18/09/2024 News
Parliamentary hearings on the humanitarian situation in the Middle East and on “Long Covid” were among items on the agenda of PACE’s Committee on Social, Health and Family Affairs, which met at the Portuguese Parliament in Lisbon on 12-13 September.
The hearing on “The humanitarian situation of (mainly) children and women in Gaza, the West Bank and in Israel”, held as part of a report on this topic being prepared by Saskia Kluit (Netherlands, SOC), heard from representatives of a number of NGOs working in the region, including Save the Children Europe, Médecins Sans Frontières and the British medical aid charity UK-Med.
A second hearing on “Long Covid” and access to the right to health, held as part of a report by Carmen Leyte (Spain, EPP/CD), heard from Spanish medical epidemiologist Joan B. Soriano and Chantal Britt of the NGO Long Covid Europe.
Members of the committee also viewed a short film “Beyond the screen: hidden voices of online abuse” produced by the Brave Movement – a survivor-centred global movement fighting to end childhood sexual violence – ahead of End Child Sexual Abuse Day (18 November).
The committee also approved reports on promoting a “right to food” for all and on the work of the Council of Europe Development Bank, due for plenary debate at the forthcoming Assembly session.
The Assembly’s Network of contact parliamentarians for a healthy environment also met separately with leading Portuguese officials involved in promoting sustainable energy for mobility and housing in the country, and undertook a field visit to Sintra.
