Southern Sudan legislators tour Europe
December 19, 2007 (BRUSSELS) — A parliamentary delegation from Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly, and Southern Sudan State Assemblies visited the Flemish Parliaments in the context of a European tour on December 13.
The Southern Sudan legislators’ delegation, which was led by Mr. Lual Lual Lawrence, the Deputy Speaker of the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly, is in Europe for a study tour to acquaint themselves with the theory and practice of parliamentary democracy within EU member states.
In Belgium, the study visit took the southern Sudanese parliamentarians to the European Parliament, the Flemish Parliament, where Vice-President of the Association of European Parliamentarians for Africa (AWEPA) and Flemish parliamentarian, Mrs. Miet Smet, gave them an expository presentation on how the autonomous Flemish parliament and government function in relation to the Belgian Federal structures.
The lawmakers also visited the newly opened government of South Sudan Liaison Office, and the Embassy of the Sudan. At the Liaison Office of the government of Southern Sudan, Dr. Francis G. Nazario, principal of the office welcomed them and briefed them about the role of the office in facilitating such visits.
This study tour is part of a wide capacity building effort sponsored by AWEPA in conjunction with other EU institutions of democracy, which support and facilitate the development of parliamentary democratic institutions throughout Africa by sharing and exchanging experiences and ideas.
The week-long tour of Europe will also take the southern parliamentarians to the Netherlands, where they are expected to meet Dutch government officials, and members of the Dutch parliament, as they build up their understanding of the different levels of decision making in parliamentary democracies within the European Union.
(ST)