COUNCILLORS TO ATTEND CONFERENCES IN UK

Councillor Christine Scipio-O’Dean will depart the Island on Thursday, 17 November 2016, to attend the 62^nd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC), which will run from Sunday 11 December to Saturday 17 December 2016, in London, UK. Councillor Cruyff Buckley, who is currently in the UK attending the 65^th Westminster Seminar on Parliamentary Practice & Procedure, will also attend the 62^nd CPC.

Councillor Scipio-O’Dean will be attending the 62^nd CPC as an alternate member of the CPA Executive Committee, in the place of Councillor Derek Thomas. She will also have opportunities to attend the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarian Steering Conference Meeting.

The overall theme of the 62^nd CPC is ‘A collaborative Commonwealth: Unity, Diversity & Common Challenges’.

During the conference, there will be a number of additional conferences and meetings including the CPA Executive Committee, the CPA General Assembly, the 35^th Small Branches Conference, and the 4^th Triennial Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Conference.

Councillors Scipio-O’Dean and Buckley will have the opportunity to attend different sessions covering topics such as:

• The role of the Commonwealth in supporting the outcomes of the COP21 Paris Agreement on Climate Change
• The role of Parliament in the protection and safeguarding of children
• Eliminating barriers to women’s leadership in politics in Small Branches
• The role the media plays in public mistrust of Parliamentarians

Councillors Scipio-O’Dean and Buckley will return to St Helena on 10 January 2017.

SHG                                                                                                                                            

16 November 2016