Cape Town - The Western Cape legislature will co-host the 2022 Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) residency programme in Cape Town, from Monday to Friday, October 28.
The programme, which will be attended by 35 MPs, representing parliaments from across the Commonwealth, is intended to enhance the professional development skills of parliamentarians.
Speaker Masizole Mnqasela said the delegates were from Belize, Gambia, Ghana, Jersey, Malawi, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, Zambia and South Africa.
This CPA programme is the second of two Parliamentary Academy residency programmes being held in 2022 and will examine how MPs can enhance their soft skills on topics ranging from leadership and strategic thinking to communication and team management.
Mnqasela said that over five days, the delegates would develop universal skills that were applicable in parliaments and in many different spheres.
The delegates will be mentored throughout the programme by current and former parliamentarians from across the CPA’s membership, including speakers and presiding officers from the Western Cape, KwaZuluNatal and Alberta, Canada, as well as experts in professional development.
CPA secretary-general Stephen Twigg said they had been influenced by the prevailing argument that an alternative approach to professional development training was to enhance soft skills such as communication, planning and time management.
Twigg said: “Such skills are arguably far more transferable and can support new or experienced parliamentarians in being better prepared to deal with the many challenges that may arise over the course of their careers, whether in Parliament or outside the parliamentary sphere.”
He said this was the first programme of its kind being offered by the CPA, which is an international community of 180 parliaments and legislatures working together to deepen the Commonwealth’s commitment to the highest standards of democratic governance.