The Shura Council held its regular meeting of its 48th ordinary Session, on Monday, while practising social distancing, under the chairmanship of HE the Speaker of the Council Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud.

At the beginning of the session, HE al-Mahmoud briefed the Council on the meeting he held via video conference with the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) Vladimir Voronkov.

The discussion focused on the arrangements to establish the UN office on parliamentary engagement for preventing and countering terrorism in implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that they signed at the UN Headquarters in New York on February 17, which stipulated that the Shura Council and the UN should enter into direct arrangements to establish the programme office for parliamentary engagement on preventing and countering terrorism in Qatar, and its activities shall cover the parliaments of the world.

The Speaker explained that they agreed during the meeting to intensify efforts to establish this office as soon as possible.

He also briefed the Council on his participation in the five-party meeting that the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) held.

The Speaker participated as the President of the 140th IPU General Assembly that were held in Doha in April 2019, along with the former and upcoming presidents of IPU General Assembly, the President of IPU, Secretary-General of IPU and the heads of the Union's geopolitical groups.

The meeting, which was addressed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, discussed ways to enhance co-operation between the parliaments of the countries of the world to achieve sustainable development and maintain international peace and security.

It also discussed the challenges facing the world today due to the outbreak of the coronavirus (Covid-19), and the role of parliaments in addressing this pandemic and limiting its health, economic, and social impacts.

This was followed by HE the Secretary-General of the Shura Council Fahd bin Mubarak al-Khayarin reading decree No 60 of 2020 dismissing the 48th ordinary session of Shura Council on Tuesday, Dhu'l Qi'dah 16 of the year 1441 AH, which corresponds to July 7, 2020.

At the end of the session, HE the Speaker of the Council delivered a speech on the occasion of dismissing the ordinary session of the Council, expressing his and the Council members' gratitude and appreciation to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani for his continuous support to the Council.

HE al-Mahmoud expressed the Council's appreciation for the co-operation and responsiveness of the government towards its proposals and recommendations, noting that the Council was able to complete all the draft laws and decrees it received, which were sent to the government with proposals and recommendations, in addition to topics proposed by the Council for public discussion.

At the conclusion of his speech, the Speaker offered his sincere appreciation to the members of the Council for their efforts, whether in the sessions of the Council or through its specialised committees, and for the seriousness, responsibility and tireless work shown by members during their discussions.


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