The UAE’s hosting of the Global Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament, which will begin on Monday in Abu Dhabi, reflects the country’s model of tolerance, co-existence and openness to other nations and their people, as well as its leading role in strengthening peace, security, and humanitarian and development aid, a number of Women Speakers of parliaments said.

Women Speakers from Namibia, Uganda, Mauritius and Argentina praised the Federal National Council, FNC, on the success of its parliamentary diplomacy to win the bid to host the summit, a first of its kind, which would discuss a host of issues.

They also lauded the key role of the FNC at international parliamentary sessions where it voices significant parliamentary issues.

"I am looking forward to attending the summit and we will discuss a lot of issues regarding women’s empowerment and development," said Margret Mensah-Williams, Speaker of the Namibian Parliament.

The UAE’s experience in implementing women’s empowerment would inspire the participants, she noted. "The women must be at the forefront of this issue, and look forward to the Abu Dhabi Declaration that will be issued by the forthcoming summit."

Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga, Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda, said, "The summit will be an opportunity to understand the Arab world, the region and world issues. It will also be an opportunity to learn from each other to improve many things and to share experiences and develop solutions."

Santi Bai Hanoomanjee, Speaker of the National Assembly of Mauritius, congratulated the UAE’s FNC for hosting and organising the summit. The summit will come up with solutions for several issues that concern the whole world and not just an individual state, she said.

Marta Gabriela Michetti, Vice President of Argentina and President of the Senate, stressed the importance of the summit, which would allow participants to share a fruitful dialogue on pressing issues such as economic growth, poverty, conflicts, terrorism, drug trafficking and organised crime.

Saber Chowdhury, President of Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU, stressed that the Abu Dhabi Declaration would be a roadmap that "will lead us to the future."

"The Inter-Parliamentary Union has been working for 40 years to support political participation of women through monitoring the improvement in this area," said Martin Chungong, Secretary-General of IPU. "We encourage the reforms that could help increase the number of women in parliaments. We are working with the authorities in different countries to find out how they can reform the legislative structure to allow more women to enter the parliaments," he added.