah, HE Vice-President of the National People's Assembly of Algeria Monder Bouden, and HE Vice Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives Rachmat Gobel.
During these meetings, they discussed ways to enhance parliamentary cooperation and coordinate efforts to support Arab and Islamic issues on the international stage.
Her Excellency also met with HE Speaker of the House of Representatives of Malta Anglu Farrugia, HE Speaker of the National Assembly of Zambia Nelly Butete, and HE Speaker of the Senate of Canada Raymonde Gagne and HE Leader of the British House of Commons delegation Fabian Hamilton, where they discussed ways to strengthen parliamentary cooperation.
In addition, HE Dr. Hamda bint Hassan Al Sulaiti met with HE Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Martin Chungong, and a number of officials from the Union, discussing priorities for international parliamentary work and ways to enhance coordination between national parliaments and the Union in various issues of common interest.
