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.



Egypt Deports Dozens More Foreign Nationals Heading for March to Gaza

 Palestinians carry bags containing food and humanitarian aid packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed organization, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians carry bags containing food and humanitarian aid packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed organization, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP)
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Egypt Deports Dozens More Foreign Nationals Heading for March to Gaza

 Palestinians carry bags containing food and humanitarian aid packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed organization, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians carry bags containing food and humanitarian aid packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed organization, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP)

Egyptian authorities on Friday detained or deported more foreign nationals seeking to join a pro-Palestinian march to Gaza.

Hundreds of international activists arrived in Egypt this week for the Global March to Gaza, an initiative aimed at pressuring Israel to end its blockade of the enclave.

Organizers said on Thursday people from 80 countries were set to begin the march to Egypt's Rafah Crossing with Gaza.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry has said visits to the Rafah border region must be coordinated in advance with Egyptian embassies or government entities and underlined the need to follow official procedures to ensure safety and security.

Organizers say they coordinated with Egyptian authorities and have urged the government to release those detained.

Groups of foreign participants were being held at checkpoints, and sit-ins had begun at two locations on the road leading to the Rafah crossing, organizers said.

They said police were stopping vehicles about 30 km (20 miles) from Ismailia, close to the Sinai peninsula, en route to Rafah, nearly 300 km away. Police were forcing passengers with non-Egyptian passports to disembark, they said.

Security sources confirmed that at least 88 individuals had been detained or deported from Cairo airport and other locations.

Officials at Cairo International Airport said new directives were issued to airlines requiring all passengers travelling to Egypt between June 12 and 16 to hold confirmed return tickets.

Three airport sources told Reuters on Thursday at least 73 foreign nationals had been deported on a flight to Istanbul after authorities said they violated entry protocols, and that about 100 more were at the airport awaiting deportation.

Israel's defense minister told the Israeli military on Wednesday to prevent demonstrators entering Gaza from Egypt, and said the march was a threat to Israeli and regional security.