Int'l Conference in Egypt Recommends Support for Developing Countries to Protect Environment

Part of the IPU Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians, which was held in Sharm el-Sheikh. (Conference Administration )
Part of the IPU Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians, which was held in Sharm el-Sheikh. (Conference Administration )
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Int'l Conference in Egypt Recommends Support for Developing Countries to Protect Environment

Part of the IPU Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians, which was held in Sharm el-Sheikh. (Conference Administration )
Part of the IPU Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians, which was held in Sharm el-Sheikh. (Conference Administration )

Parliamentary delegations from 60 countries concluded on Thursday activities of the eighth Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians, which was held in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt’s South Sinai province.

They underscored the importance of supporting developing countries to protect the environment and promote green investment.

They also called for involving civil society representatives in climate legislation discussions.

The two-day event was held under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and in cooperation with the Egyptian House of Representatives and the IPU.

It focused on legislative, legal, and developmental approaches to climate change issues.

Egypt will host the COP27 United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2022 in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in November. World leaders and heads of state and governments are expected to attend the summit.

Egypt's Speaker of the House of Representatives Hanafi El Jebali said at the closing session that dialogue among the world’s youths has become essential to address the extraordinary challenges the globe currently suffers.

IPU President Duarte Pacheco called for taking advantage of the upcoming summit to protect the planet, in light of the growing concerns of famine and food insecurity, while working to achieve and activate the discussions of young parliamentarians on the climate change crisis.

President of the IPU Forum of Young Parliamentarians MP Sahar al-Bazar, for her part, warned that climate change is an emergency case and an imminent threat, while referring to the link between climate change and human rights.

She called on the young parliamentarians to use the various legislation tools to reduce the effects of climate change as a matter of existential challenge.

Tamar Chugoshvili, the parliamentary expert and first vice deputy speaker of Goergia’s parliament, reviewed during one of Thursday’s sessions a report on parliamentary work in the field of climate.

She pressed for providing tools that can evaluate parliamentary participation in an effective manner, so that participation is considered positive, especially in terms of support and communication with many other institutions.

She also called for establishing a general mechanism to advance efforts through the participation of ordinary individuals and introducing them to parliamentary activities and works through various means.

Chugoshvili underscored the need to “improve performance and establish evaluation mechanisms on climate action to maintain public participation, stressing that participation is not limited to parliamentarian figures.



UN Says It's Ready to Ramp Up Delivery of Desperately Needed Aid to Gaza

A Palestinian man rides a donkey-pulled cart along a street on a misty morning in Khan Yunis in the northern Gaza Strip on January 17, 2025, as Israel's security cabinet is expected to approve a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
A Palestinian man rides a donkey-pulled cart along a street on a misty morning in Khan Yunis in the northern Gaza Strip on January 17, 2025, as Israel's security cabinet is expected to approve a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
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UN Says It's Ready to Ramp Up Delivery of Desperately Needed Aid to Gaza

A Palestinian man rides a donkey-pulled cart along a street on a misty morning in Khan Yunis in the northern Gaza Strip on January 17, 2025, as Israel's security cabinet is expected to approve a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
A Palestinian man rides a donkey-pulled cart along a street on a misty morning in Khan Yunis in the northern Gaza Strip on January 17, 2025, as Israel's security cabinet is expected to approve a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)

The United Nations said Wednesday that it’s ready to ramp up the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza following a ceasefire agreement and urged the removal of major security and political obstacles so supplies can reach all Palestinians in need.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the announcement of a deal to pause the fighting “a critical first step” and told reporters that the UN’s top priority must be to ease the tremendous suffering caused by the conflict triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in southern Israel, The Associated Press said.
“The humanitarian situation is at catastrophic levels,” he said. “From our side, we will do whatever is humanly possible, aware of the serious challenges and serious constraints that we will be facing.”
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said aid agencies have been mobilizing supplies in preparation for a ceasefire to scale up deliveries of food, medical supplies and other key items.
Less than half of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are functional, water production is at a quarter of capacity, 95% of school buildings have been damaged or destroyed and nearly all of Gaza’s 2.1 million people are facing high levels of food insecurity, said Catherine Russell, executive director of the UN children’s agency UNICEF.
The top UN humanitarian official for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, met with senior Israeli and Palestinian officials in recent days to discuss how to increase aid after a ceasefire agreement, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday.
Kaag’s meetings focused on trying to overcome challenges to deliveries that could remain even after the deal, including gunmen stripping convoys of aid, Israeli restrictions on access to Gaza, road damage, unexplored ordnance, fuel shortages and a lack of telecommunications equipment, he said.
The UN humanitarian office reported Tuesday that “Israeli authorities continue to deny UN-led efforts to reach people with vital assistance,” Dujarric said. In northern Gaza, where Israel launched its latest offensive, the UN has been denied access to deliver food supplies since Dec. 20, he said.
In addition to the lawlessness, the United Nations faces a major political obstacle. Its humanitarian operation in Gaza depends on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, which Israel’s parliament voted to ban from operating in the Palestinian territories. That legislation takes effect on Jan. 28.
Guterres has said there is no UN agency that can replace UNRWA, and if it is banned from operating, Israel as the occupying power in the Palestinian territories must take responsibility for providing aid.
UN officials said it’s imperative that the ceasefire deal is fully implemented and aid is allowed to flow freely.
“With the collapse of essential services across Gaza, we must act urgently to save lives and help children recover,” Russell of UNICEF said in a statement.
Guterres said the United Nations expects its efforts to be matched by other humanitarian organizations, the private sector and government initiatives.
David Miliband, head of the International Rescue Committee, said aid groups must be given full access and adequate funding to rush aid to Gaza’s people after 15 months with limited food, clean water and medical care. He said his organization would quickly ramp up efforts: “The needs are immense and need urgent attention.”
Jan Egeland, a former UN humanitarian chief who heads the Norwegian Refugee Council, said, “Israel must immediately lift all restrictions on aid and humanitarian agencies to avert famine-like conditions and ensure access to shelter, food, and medical care for all in need.”
He called on the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and other nations “to make sure Israel does keep all crossings open, enabling a sustained flow of aid that can alleviate further suffering.”
US President Joe Biden, speaking in Washington, said, “The surge of humanitarian assistance into Gaza will begin. And the innocent people can have a greater access to these vital supplies.