text:
Volume 3, Issue Suppl 2
User assessments and the use of information from MomConnect, a mobile phone text-based information service, by pregnant women and new mothers in South Africa
Donald Skinner1,2,
Peter Delobelle3,
Michele Pappin4,
Desiree Pieterse1,5,
Tonya Marianne Esterhuizen6,
Peter Barron7,8,
Lilian Dudley4
1 Research on Health and Society Unit, Department of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
2 HIV, AIDS, STD and TB, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa
3 School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa
4 Community Health Division, Department of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
5 Research Unit, Ndlovu Care Group, Groblersdal, Limpopo, South Africa
6 Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
7 HIV/AIDS, TB and MCWH, National Department of Health, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
8 School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Correspondence to Dr Donald Skinner, Human Sciences Research Council; dskinner{at}hsrc.ac.za
MomConnect was designed to provide crucial health information to mothers during pregnancy and in the early years of child rearing in South Africa. The design drew on the success of the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action's programme in South Africa, as well as a growing list of mobile health (mHealth) interventions implemented internationally. Services such as MomConnect are dependent on user acceptability as all engagements are voluntary, meaning that tools have to be easy to use and useful to be successful. This paper describes the evaluation of the tool by pregnant women and new mothers using the tool. A purposive sample of 32 individual semistructured interviews and 7 focus groups were conducted, across five provinces in South Africa. All the sessions were transcribed and then analysed using a contextualised interpretative approach, with the assistance of Atlas.ti. The women were consistently positive about MomConnect, attaching high value to the content of the messages and the medium in which they were delivered. The system was found to work well, with minor problems in some language translations. Respondents were enthusiastic about the messages, stating that the information was of great use and made them feel empowered in their role as a mother, with some saving the messages to use as a resource or to share with others. The most significant problems related to network coverage. There was strong support for this intervention to continue. Given the user acceptability of mHealth interventions, MomConnect appeared to meet the target of identifying and responding to the recipient's needs.
qualitative study
prevention strategies
This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Mobile health has been found to make positive contributions to health in multiple settings, including maternal health.
Women were consistently positive about MomConnect, attaching high value to the content of the messages and the medium in which they were delivered.
The system was found to work well, with only minor problems in some language translations. The most significant problems related to network coverage.
Respondents were enthusiastic about the messages, stating that the information was of great use and made them feel empowered in their role as a mother, with some saving the messages to use as a resource or to share with others.
There was strong support for this intervention to continue and even to grow where possible.
The impact of mobile health (mHealth) has been well-researched in the developed world, but much less evaluation has been done in resource-limited settings. While mHealth can cover a wide range of interventions, the focus here will be on the use of text messaging. In resource-limited settings, specific contributions include the potential for task shifting, better use of resources and cost savings.1 2 Randomised trials evaluating mHealth, including the use of text message, have shown the ability of mHealth to address a range of health challenges, including maternal and child health,3–5 and have included trials in resource-limited countries.6–9 The set-up and maintenance costs can limit the affordability of mHealth and make evaluation essential,10 11 including user acceptability and support, which requires a different approach to looking at outcomes.12 13 Text-based interventions are dependent on user acceptability as all engagements by recipients are voluntary. For the tool to be used and to have an impact, it first has to be acceptable and usable by the target group, pregnant women and mothers.
A detailed development process for both the systems used in the interventions and the content, taking the target population into account and a relevant theoretical base, is crucial to the success of mHealth interventions, whether looking at measurable impacts or user acceptability.1 Some concerns have been reported in a systematic review, indicating that mHealth interventions in the public health field are often not developed in a systematic manner.14 The gaps in mHealth intervention development stem from the limited scale and scope of mHealth implementation and evaluation,15 and the current mHealth evidence base comprises mostly evidence from the field of computer science and not health, which is not sufficient to inform and influence stakeholders to invest resources in nationally scaled mHealth initiatives.2 16–18 For these tools to transition to being directly useful, the tools need high approval and acceptance from potential recipients.
