Rawlings leaves for Commonwealth workshop in Tanzania
Former President Jerry John Rawlings, left Accra for Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania to participate in a workshop on Government and Opposition organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
A statement issued and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra at the weekend, said the former President will speak extensively on the topic: “Government and Opposition: Roles and Responsibilities,” when the workshop opens on Monday, May 7.
The three-day forum will bring together parliamentarians from governing and opposition parties of Commonwealth countries in East Africa as well as selected resource persons, civil society and regional and international organisations.
It said the aim of the workshop is to give participants an opportunity to discuss how governments and opposition parties could engage more effectively with each other and with civil society to promote democracy, political stability and socio-economic prosperity in their countries and the broader region.
The Speaker of the Tanzania National Assembly, Ann Makinda and the Deputy General Secretary of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Mrs Masire-Mwamba, are expected to chair the workshop.
The statement noted that from Tanzania, former President Rawlings would travel to Tianjin, China to attend the 30th Plenary Meeting of the Interaction Council which commences from May 9 to 12.
“The three-day meeting will bring together more than 20 former heads of state and government, leading academics and policy makers to deliberate four main themes such as the present state of the world, the global financial crisis, global security imperatives (including nuclear disarmament) and the global water crisis,” it added.
The Interaction Council has been at the forefront of many prominent issues, most notably was the 1997 drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities, a document that counterbalances the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the recent Hiroshima Declaration, a powerful plea for the abolishment of nuclear weapons.
As part of the meeting council members will meet with Chinese government officials including Premier Wen Jiabao and have the opportunity to engage in bilateral meetings.
The Interaction Council of Former Heads of States was established in 1993 as an international organisation aimed at addressing long-term global issues facing humankind.
Source: GNA