An Egyptian parliamentary delegation led by Speaker of the House of Representatives Hanafi Gibali left for Austria Saturday, where they will attend the fifth conference for the world's parliamentary speakers and the first international parliamentary summit on fighting terrorism, both scheduled between 5 and 10 September in the capital Vienna. The fifth conference for the world's parliamentary speakers will discuss several issues, including the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the future of democracy, fighting the spread of misleading information and the hate speech on internet, and the role of parliaments in supporting rational governance, a statement released by the House of Representatives said. The statement indicated that speaker Gibali and Egypt's delegation will also participate in the first international parliamentary summit on fighting terrorism and extremism. The summit is organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations. The summit is a window for MPs from around the world to discuss vital issues related to combating terrorism, providing support to the victims of terrorist crimes and the role of parliamentarians in fighting extremist agendas which lead to the spread of terrorism," the statement said. It will focus, in particular, on the proliferation of terrorist crimes in the African Coast and helping nations in this region to join efforts to find solutions to this problem. The idea of holding an international conference for the world's parliamentary speakers was first proposed in the year 2000. The Geneva-based Inter-parliamentary Union in collaboration with the United Nations decided that a conference for the world's parliamentary speakers be held each five years to draft "a parliamentary vision on international cooperation in the third millennium". The conference asks world parliaments to take measures towards achieving democracy, respecting human rights and promoting economic development. On the sidelines of the two conferences, Speaker Gibali will hold meetings with his counterparts from different countries.
