AP Speaker Calls for Common Indicators to Measure Sustainble Development

Arab Parliament (AP) speaker, Adel Al-Asoomi called for the launch of common indicators to measure sustainable development and human rights, as they considered two sides of the same coin, with the aim to improve human reality, based on the fact that development is itself a human right.

This came during his speech at the opening of an International Conference on Sustainable Development, organized by the Arab League, the Arab Network for National Human Rights Institutions, and the National Council for Women in Egypt. It also witnessed the participation of the UNDP and ESCWA.

Al-Asoomi emphasized the closely linked relationship between the realization of the sustainable development agenda and respect for and promotion of human rights, noting that are many indicators that reflect this close connection, notably reducing social disparities and countering poverty, the empowerment and capacity-building of youth and women, education development and its system reform, employment creation, integration of people with special abilities into public policies, legislation and other rights with a developmental dimension.

Moreover, Al-Asoomi also underlined the role of Arab parliamentarians in promoting the upgrading of the Arab human rights system in accordance with the criteria and requirements for achieving sustainable development; he added that this is a matter of great interest in the current strategy of the AP, which is reflected in the establishment of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Sustainable Development and the Arab Observatory for Human Rights.

In addition, the Arab Parliament speaker renewed the call for the launch of an Arab digital platform for sustainable development, bringing together the Arab Parliament, Arab League, national parliaments, the private sector, and civil society institutions, as well as other stakeholders, to advance Arab efforts to achieve sustainable development goals within the framework of the obligation to promote and protect the principles of human rights.