Broadcast: Within the framework of his visit to Geneva to hold talks with the senior leaders of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the President of the Arab Parliament, Adel bin Abdul Rahman Al-Asoumi, met with the Chairman of the Working Group on Science and Technology of the International Parliamentary Union, Michael Larev, and the meeting dealt with an exchange of views on ways Enhancing the role of parliamentarians in maximizing the benefits of recent developments in the field of science and technology, while avoiding their negative repercussions.

They touched on the Corona pandemic and the opportunities and challenges it provides for science and technology, as the two sides stressed the importance of a fair distribution of vaccines and the need for global solidarity in sharing scientific developments fairly.

Al-Osoumi stressed that the Arab Parliament pays great attention to this issue, as it is one of the non-traditional areas that require an effective role for parliamentarians regarding it, given the great potential it provides to Arab countries in all fields, pointing to the importance of benefiting from the accumulated experiences of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. In this regard, and discuss the idea of ​​establishing a working group in the Arab Parliament similar to that of the Union, within which cooperation between the Arab Parliament and the Inter-Parliamentary Union would be strengthened in this field.

 The President of the Arab Parliament commended this initiative, stressing the importance of this charter in employing science and technology to serve humanity in a safe and ethical manner, in a manner that takes into account respect for human rights and the privacy of different societies, and affirmed the Arab Parliament’s readiness for constructive cooperation on this initiative with the Working Group for Science and Technology of the Union Parliamentary International.

For his part, Lariff pointed out that the Arab world has a rich history of scientific discoveries, without which the West would not have reached the progress it is now due to the many scientific fields that were founded and discovered by Arab scientists. LaRive also put forward the idea of ​​developing a global charter for the ethical uses of science and technology, with special attention to respect for all cultures, stressing the importance of parliamentarians being among the first to support the development of this charter as the legitimate representatives of peoples.