AKP Phnom Penh, January 30, 2021 --

Cambodia has told the Francophone Parliamentary Assembly that all countries should have access to safe vaccines to help counter the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The health of our populations should be the first priority for each of our governments,” senior National Assembly member H.E. Dr. Pen Pannha said during a video conference with member parliaments on Friday evening.

The chairman of the National Assembly's Legislation and Justice Commission said spending more on health systems was “crucial to respond to the current crisis and to prepare for other crises of the same size in the future.

“Access to safe vaccines must be for all. Fair and equitable distribution is needed for all countries of the world,” he said.

“No one should set aside this right of access to health protection, especially for vulnerable groups.”

H.E. Dr. Pen Pannha was speaking during a plenary session of the francophone assembly which brought together 350 participants from 55 member parliaments.

The plenary session, which opened on Thursday, approved a request from the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva to join the assembly as an observer.

Delegates also approved the French Pacific territory of Wallis and Futuna as a new member.

Other members from the Asia-Pacific region are Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam along with Vanuatu and the French territories of New Caledonia and French Polynesia.

Chaired by Cote d’Ivoire National Assembly President H.E. Amadou Soumahoro, the two-day plenary session adopted 10 resolutions on Friday evening.

These covered universal and equitable vaccine distribution, public health systems, education during crises, freedom of the press, cyber-violence towards women and children, food waste, climate change and the political situations in Burundi and the Central African Republic.             

In a report to the meeting, senior Lao National Assembly member H.E. Eksavang Vongvichit said Vietnam had offered to host the next regional meeting of the assembly in Hanoi during the fourth quarter of this year.

Laos currently heads the Asia-Pacific section of the francophone assembly while Cambodia is administrative secretary for the region.

(Photo: National Assembly)

By Sao Da