One of the largest annual gatherings of Commonwealth Parliamentarians took place from 22 to 29 September 2019 at the 64th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) hosted by the CPA Uganda Branch and the Parliament of Uganda. The conference was hosted by the CPA President Designate, Rt Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda.

The Conference was held at Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort under the theme, “Adaption, engagement and evolution of Parliaments in a rapidly changing Commonwealth”.

Over 1000 guests attended the event and they included Members of Parliament, Clerks of Parliament, Staff of Parliament, Speakers of Parliament and their accompanying persons of the Commonwealth Country.

The conference topics focused on the following issues: climate change, innovations in parliaments, facilitation for Persons with a disability, youth round table, CPA Lecture, urbanization, sexual harassment, separation of powers, post-legislative scrutiny, and CPA Benchmarks for democratic legislatures.

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) organises its annual Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) each year. This was the 64th CPC. The Conference is regarded as one of the largest annual gatherings of Commonwealth Parliamentarians, Uganda first hosted the conference in 1967, just five years after attaining independence.

Briefley About Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) was founded in 1911 as the Empire Parliamentary Association and was run in the United Kingdom.Originally, it comprised Australia, Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

It would later change name in 1948, a plan that saw the coming on board of most Commonwealth. It also has an independent, fully fledged secretariat based in London, financed by all member states.The CPA in 1989 created the constitutional posts of Patron and Vice-Patron.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Head of the Commonwealth, consented to become Patron. The position of Vice-Patron is reserved for the Head of State or Government of the CPA Branch hosting the plenary conference.The Association currently has approximately 180 branches and is divided into nine regions – Africa, Asia; Australia, British Islands and Mediterranean, Canada, Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic, India, Pacific, and South-East Asia. The CPA Headquarters Secretariat is based in London.