Riya Mala 
Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade, Lenora Qereqeretabua.[Photo: FILE]
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade, Lenora Qereqeretabua, yesterday chaired the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association partner side-event at the Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting held at the Sheraton Fiji Golf & Beach Hotel in Nadi.
The event, themed “Working Together to Respect Human Rights and Humanitarian Law,” provided a platform for constructive dialogue among key stakeholders who share a common goal of building an inclusive, sustainable and prosperous Commonwealth through strong legislative policies and principles.
The panel featured distinguished speakers including Dr Karen Brewer, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association; Professor Kingsley Abbott of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London; Megan Rock, Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross Regional Delegation in the Pacific; Scader Louis from the Commonwealth Disabled People’s Forum; and Stephen Thiru, President of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association.
Qereqeretabua says she was honoured to chair the session in her capacity as the Pacific representative on the Steering Committee of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Network.
She also acknowledged the CPA for its longstanding support to the Fiji Parliament, highlighting recent self-assessments conducted under the CPA’s Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures and Gender Sensitive Parliaments programme.
The Assistant Minister noted that this year’s theme is both timely and relevant, as the global community faces growing challenges related to backsliding on democracy, human rights and humanitarian law.
Stream the best of Fiji on VITI+. Anytime. Anywhere.
