An achievement for the Knesset in the international arena: During the tense days in the south, the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Gabriela Cuevas Barron, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Patricia Espinosa, senior officials of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), Anders Jonsson and Pradeep Kakkattil, and 57 heads of members of parliament confirmed their arrival at the Knesset next week. They are participating in a conference on promoting innovation, which will take place from Tuesday, 20 November through Thursday, 22 November.

 

This is the first time Israel will be hosting a gathering of the IPU. 

 

Knesset Speaker Yuli Yoel Edelstein: "I am proud and excited to host for the first time an important conference of this inter-parliamentary organization in which many countries are members. The IPU approached the Knesset to head the conference on innovation because it views Israel as a "start-up nation," and I am sure that the visiting members of parliament will draw inspiration and ideas from the Knesset that will be implemented later in their countries. This is an important milestone for Israel and an important reinforcement for the Knesset and its cooperation with parliaments around the world.

 

The conference program includes panels with Knesset Members and parliamentarians from around the world, meetings and lectures with the Speaker of the Knesset, Knesset Director General Albert Sakharovich, Knesset Secretary General Yardena Meller-Horovitz, directors of innovation policy of technology, healthcare, and environmental protection organizations worldwide, the director of the Society for International Development—Israel Branch (SID), and the Director of the Israel Innovation Authority. The program also includes a tour at the Peres Center for Peace entitled, "Innovation and People with Disabilities," a tour of the Shafdan plant in Rishon LeZion, which will demonstrate innovation in the field of water, a tour in Jerusalem, and more. 

 

Confirmed participants include delegations from Bosnia-Herzegovina, France, Hungary, Italy, Serbia, Sweden, and Vietnam.