The assembly’s 143rd session is in Madrid and is being held in the presence of King Felipe VI, IPU President Duarte Pacheco, President of the Spanish Congress of Deputies Meritxell Batet, Senate President Ander Gil, and parliament speakers and delegations from 179 countries.

Shoura Council Speaker Abdullah Al-Asheikh is leading the Saudi delegation.

The Spanish king gave a speech at the opening ceremony, where he welcomed participants and hoped that the parliaments would achieve their goals during the session.

He also hoped that parliaments would achieve consensus and increase cooperation among states.

He said that taking the necessary health measures was an extremely important step for parliaments to restore social and economic life across the globe. The function of parliaments extended to take decisions, build agreements, and achieve consensus.

The Saudi Shoura Council delegation is taking part in standing committee meetings to discuss sustainable development, funding, trade, democracy, human rights, peace and security, and UN affairs. There are also topics that will be included in other sub forums, to be held on the sidelines of the meetings.

Secretary-general of the Saudi Shoura Council, Mohammed bin Dakhil Al-Mutairi, will take part in the meetings of the secretaries-general of the national parliaments, which are expected to reach decisions to address the issues on the agenda by the end of the session.

Parliamentarians will discuss the current challenges facing democracy, including overcoming division and building community.

The standing and subcommittees will discuss the role of parliaments in addressing pressing issues related to the growing polarization and the spread of misinformation through social media.

Parliamentarians will have the opportunity to exchange ideas on how to engage more meaningfully with the public and how to ensure decision-making is as inclusive and representative as possible and how to deal with different threats.

The meetings of the general assembly and governing council continue until Nov. 30.