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Hon Stars Mathe-Thebe, the Member of the National Assembly for Nkayi South Constituency in Zimbabwe has expressed confidence in the power of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) to deliver on its mandate.
She revealed this to Spiked Online Media on the sidelines of the ongoing First Session of the Sixth Parliament of the PAP.
“We are hopeful; that the Sixth Parliament of the PAP will come up with views and contributions that will fulfill the promise of changing the outlook of the Pan African Parliament that was made to the people of Africa, the United Nations, and others in reinforcing the relation of this organ with its stakeholders.
“Chief Fortune Charumbira, the President of the Pan African Parliament was unequivocal in his promise to change the way of doing business as evidenced by engaging global geopolitical players like the Commonwealth and regional economic communities like the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The fact that the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Baroness Patricia Scotland graced the official opening of the sixth Parliament of the PAP is testimony to the commitment of the continental legislative body to engage all stakeholders in bringing development to the continent which is expected to cascade to all member states,” Hon Mathe said.
She added that the theme of the Pan African Parliament for the year 2022 “Strengthening nutritional resilience and food security on the African continent: strengthening agri-food, health, and social protection systems for the acceleration of human, social and economic development” is apt as it seeks to address poverty and hunger on the continent.
This also augurs well with Zimbabwe’s conservation agriculture programme whose theme is “Intwasa/ Pfumvudza for food and nutrition security”.
Hon Dr. Tatenda Mavetera, the Deputy Chairperson of the Youth Caucus of the Pan African Parliament who is also the Assistant Speaker of Parliament of Zimbabwe said she expects the fulfillment of the aspirations of women and youths during the Sixth Parliament of the PAP.
“We have already seen that there is a deliberate effort on youth and gender inclusion by having a 50-50 presentation on the main Bureau of the PAP. The Chairperson of the Youth Caucus and the First Deputy Chairpersons are both young women. The moment we mainstream women in these positions of authority, we begin to reap developmental dividends for these marginalised groups.
“Effective participation is better enhanced by inclusion. The demographic dividend of the youth is in line with Agenda 2063 where they capitalize on this group to develop The Africa We Want,” Hon Mavetera said.
The Assistant Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Haile Gabriel Abebe, in his message to the Pan African Parliament, highlighted the importance of raising the profile of nutrition on the continent given the high number of people still affected by hunger and malnutrition.
He emphasised the important role played by Parliamentarians as advocates for action to end hunger and all forms of malnutrition in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Malabo Targets under the aegis of Agenda 2063.
Nardos Bekele-Thomas, the Chief Executive Officer of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) pledged coordination and promotion of regional integration towards the accelerated realisation of the AU Agenda 2063.