Madrid, Nov. 29, 2021, SPA – The 143rd session of the general assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), its Governing Council and the four Standing Committees, currently going at the headquarters of the Spanish parliament in Madrid, witnessed vivid participation of the Saudi Shura Council delegation, led by its speaker Sheikh Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al Al-Sheikh. For his part, Secretary General of the Shura Council Mohammed bin Dakhil Al-Mutairi joined the secretaries general of IPU national parliaments at a meeting during which they reviewed issues related to the election of the president of the General Assembly, parliament- employees-related subjects, the roles of secretaries general in parliaments and means to develop them in the 21st century. They also discussed performance assessment for parliamentarian officials and achievement measurement. At the level of the four Standing Committees of IPU, the Sustainable Development Committee held meetings over the past two days with the participation of its member Dr. Maha bint Abdullah Al-Sanan, as representative of the Saudi Shura Council whereas the committee discussed means to enhance information and communication technologies as a supporting factor for the education sector during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Dr. Al-Sanan submitted a working paper, in which she noted that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has prepared a national strategy for digital transformation to improve the infrastructure and increase the quality of digital services, in addition to offering training and rehabilitation necessary for this transformation. Dr. Al-Sanan also pointed out that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has launched a set of solutions that contributed to increasing the percentage of online education through launching educational platforms and computer applications and programs that boosted the efficiency of this type of education, referring to the role of the Shura Council in this system. Meanwhile, Khalid bin Mohammed Al-Bawardi, another Shura Council representative, took part in the meeting of IPU Peace and International Security Standing Committee, which reviewed the role of parliaments in facing threats of changing the course of arms transfers. For her part, Shura Council member Huda bint Abdulrahman Al-Helisi joined the United Nations Affairs Standing Committee meeting during which global inoculation campaign that seeks to end the COVID-19 pandemic, and several issues by the World Health Organization and World Trade Organization were discussed. --SPA 19:46 LOCAL TIME 16:46 GMT 0025 www.spa.gov.sa/w1657733