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King orders Parly to ratify 28 international conventions

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LOBAMBA — His Majesty King Mswati III has ordered a joint sitting of both the House of Assembly and Senate.

The message from the throne was delivered by acting Prime Minister Majozi Sithole to senators and Members of Parliament (MPs) yesterday.

Senate President Gelane Zwane read the message to the senators. In the House of Assembly the message was read by Sithole.

The message stated that the King had summoned the parliamentarians based on his powers vested in Section 238 (2) of the Constitution of Swaziland.

His Majesty said the joint sitting should be held to ratify 28 international conventions.

The King spoke about the treaties during the recent People’s Parliament (Sibaya) and said they needed to be ratified by the country.

He said Swazis had to be consulted in the ratification process of these conventions.

Yesterday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Mtiti Fakudze tabled seven of the conventions before Senate adjourned.

The Senate President said she would meet Speaker in the House of Assembly Prince Guduza to decide on the starting time of the joint sitting.

United Nations instruments

  1. Optional protocol to the Conven- tion on the rights of the child on the sale of Children, Child Prosti- tution and Pornography, 2000 – DMP’s office.

2. Optional protocol to the conven- tion on the rights of the child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, 2000 - DPM’s office.

Governance issue

3. UN convention against trans- national Organised Crime, 2000 – PM’s Office.4. Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons es- pecially women and children, sup- plementing the United Nations con- vention against transnational orga- nised crime, 2000 – PM’s office. 5. Protocol against the smuggling of migrants by land, sea and air supplementing the UN convention against transnational organised crime, 2000 – PM’s office. 6. UN convention against corruption, 2003 – Ministry of Justice.Trade

7. United Nations convention on the law of the sea, 1982 – Ministry of Works.Environment

8. Rotterdam convention on the prior informed consent procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade, 1998 – Ministry of Tourism. Human rights issues

9. Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, 2007 – DMP’s office.10. Optional protocol on the rights of persons with disabilities, 2007 – DPM’s office.Financial issues

11. SADC protocol on finance and investment, 1996 – Ministry of Finance.Human rights

12. SADC Protocol on gender and development, 2008 – DPM’s officeAfrican Union. 13. African Charter on the rights and wel- fare of the child, 1990 – DPM’s office.14. The African Youth Charter, 2008 – Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth

Affairs.15. Convention on the Africa energy commission, 1980 – Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy.Other organisations –

children’S issues

16. Convention on protection of children and cooperation in respect of inter- country adoption – DPM’s office.Trade issues

17. The Kyoto protocol on amendment to the international convention on the simplification and harmonisation of customs procedures, 1999 – Ministry of Tourism.Agriculture

18. International treaty on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, 2001 – Ministry of Agriculture.UNESCO

19. Convention on wetlands of interna- tional importance especially waterfowl habitat, 1971 – Ministry of Tourism.20. Agreement on the conservation of African Eurasian Migratory water- birds, 1979 – Ministry of Tourism.21. Convention on the means of prohibit- ing and preventing the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property, 1970 – Ministry of Tourism.22. Convention on the protection and pro- motion of the diversity of cultural ex- pressions, 2005 – Ministry of Tourism.23. Convention for safeguarding of in tangible cultural heritage, 2003 – Ministry of Tourism.24. Convention on the conservation of migratory species of wild ani- mals – Ministry of Tourism.COMESA

25. Protocol relating to the fund for cooperation, compensation and development of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, 2002 – Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade.African Union Human Rights

26. African Union for the protection and assistance of internally displaced persons in Africa – Ministry of Home Affairs.27. Preferential agreement between the Common Market of South (MERCOSUR) and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), 2008 Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade.28. The statute of the International ato- mic energy agency, 1956 – Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy. 29. Protocol to the African Charter on human and people’s rights on the rights of women in Africa, 2004 – DPM’s office.


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- What is happening to the Harmonisation of Driver's Licences. This is affecting Swazis travelling to South Africa - why have we waited for 16 years to comply?
September 18, 2012, 2:20 pm, Celucolo

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