Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. A meeting of the Standing Committee on Social and Cultural Affairs of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly was held virtually on July 14, 2021.

The virtual meeting was chaired by Dr. Masoumeh Pashaee, APA Vice-President, Head of the APA Delegation in the Islamic Parliament of Iran, and was attended by more than 60 members of parliaments from 20 member countries.

Mr. Ts.Munkh-Orgil, Member of the State Great Hural (Parliament), represented the State Great Hural of Mongolia at the meeting.

Dr. Masomeh Pashaee, Chair of the Standing Committee, Ms. Asuman Erdogan, representative of the APA President and Head of the APA Turkish Group in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, and Dr. Mohammad Reza Majidi, Secretary General of the APA, gave remarks at the opening ceremony.

At the outset of the meeting, participants made a presentation on the situation and status of women parliamentarians in Asia. A previous resolution of the APA decided to establish a Special Committee of APA Women Parliamentarians under the Standing Committee on Social and Cultural Affairs.

The meeting was held with aims to promote cultural diversity in Asia, protect cultural heritage, promote Asian integration through information and communication technologies, ensure health equality, improve the legal environment and cooperation in combating the smuggling of cultural items, and combat drug trafficking as well as to find effective ways of cooperation in these directions. In another development, participants present at this Standing Committee meeting considered over 13 draft resolutions which encompassed nearly all the issues of their interest.

Founded in 2006, the APA has 44 members and 14 observers. APA provides a forum to parliamentarians to exchange views, ideas and experiences for developing common strategies for promotion of peace in Asia and the world; foster cooperation and coordination among parliamentarians in Asia for promotion of peace and respect for human rights and humanitarian principles; provide a forum for parliamentarians and civil society organizations for promotion of peace. The APA aims to promote freedom, social justice, peace, security and friendship to meet the objectives of the Assembly; share access to up-to-date knowledge in various areas and promoting such knowledge among the members in order to promote the progress and equality of its members; exploit cooperatively vast human and natural resources and securing the interests of all members and recognizing their permanent authority on their natural resources; provide welfare facilities for the health and nutrition of its members' population; and contribute to integration among the Asian nations in order to utilize the potentialities of the region.

Previously in May, Mr. Ts.Tserenpuntsag, a member of the State Great Hural, represented the State Great Hural of Mongolia at a virtual meeting of the Assembly's Standing Committee on Economic and Sustainable Development where the parliamentarians discussed the role and engagement of parliaments in the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals within the scope of the Standing committee mandate, reports the Foreign Relations Department of the State Great Hural Secretariat.