MomConnect
MomConnect is a text service provided to pregnant women and new mothers. From the date that the pregnant woman registers her pregnancy at the clinic, she begins to receive messages in the language of her choice. There are standardly one to three messages a week, depending on the stage of the pregnancy. The messages continue until the child is 1 year old. It was expected that MomConnect would provide a valuable service to new mothers when registering their pregnancy at the local clinic, complementing the current set of services in empowering mothers to take care of their children. MomConnect was modelled on a similar texting intervention in South Africa,19 whereby text messages covering broad areas of child care and health were sent to pregnant mothers from the time they presented at the clinic.18
The content of the messages including examples is provided in table 1.
Examples of messages
The registration is done at the clinic, and if no problems occur this can be done quickly. There is no cost to the mother. If the mother does not have her own phone, she can have the messages sent to another phone where she can read them. The service should be provided at all public health clinics in South Africa by health workers who have been trained, backed by public education about the service. There is an attached service, HelpDesk, that allows mothers to phone in and ask questions.
The objective of this user evaluation was to assess the felt value of MomConnect, to describe the experiences of pregnant women and new mothers with MomConnect, and to obtain suggestions for its further improvement. It formed part of a larger evaluation of the programme. The qualitative research methodology used comprised both focus group discussions and semistructured indepth interviews. The focus groups and interviews lasted about 20–45 min and were digitally recorded.
Participants were purposively selected from 15 facilities in five provinces—Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Gauteng and Mpumalanga—which were purposively selected to represent different language and cultural groups in South Africa. The final sample included 32 individual interviews and 7 focus groups. Within each province, three facilities were purposively selected among those serving large urban communities and those serving semirural communities or villages. Pregnant women and mothers of babies were approached while in line for services to participate. Only women who had registered on MomConnect were included. If they agreed they could either participate immediately while their place in the queue was maintained, or once they had completed their appointments. Focus groups were difficult to organise among mothers due to time limitations and queues for services. These groups were small, ranging from two to four participants, which did impact on the quality of information obtained.
The discussions, guided by a schedule, focused on the context in which women lived; the clinics; perceptions of the MomConnect system and the messages received; the registration process; and the impact of the messages on pregnant women and mothers, their children and family. Seven fieldworkers, all of whom had postgraduate qualifications, shared the tasks of doing interviews and focus groups. All fieldworkers were trained in fieldwork over 3 days by the first author.
All interviews and focus groups were transcribed and where necessary translated by the fieldworkers themselves. The first author read 20 interviews to deepen understanding of the material to draw out themes, which were combined with the thematic areas from the objectives to establish the theme list used to code the data. A contextualised interpretative analytical approach was used,20–22 supported by Atlas.ti to facilitate analysis. The interpretations below were validated by rereading interviews after completing analysis to search for contradictory statements. The first author is a social scientist with extensive experience in public health and qualitative research, including research, teaching and student supervision. Other team members reviewed the list of themes to assess if they could discern gaps, with some other authors reading some or most of the interviews. Quotes from respondents show the province where the interview was done, and whether they were pregnant or the baby had been born. The following is the key: Free State (FS), Gauteng (GP), KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), Mpumalanga (MP) and Western Cape (WC); pregnant (P) and mother (M).
All women interviewed gave full informed consent. The interviewees were informed that they could stop the interview at any point. All interviews were completed without incident. To protect confidentiality all identifying information was removed from the interview transcripts. The information was stored on password-protected computers. Fieldworkers returned all documents and files to the research office, and once these were secured all other copies were deleted.
While this study was larger than most qualitative studies and covered a large sector of programme implementation, the sample cannot be considered fully representative. The purposive sampling however tried to ensure that as broad a representation as possible was obtained. The interviews with women were only done with those on MomConnect, excluding those who had not connected or who had opted out. These interviews were shorter than the average for a qualitative interview as respondents were not used to this kind of self-reflection and there was insufficient time to develop a conducive relationship ahead of the interview. Women had to be drawn out of service queues for the interviews and were concerned about losing their position in the queue, despite assurances from the interviewers.
Communities were commonly described by the respondents as poor, with high unemployment and poor housing. From the respondents' descriptions, the rural communities were generally worse off and had less access to transport. Grants were of considerable assistance, but were difficult to access. Safety was a general concern reported by the women, with multiple reports of crime, violence and abusive relationships. Foreigners and refugees using the clinics were particularly vulnerable, often severely impoverished and living a transient existence.
Mothers generally praised the efforts of the health workers, seeing them as courteous and caring. Respondents noted the staff worked hard to provide services, and if they were prepared to wait, everybody was seen and treated. The major complaint centred on waiting times. While some patients were done in an hour, most felt that they waited for most of the day. The respondents recognised that clinics were short-staffed, which increased waiting times and accentuated staff frustrations. The first visit to the clinic for a pregnancy was especially long, with multiple tests and counselling processes, leading to women feeling overwhelmed, with much required knowledge not being internalised. This applied particularly to first pregnancies or women dealing with a recent HIV diagnosis.
They do take care of us because I'd never lie. Even in the morning when they arrive, they show that they care about us. I never seen any of them not greeting us. (KZN P)
Mothers' evaluation of MomConnect
The pregnant women and mothers uniformly were highly appreciative of MomConnect. They reported feeling empowered and better able to manage their pregnancy and child rearing, and spoke directly about the assistance that they felt the system had provided in terms of their own health and that of their babies. The women wanted to receive the information and missed it on the few occasions when they lost contact with the service. Many actually wanted the service extended.
They (MomConnect messages) are so helpful because even after you give birth, they also tell you how to take care of the baby; in case you notice something wrong with the baby, go to the clinic. (KZN M)
A recurrent theme was the importance of informing others and that all pregnant women should receive the messages. Some women did direct advocacy themselves, sharing messages and talking about MomConnect, even registering their friends. There was a general call for MomConnect to be broadly advertised. There were no reported substantial constraints to use the programme other than access to mobile phones.
I'd like to encourage (the) MomConnect program, it needs to go further because it will help many more people. (KZN M)
A key theme was trust in and loyalty to the MomConnect messages, acknowledging this information above other advice. One woman specifically identified phone messaging as being key to getting her attention. She spoke about not even noticing or reading posters anymore. The role of mobile phones as a key communication channel appeared to be shared.
I do not want to lie I don't read posters, I don't get interested in reading and learning about what is in the posters. (WC P)
Among the women interviewed the range of South African languages and the quality of the translations were generally felt as appropriate: "The messages are clear." However, Xhosa language messages presented concerns, with some Xhosa women requesting to receive messages in English, stating the Xhosa used was too "deep" or too traditional so it was difficult to understand. It appeared that different dialects were spoken between the Western and Eastern Cape. Respondents reported that not all languages were available in every community, and participants then had to select English.
Xhosa has deep words that are difficult to understand…Yes English at least you can even look up (English) in your dictionary. (WC M)
A small group of respondents wanted to change the language of the messages, having chosen or being assigned the wrong language at registration, but this was not possible. One woman registered again in the new language, and now received two sets of messages. Having a function that allows women to change the language of the messages that they receive would at least give them some flexibility.
No, it was just when I connected I accidentally put in Afrikaans but then I reconnected again in English…Both messages still come onto my phone but I only read the English ones because I don't understand Afrikaans. (GP M)
The MomConnect system
The frequency and delivery time of the messages were also generally appreciated. Nobody stated there were too many messages. There were a few spontaneous requests for more messages to extend their knowledge. Respondents appeared uncertain about how long the messages would continue after birth. Instances were reported where messages arrived late at night due to problems with access to the signal.
Sometimes you get it in the morning, but usually you get it around 9:00 or 10:00…Yes, but sometimes it delays and you receive it late…And sometimes when there is a delay, they often send a message apologizing. (KZN M)
The process of registration was remembered as being easy to do and quick, with the mothers being given instructions and doing self-registration. These women felt empowered to register others or to reregister themselves if problems occurred. Alternatively nursing staff assisted and registered the women, which was also generally quick.
