Dinner
speech by Hon'ble Foreign Minister in honour of the
delegates of the Parliamentarians for Global Action
(PGA) to the Second Sub-Regional South Asian Parliamentary
Seminar on HIV/AIDS on 25 January 2006 at 1930 hours
at State Guest House, Padma.
Distinguished Parliamentarians,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let
me first of all, extend to you a warm welcome to Bangladesh,
a country with a functioning democracy, where parliamentarians
have a crucial role in norm-setting and institution
building. Democratic governance and the rule of law
are no longer the preserves of the developed societies
- they have become the norm of civilized existence.
For the first time in history, two-third of the global
population live in societies where they have secured,
in President Lincoln's words, "governments of
the people, by the people and for the people."
When
Abraham Lincoln died in 1865, less than five percent
of the global population had representative governments.
In the course of the next 150 years, and more so in
the last fifty years, the world has transformed significantly
in terms of democratic governance. We, the Parliamentarians,
can indeed take pride in our role in the democratic
evolution of our societies.
Our
role, however, is not limited to debating issues and
enacting laws. More importantly, we must provide the
impetus for change that positively impacts on our
people. In an increasingly inter-dependent world,
we can not ignore the cross border ramifications of
the laws that we adopt. Parliamentarians must consider
their wider impacts as well. This makes the Parliamentarians
for Global Action (PGA) a very effective forum for
dealing with transnational issues, including the menace
of HIV/AIDS.
In
its over twenty-five years of existence, PGA brought
into contact legislators, from across borders and
party affiliations, and strengthened their capacity
to pursue international peace, social justice and
development. PGA can compliment the efforts of the
international community in furthering peace as well
as economic and social development. It offers an effective
channel of communication among legislators who can
look at issues, not through the bureaucratic lens
so to speak, but from the standpoint of greater transnational
and global interest.
From
this vantage point, participation of the PGA members
in the Second Sub-Regional South Asian Parliamentary
Seminar on HIV/AIDS in Dhaka would surely provide
useful guidance and policy recommendations that would
help the regional countries fight the menace of HIV/AIDS.
I hope that your visit to Bangladesh and your participation
in the Seminar would be productive. The Parliamentarians
of Bangladesh would also benefit from your rich and
varied experience and insight that would surely help
strengthen our national efforts for prevention of
HIV/AIDS.
I
thank you.
