Seventy per cent of the people walking on the streets in East Africa are jobles, the Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Daniel Fred Kidega has said.
“Statistics in East Africa reveals that 7 out of the 10 persons you see walking in the streets are jobless, while another 6 out of 10 live in informal settlements. Yet, the largest population, the youth, constitute about 8 out of 10 persons and their age range is below 30 years”, Such is replicable in many parts of the globe”, Rt.Hon. Kidega noted.
The Speaker was addressing the 136th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly (IPU) taking place in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The annual event which is themed: ‘Redressing inequalities: Delivering on dignity and well-being for all’ brings together over 50 Speakers and 1400 legislators from the globe.
Hon Kidega implored global Parliamentarians to pay more attention in ensuring promotion of economic stimulus programmes that address social challenges and support local value chains in a bid to narrow the widening poverty gaps and redress inequalities.
The Speaker called on Parliaments to enact relevant legislation to make greater impact. He informed the convention that EALA had legislated a number of pieces that protect society and address inequalities including; the EAC Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2016, the EAC Gender, Equity and Equality Bill, 2016, the EAC Conflict Management Bill, 2011 and the EAC Human and Peoples Rights Act 2011.
He said the East African Community region had similarly been gravely affected by inequalities. “The State of East Africa Report 2016 depicts not all citizens have seen or felt the benefits of increasing national GDP figures at the individual/family front. If anything, life continues to be harsher and harder. The economic boom has not generated the jobs as was expected, while levels of poverty and malnutrition remain high”, the Speaker said, while remaining optimistic the trend could be reversed.
In many countries, Rt Hon Kidega said, fruits of economic development increasingly failed to reach those who deserve the same – instead benefitting companies, financial services and vested interests. He said the rate of unemployment in the globe was similarly high.
The 136th IPU was opened by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Bangladesh, Hon Sheikh Hasina at the Parliament of Bangladesh. The Prime minister thanked delegates for electing Bangladesh as the chair of both Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) and Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA). The Prime minister mentioned her government’s short, medium and long-term initiatives for the development of the country and said the government is making stride to build the country in a planned way.
“The 100 Million young people are prepared to make the world a better place. Let us not make them frustrated. They are the face of change and let us globalise human compassion”, he said.
The Emergency items include a call for urgent international action to save millions of people from famine and drought in parts of Africa and the Yemen jointly presented by the Republic of Kenya together with Belgium and the United Kingdom. Speaker of the Senate of Kenya, Rt Hon Ekwe Ethuro, presented the merged proposal to the Assembly yesterday.
“We need to request for international organisations to come to the aid of the affected nations. Without global action, people will simply starve to death”, the Speaker remarked. The Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda, Rt Hon Rebecca Kadaga and the Speaker of the Burundi National Assembly, Rt Hon Pascal Nyabenda also addressed the Assembly.
In attendance also are a delegation of the Parliament of Rwanda led by the Deputy Speaker and legislators from the Transitional Assembly of the Republic of South Sudan.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is the global organization of national Parliaments, and EALA is an Associate Member of the IPU.
