The 83rd Session of the Executive Committee of the African Parliamentary Union (APU) began on Wednesday at the headquarters of Morocco’s Lower House in Rabat.

The executive committee, an organ of the APU, is composed of three representatives of each national group, elected by the APU conference for two years.

The committee follows up on the implementation of resolutions and recommendations of the conference, adopts the order of business, ratifies the budget, and documents relations with regional and international organisations.

The two-day session will examine the draft order of business of the 47th conference of the union scheduled for the end of the year in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, and that of the 84th Session of the APU Executive Committee.

The African Parliamentary Union is a continental parliamentary organisation established in Abidjan on February 13, 1976.

It serves as a forum for dialogue and cooperation among national parliaments of Africa.

The 41-member parliamentary organisation aims to reinforce joint parliamentary action and promote peace, democracy, good governance and sustainable development.

The union also aims to encourage communication between African parliamentarians and between them and their counterparts from other countries.

(MAP/NAN)