Parliamentary Assembly January session: humanitarian crisis and hostages in Gaza on the agenda

Debates on the humanitarian crisis concerning women, children and the hostages in Gaza; and on the need for a renewed rules-based international order - including a statement by Marko Bošnjak, President of the European Court of Human Rights - are among the highlights of the winter plenary session of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), taking place in Strasbourg from 27 to 31 January.

The Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Luc Frieden, will address the parliamentarians and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Chair of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers, Xavier Bettel, will address the Assembly and take questions in the context of Luxembourg's Presidency.

His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will also address the Assembly, as will Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

The presentation of a report on multi-perspectivity in remembrance and history education will be followed by a ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp.

Other highlights include the observation of parliamentary elections in Georgia; immigration as one of the answers to Europe's demographic ageing; the risks to human rights and the rule of law posed by mercenaries and private military companies; regulating content moderation on social media to safeguard freedom of expression; and age-based discrimination against older persons.

The Assembly will also debate the Council of Europe's draft convention for the protection of the profession of lawyer, with a statement by the Rt Hon Lord Hermer KC, Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland, as well as reports on women in the economy: employment, entrepreneurship and gender-responsive budgeting; "long Covid" and access to the right to health; and the progress of the Assembly's monitoring procedure.