The 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference to be held under the distinguished patronage of the Speaker of Parliament, the Rt Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, will begin on Saturday, September 30, 2023.

The conference, expected to end on 6th October, 2023 will be held at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) under the theme “The Commonwealth Charter 10 years on: Values and Principles for Parliaments to Uphold”.

The conference is aimed at fostering dialogue and cooperation among member countries to address pressing global challenges within the context of Commonwealth values.

According to Clerk to Parliament, Cyril Kwabena Oteng Nsiah, who interacted with members of the media last Wednesday, the conference will emphasize the importance of parliamentary diplomacy in addressing these challenges and highlight the role of parliaments in shaping policies that benefit their citizens.

The 7-day Conference will be attended by Speakers and Presiding Officers, Parliamentarians, Clerks-to-Parliaments, Parliamentary Staff, and key stakeholders in the parliamentary governance sector.

The Parliament of Ghana expects to host about six hundred (600) delegates, observers and accompanying officials from 56 National branches (National Legislatures) and 111 Sub-National Branches (State/Provincial Legislatures) across the nine (9) geographic regions of the Commonwealth.

The 66th CPC will be held alongside other Conferences, Meetings, and Workshops at the Accra International Conference Centre, including the: 66th CPA General Assembly; Meetings of the CPA Executive Committee; 39th CPA Small Branches Conference; Meetings of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP); Meeting of Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD) networks; 57th Meeting of the Society of Clerks at the Table (SoCATT); and Presentation of the 2023 Commonwealth Parliamentarian of the Year awards.

Prior to the official opening of the Conference, there will be an Inaugural Lecture in memory of Hon. Emilia Monjowa Lifaka on Monday, 2nd October, 2023 from 19:00 to 20:00 GMT at the Accra International Conference Centre, Ghana.

This year’s conference will officially commence with an opening ceremony on Wednesday, 4th October, 2023 under the distinguished patronage of the President of the Republic of Ghana and Vice-Patron of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who is the keynote speaker.

The opening ceremony will be followed by workshops to discuss various topics relating to security, human rights, the environment, economy, gender, and other cross-cutting issues.

In September 2019, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), at its 64th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) held in Kampala, Uganda adopted a request from Ghana among those from other commonwealth nations to host the 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference.