'Akilisi Pohiva

'Akilisi Pohiva,  the People's Representative No. 1 for Tongatapu has been declared the recipient of the Defender of  Democracy Award for 2013, by the Parliamentarians for Global Action PGA.

A letter inviting 'Akilisi to receive his award at a ceremony to be held at Bogota, Colombia from 9-10 December was read in the Tongan Parliament this morning, 24 October.

The Speaker of the House, Lord Fakafanua and members of the Tongan Parliament were also invited to attend the occasion which will be held in conjunction with the Annual Parliamentary Forum of PGA.

An economy air-fare and all expenses of 'Akilsi to attend the award presentation ceremony will be paid for by PGA.

The expenses of the Speaker and a Tongan delegation will be paid for by the Tongan parliament.

Following a long debate over the expense of sending a Tongan parliamentarian delegation to Bogota, which was estimated to be about $20,000 per head, the House voted in favor for 'Akilisi to be accompanied by a member of his family, and for the Speaker to be accompanied by three members and a secretary.

The Defender of Democracy Award DOD is presented annually to individuals who, through their own commitment and active engagement, have made significant progress in strengthening democracy and democratic practices.

The winners of the 2012 DOD Award were Sister Simone Campbell, Italy and Ms. Khady Koita, France.

Sister Simone Campbell was the executive Director of NETWORK, a National Catholic Social Justice Lobby organization.

Ms. Khady Koita was the founder and the President of La PALABRE which seek to defend the human rights of women and children by fighting against all harmful traditional practices affecting their health through education and training. For over 20 years, she has been at the forefront of the fight against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and forced marriage.

The PGA is non-profit, non-partisan international network of over 1000 legislators from about 130 parliaments around the world. PGA promotes peace, democracy, rule of law, human rights, sustainable development and population issues by informing, convening, and mobilizing parliamentarians to realize these goals.

The PGA head office is at the UN Headquarter, New York, USA.