In prelude to the formal opening of the 60th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, CPA Conference next week, the Conference of CPA Small Branches holds today, October 4, 2014, at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel.

House Speaker, Hon. Cavaye Yeguie Djibril, will open the meeting at 9 am on the theme, “Repositioning the Commonwealth for the post-2015 development agenda.”

It is expected that delegates, who are members of regional legislatures, will make their contributions on how to tackle development challenges in the CPA beyond the 2015 Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, which end in 2015.

These proposals will be used in enriching those of parliamentarians from national parliaments who meet next week. Nigeria and India boast the highest number of small branches, given their federal systems and state assemblies.

Meanwhile, as part of activities of the 60th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, Executive Committee and Small Branch members will meet today, October 3, 2014, at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel to prepare tomorrow’s events. Similarly, the Commonwealth Women’s Parliament Steering Committee and Coordinating Committee will also meet at the same venue.

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, CPA, links members of national, state, provincial and territorial parliaments and legislatures across the Commonwealth. Its mission is to promote the advancement of parliamentary democracy by enhancing knowledge and understanding of democratic governance.

It seeks to build an informed parliamentary community able to deepen the Commonwealth’s democratic commitment and to further cooperation among its parliaments and legislatures.

Due to their shared constitutional histories, most countries in the Commonwealth have similar legal and political systems. The Commonwealth requires its members to be functional democracies that respect human rights and the rule of law. Half of Commonwealth countries have the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy.

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association facilitates cooperation between legislatures while the Commonwealth Local Government Forum promotes good governance amongst local government officials.

Most Commonwealth members use the Common Law, which is modeled after English Law. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the Supreme Court of 14 Commonwealth countries.