One committee is today in focus of our scan:

Committee on Human Rights, National Minorities and Interethnic Relations

The committee head Hryhorii Nemyria, MP, had today a meeting with PGA President Margareta Cederfelt and PGA Secretary-General David Donat Cattin. The parties discussed the situation in Ukraine, the inter-parliamentary cooperation, protection of the human rights and freedoms in our state, its legal system and the ratification of the Rome Statute by Ukraine. "It is very important for us to be in Ukraine at the time of the ongoing challenges. Your country should be in the center of the international agenda, taking into account the undeclared war in the East of Ukraine and the illegal annexation of the Crimea by Russia," said Margareta Cederfelt.

In his turn, Hryhorii Nemyria thanked M.Cederfelt for her support and stressed the need for Ukraine to ratify the Rome Statute and finally join the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In addition, the parties discussed the issues related to the organization of the 40th Annual Forum of PGA in Ukraine in 2018.

The meeting was also attended by Svitlana Zalishchuk, MP, and Maryna Lilichenko, an expert from the Center for Civil Liberties (CCL). The Center is a partner to the PGA ICC campaign in Ukraine.

Parliamentarians for Global Action is the largest transnational network of parliamentarians (over 1,300 members) from all regions of the world (142 countries), who are engaged in the protection of human rights and human security, upholding the rule of law, non-discrimination and gender equality. Among the PGA priorities are   supporting effective functioning of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and overcoming impunity, as well as the Rome Statute ratification.

Worthy of note

The Rome Statute came into force on July 1, 2002, thus permitting the exercise of jurisdiction by the ICC from that date. The crimes that fall under the active jurisdiction of the ICC are: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and, starting from 17 July 2018, the crime of aggression. After the Statute is ratified, the International Criminal Court will have jurisdiction to prosecute those who committed the severest violations of human rights and humanitarian law throughout the territory of the ratifying state or in relation to a citizen of that state.

The Centre for Civil Liberties was established in 2007 to promote the values of human rights, democracy and solidarity in Ukraine and Eurasia to reinforce the principle of human dignity. The NGO is located in Kyiv, Ukraine. Objectives of CCL are protection of fundamental rights and freedoms; representation of the public and public control over the observance of human rights in the activities of national and local governments; work with young people to create a new generation of human rights defenders and civil society activists; advocacy and education on human rights and democracy, implementation of programs of international solidarity.

Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) a non-profit, non-partisan international network of committed legislators, informs and mobilizes parliamentarians in all regions of the world to advocate for human rights and the rule of law, democracy, human security, non-discrimination, and gender equality.  PGA was established in 1978 in Washington, D.C. by a group of concerned parliamentarians from around the world to take collective, coordinated and cohesive actions on global problems, which could not be successfully addressed by any one government or parliament acting alone. Founded during the Cold War era, an early focus and priority of the organization was mobilization of Parliamentarians worldwide in support of nuclear disarmament., Today, and reflecting the more complex and interconnected world in which it now lives, PGA and its members worldwide devotes their time and energies  to promoting human rights, international justice and accountability, advocating for conflict prevention mechanisms and security sector reform as well as promoting  gender, equality and non-discrimination. The network of legislators’ programme of work is elaborated under the political direction of an Executive Committee of 15 elected members. This structure allows PGA to effectively advocate for needed policies at the national, regional, and international levels. In accordance with the by-laws of the organization, the Executive Committee must – at all times - retain a 40:60 gender ratio for either gender. The Executive Committee is elected by a 40-member International Council which represents all the regions of the world. PGA also works closely with the UN system through the advisory body of the UN Committee for PGA - comprising senior UN ambassadors, high-level UN officials, and some leading NGO representatives. PGA also has had an extremely effective track record with intergovernmental agencies such as the UNFPA, UNDP, UNODA, UNICEF, UN Women, UNESCO, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and International IDEA.  PGA's 3 Programmatic Areas – International Law & Human Rights, Peace & Democracy and Gender, Equality and Population also work in close cooperation with NGOs and leading research institutions in these fields. PGA includes among its membership a concentration of high-level politicians, including past and present Prime Ministers, Cabinet Ministers, and Chairs of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Population, Health, and Defense Committees. The recently elected Vice-President of the Commission and High Representative on Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union, H.E. Federica Mogherini of Italy was also an active PGA Member prior to taking up this position.

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