The meeting, which will take place in Luanda between the 23rd and 27th of October, will elect the 31st president of the body, with four African candidates, namely from Malawi, Tanzania, Somalia and Senegal running for the position for a three-year term.
"It is a right that assists us, we are in a century of women, it was Africa's turn to elect a woman and these four candidates emerged. It was a natural thing. One of the candidates is currently a member of the IPU executive committee", said, in interview with Lusa, the event's spokesperson, Idalina Valente.
At least 1400 effective delegates, coming from 179 parliaments worldwide, are expected to participate in this meeting, although the organization currently has a record of around 1700 participants.
"Parliamentary Action for Peace, Justice and Institutions" will be the motto of this IPU assembly, chosen by Angola, the host country, in a context marked by conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and now between Israel and Hamas, she said.
"Parliamentary Action in favor of Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions", she maintained, "will be a topic of debate for around 58 presidents of parliaments and their respective vice-presidents", she highlighted.
Peace, international security, climate change, human rights, science and technology are some of the topics that will be discussed at this 147th Assembly of the IPU, whose work will take place at the headquarters of the Angolan parliament, in the center of Luanda.
A forum for women parliamentarians and another on young parliamentarians are also on the agenda of this meeting, which will also see the Bahamas joining as the 180th member of the organization.
"This act is very important because the IPU is made up of 179 parliaments – the 180th member will now enter this assembly, which will be the Bahamas parliament – and has a series of observer members, associations, which are also partners of the organization," she said.
Idalina Valente highlighted the importance of Angola hosting this conclave of the world's parliaments for the first time, considering that if the country does a job well done "it will certainly take the name of Angola to other countries".
"Furthermore, Angola has been a member of the IPU since 1986 and it was the organization's desire for Angola to host this meeting", she argued.
Idalina Valente pointed out that the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) has done "a lot of advocacy" within the UIP so that Portuguese becomes a working language for the organization.
"And if we achieve this feat, we will also be rightly advocating that at the UN (United Nations) level we should also start thinking about having Portuguese as at least a working language", she highlighted.
An event by the World Health Organization (WHO) and a meeting by the Socialist International are also planned on the sidelines of the IPU assembly.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union, founded more than 130 years ago as the world's first multilateral political organization, is made up of 179 national member parliaments and 14 regional parliamentary bodies.
Portugal will be represented by the president of the Assembly of the Republic, Augusto Santos Silva.
