By IANS,
New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar leaves for Switzerland’s capital Bern Wednesday to attend the two-day sixth annual meeting of women speakers of parliament that begins July 16. She will also address a session on empowering women.
The meeting begins with a keynote address on “Achieving Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 on child survival and maternal health: Where do we stand?”
The agenda of the meeting consists of five themes – Building National Health Systems, Legislation and Policy: Removing Barriers to Access to Health for All, Funding for MDGs 4 and 5, Empowering Women, Including by Addressing Violence Against Women and Raising Awareness and Building Political Will, said a statement issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
Addressing the meeting on “Empowering women, Including by Addressing Violence Against Women”, Meira Kumar will “be sharing the legislative efforts of parliament to fight domestic violence and foeticide which impacts the sex ratio in India,” the release said.
After the meet, Meira Kumar, who is a member of the preparatory committee for the Third World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, will travel to Geneva to attend its final meeting July 18.
She will be joined there by Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman K. Rahman Khan.
United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-Moon will also be present in the inaugural ceremony of the conference July 19.
“There will be a general debate on Parliaments in a world of crisis: Securing Global Democratic Accountability for the Common Good,” in which both Meira Kumar and Khan will participate, the release added.
The speaker will also participate in the discussion on Strengthening Trust between Parliament and the People.
The conference concludes July 21, with the adoption of the final declaration.