[This is the version of this document from 17 May 2019.]
THE PAN-AFRICAN PARLIAMENT,CONSIDERING Article 17 of the Constitutive Act of the African Union, which establishes the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) to ensure the full participation of the people of Africa in the development and economic integration of the continent;CONSIDERING also Article 3 of the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community Relating to the Pan-African Parliament, and Rule 4 (a) of the Rules of Procedure of the Pan-African Parliament, which empowers the PAP to facilitate the implementation of policies, objectives and programmes of the African Union and to oversee their effective implementation;NOTING that the Member States are duty-bound to ensure the social security of people by creating a conducive environment that allows them to access basic needs such as education, water, housing, health coverage;NOTING ALSO that the right to health and medical care is guaranteed to all persons by several international and national legal instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the African Charter of Human Rights and Peoples, the African Charter of Rights and Welfare of the Child and the Protocol to the African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights relating to women's rights (Maputo Protocol);NOTING FURTHER that, for every USD of investment in vaccine acquisition, the economic benefits are in the order of USD 44 and that immunisation ensures better growth for children, in addition to saving several lives;WELCOMING the commitment by African Union Member States to ensure better healthcare for the continent's socio-economic development through the Catalytic Framework to eliminate HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria by 2030 and the implementation of the African Union Declaration on Universal Access to Immunization adopted on 31 January 2017;IN ACCORDANCE WITH Rule 5(b), (c) and (d) of the Rules of Procedure of the Pan-African Parliament, which empowers the PAP to, inter alia, organize debate, discuss, express an opinion, make recommendations and take resolutions on the objectives and on any matters relating to the African Union and its organs, Regional Economic Communities, Member States and their organs and institutions;NOW HEREBY RESOLVES TO:1.URGE Parliamentarians to exercise their mandate to advocate for increased budget allocations to social security and immunisation programmes;2.URGE ALSO Parliamentarians to play their full role in monitoring government action in monitoring and implementing state commitments at the international, continental, regional and national levels for access universal immunization for the well-being of populations;3.ESTABLISH the African Parliamentarians' Caucus on Immunization, which shall operate under the same rules as those applicable to the Tuberculosis Caucus.Adopted in Midrand, South Africa17 May 2019
