Karimulla Akbar Khan, the recently-appointed Secretary General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association will pay a formal visit to Montserrat Legislature from Sunday, March 23rd, to Wednesday, March 30th, 2016.
Mr. Khan, who is of Guyanese origin, will hold meetings with Hon. Shirley Osborne, Speaker of the Montserrat Legislative Assembly and Vice-Chair of the International Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
The Secretary General will also meet with the Montserrat Branch of the CPA and pay courtesy calls on the Governor, the Premier and the Leader of the Opposition. Also, in conjunction with members of the Legislative Assembly, he will host a Roadshow with students from the Montserrat Community and the Montserrat Secondary School and with members of the Youth Parliament.
Speaker Osborne has invited a group of Youth Ambassadors from neighbouring Antigua to participate in the Roadshow with the young people of Montserrat. “The CPA is a big, important institution, and a visit from the SG is a big deal that does not happen very often,” says Speaker Osborne, “Secretary General Khan wants especially to meet with young people and the Clerk and I think it is important to ensure that as many young people as possible get the opportunity to meet and hear from him directly, so we invited Antigua to participate in person, but travel is so difficult and costly between islands that we are arranging live-streaming participation for young people in other neighbouring islands. That way, they also, get to participate.
“We, in Montserrat, believe it is important that our small island states use every chance we get to share resources and opportunities. If it benefits us, it will also, most likely, be of benefit to our neighbours, so, in Montserrat, we share.”
Among other things, the SG and Speaker Osborne will discuss talking points and the CPA position in preparation for Speaker Osborne’s trip to Jordan in May to represent the CPA at the Annual Global Forum of Women in Parliament (WIP). At the Global Forum, which is hosted jointly by the Jordanian Parliament and WIP, Speaker Osborne, who is also the regional Chair of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians, will present a Keynote Address and Chair a Working Group on Political Violence Against Women.
The Secreatary General is accompanied by Ms. Lucy Pickles, the CPA’s Assistant Director of Programmes.
