Anjan Shakya was elected as a member of the Committee on Sustainable Development and Sobita Gautam on Health
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For the first time, Nepal has been represented in the committee under the Inter-Legislative Union (IPU), an organization of parliaments around the world. Two members of parliament from Nepal have been elected committee members of IPU. Anjan Shakya has been elected as a committee member on sustainable development and MP Sobita Gautam on health.
In the 150th Inter-Legislative Association annual meeting held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, two members of parliament from Nepal have become committee members.
Speaker Devraj Ghimire said that Nepal got the opportunity to participate in the internal process of the IPU by becoming Shakya in the Sustainable Development Committee and Gautam in the Health Committee. "Before this, we used to just keep our opinions without understanding what the IPU is, but this year we have got a good opportunity to understand the internal affairs, build its leadership and participate in the decision-making process," Speaker Ghimire said.
IPU's health advisory group was upgraded to a committee this time. In this committee, Gautam, a member of parliament of RSWP, has been elected as a member for four years . The tenure of the members of this 15-member committee will be till March 2029.
National Assembly member Dr. Anjan Shakya was elected representing Nepal on behalf of the Asia-Pacific region in the Sustainable Development Standing Committee of IPU. There were candidatures for the representation of Maldives, Iran and Nepal. In which Nepal's MP Shakya was elected .
Speaker Ghimire wrote a letter to the Speakers/Chairmen of 36 countries in the Sustainable Development Standing Committee of IPU saying that Shakya, who has gained deep experience in the field of sustainable development, is expected to play a strong role on behalf of Nepal on the international stage and asked for Shakya's support . This committee works on issues such as the creation of laws related to sustainable development by parliaments, implementation of sustainable development goals.
MP Gautam was elected as a member of the health committee by personal initiative. Before going to Uzbekistan from Kathmandu, Shakya was scheduled to run for office while Gautam had not decided to run for office.
MP Gautam said that Nepal's diplomatic field expanded when she was a member of IPU's health committee. This committee works on issues such as how we can equalize health standards around the world through parliamentary diplomacy. This committee also sets the agenda for the IPU General Assembly on the status of health, related laws and progress in different countries of the world. If there is an epidemic or a health crisis in any country, this committee will also carry out monitoring activities,'' said Gautam. Through such a committee, Nepal's thoughts and opinions became meaningful. Nepal's role in international diplomacy became visible. This committee has also become a means by which Nepal's health-related issues can be raised at the international level.' Nepal became a member of IPU in 1967. According to the records of the Parliament, since the 86th conference of 1991, we have been participating at the level of Speaker and Chairman. This is the first time that an MP is a member of the IPU committee, it is not seen in our records that any honorable member has been a member before," said Mishra.
The conference of the IPU is held twice a year. Speaker of the House of Representatives and Speaker of the National Assembly Alopalo from Nepal has been leading the parliamentary team going to this conference. The leadership of the parliamentary team addresses on behalf of the country in the annual assembly and general assembly. In the parliamentary team, chief whips and whips of major parties have been participating, this time Congress chief whip Shyam Kumar Ghimire, National Assembly member Shakya from UML, Suryaman Dong of Maoists and Gautam of RSVP participated in the parliamentary team.
According to Mishra, head of the division, Nepal has been paying membership fees to IPU every year. "It includes sideline meetings to enhance our presence and effectiveness." A meeting is held between the parliaments of the two countries. Our parliamentarians also take active part in various committees and raise their issues,' says Mishra, 'This is a good forum for using soft power for diplomacy.' Meetings of general secretaries of parliament are also held in IPU. Bharatraj Gautam was previously a member of the Executive Council of General Secretaries.
Speaker Devraj Ghimire says that Nepal's participation in the 150th annual meeting of IPU has been successful. Speaker Ghimire said at the Tribhuvan International Airport after returning from Uzbekistan that there was a serious discussion on social development and initiatives of the Parliament in the inter-legislative union meeting. "Contemporary world politics, its effects and the inequality that is still happening in the society were discussed," he said, "we have been able to do a good job in the legislative space for equality and have the experience of being able to include all religions and castes in terms of inclusion."
