ParlAmericas and the National Assembly of Panama organized a parliamentary staff meeting on the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals in the National Assembly of Panama
On Wednesday, February 24, ParlAmericas and the International Relations Unit of the National Assembly of Panama held a parliamentary staff meeting entitled “Accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in the Assembly of Panama.” The objective of the meeting was to explore a series of good practices being implemented by other parliaments to advance the 2030 Agenda from a technical perspective. The goal was to share experiences and ideas that would help support the development of similar initiatives in the National Assembly of Panama to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This event took place in follow-up to the parliamentary meeting held on January 19, during which members of the National Assembly of Panama discussed and deepened their knowledge of the mechanisms needed to better integrate parliamentary activities with the goals of the Agenda.
The Honourable Member of the National Assembly Fernando Arce (Panama), President of the Foreign Relations Committee and ParlAmericas Board Member, presented opening remarks and expressed his hope that, “within the National Assembly of Panama, as parliamentarians and parliamentary staff, we work together to build and strengthen the dynamics, principles, relations, and institutions that allow every person to participate in social, economic, cultural and political life based on equal rights, equality, and dignity.”
The meeting was moderated by Mr. Cristóbal Campos of the National Directorate for the Promotion of Citizen Participation of the National Assembly of Panama. Moreover, there were presentations from subject-matter specialists who lead the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in their respective parliaments, including Member of the National Assembly Pabel Muñoz (Ecuador), Coordinator of the Parliamentary Group for the Eradication of Poverty and SDG Compliance of the National Assembly of Ecuador; Ms. Isabel Zúñiga Quiros, Head of the Legislative Research Center of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica; Mr. René Villasboa, Director General of the Legislative Observatory of the Chamber of Senators of Paraguay; and Mr. José María Hernández Vallejo, Technical Secretary of the Working Group for the Continuation of the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda of the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico.
During the meeting, Ms. María Gabriela Graell, Director of the International Relations Unit of the National Assembly of Panama commented that “it is fundamental to implement a strategy among parliamentary staff and, above all, exchange good practices with countries of the region.”
The presentations were followed by a space for dialogue between participants. The meeting concluded with closing remarks by Mr. Quibián Panay, Secretary General of the National Assembly of Panama, who emphasized that “all these alliances aim to strengthen legislation and build capacity for all parliamentary actors to generate more sustainable initiatives. However, it is important to realize that none of this would be possible without the hard work of a committed team of parliamentary staff who, from their positions, make it possible for all these initiatives to come to fruition. Behind the political will of parliamentarians there is always a team of parliamentary staff supporting and advising them from their knowledge and experience.”
This meeting is part of a broader program being carried out by the Parliamentary Office for the Monitoring and Implementation of the SDGs of the National Assembly of Panama, which will continue to work with parliamentary actors and strategic partners to support the exchange of knowledge and the development of new tools for the promotion of parliamentary work aligned with achieving the 2030 Agenda.
For further information on ParlAmericas, visit www.parlamericas.org and follow @ParlAmericas on social media.