So I even showed a friend of mine who is pregnant and told her that she can dial this number because she is not connected on MomConnect…So I showed her how to do it from the paper. (WC P)
There were occasional problems at the time of registration due to network access. At clinics where the signal strength was poor, the health workers often took the women's details and registered them later where the signal was better. These problems caused delays and increased waiting times.
We dialled that star-something, but the network that day was not good. (KZN P)
A major concern for HIV-positive women was the risk that the messages may reveal their status. One HIV-positive woman concerned that her mother-in-law might find out her status kept the messages hidden until she felt reassured her status would remain confidential. Then she began sharing the information she obtained. By the time of the interviews, all HIV-positive women in the sample were confident in the confidentiality of MomConnect. Given that only women who had registered with MomConnect were interviewed, we could not assess if this fear led to women not registering.
I asked her to select English because some people have access to my phone, people fiddle with phones and read the messages. (WC M)
Role and felt impact of MomConnect
The women, especially first-time mothers, felt that they had a lot to learn and drew support and confidence from the messages. All the messages were appreciated. The pregnant women emphasised the messages on the types of food to eat and to avoid; reminders of clinic visits; health problems to be aware of; what pills and health additives to take; and interaction with the fetus. Among those with babies, they also emphasised information on food, breast feeding, immunisation, medications, symptoms and clinic visits, and how to bond with the child. The efforts to test the messages used in MomConnect in advance and the knowledge of those who composed the messages appeared to contribute to the success.23 This also meant MomConnect met the requirement of being responsive to the target group's needs.1 17
When I registered with MomConnect they informed me that 'I must pack my ID, my clothes, sanitary towels and the child's clothes' things like that…It was simple to raise a child with MomConnect because I took every advice I got from MomConnect. (MP P)
Women expressed particular excitement about information relating to the development of the fetus as this increased their relationship with the unborn baby. Women spoke of feeling that they could visualise the baby's development, leading them to take care and be more aware of health concerns. They now felt they "(were) actually carrying a living person," which made them happy. They felt better prepared and had greater understanding of what was going on, both during pregnancy and after the birth. Mothers with previous children did not claim as much benefit as they could reflect on their previous pregnancies, but were generally still enthusiastic. They were acquiring new information, which made this pregnancy easier.
They sent me something that my unborn has eye-brows, that way I can see my baby's development. (KZN P)
The women spoke of having a greater understanding of pregnancy and child care, which allowed them to plan around expected events, to understand what was happening and to make sense of the symptoms that they were experiencing. This empowered the women to decide when they needed to visit the clinic, reducing the risk of problems escalating and of inappropriate calls.
The messages play a huge role; like, you receive a message explaining something that you are already experiencing and you were about to go to the clinic 'for no reason'. (KZN M)
A common practice was to save the messages, as a reference in case they wanted to go back at a later stage and check information, "from time to time I refer back and read." This was not universal and some read and deleted the messages. This last group tended to be older and more educated women or women who already had children. Generally, those participants who were able to, shared the messages with their families and especially the baby's father, who were reported to be excited about the new information. The messages also provided a base for discussion. Messages were also shared with close friends and colleagues. The sharing of certain messages, such as around domestic violence, left the women feeling supported. There were many suggestions for messages to be developed for fathers, who were reported to show great interest in the existing set of messages.
He can see that the message is written MomConnect, and when he reads it. For my side, if I left my phone at home, when I get back my partner tells me that I have a message from MomConnect. (FS P)
The different use between first-time mothers and those bearing a subsequent child could allow for two different sets of message intensity. The current system could be maintained for first-time mothers, while a less message intensive version could be offered to mothers who had a previous pregnancy, increasing programme affordability. This should remain a choice for the mothers.
Despite being directly asked, no respondents stated that any messages were patronising or offensive. Even the messages on HIV were found to be non-offensive and non-discriminatory. Some terms such as 'high-high', referring to high blood pressure, were not understandable to all. A message stating the baby should move five or six times every day raised concern, as some women claimed they could not feel this. The clinic nurses were able to clarify their concerns.
It is clear to me although I got confused when I received the message about what to do when the baby is not moving at all…I asked the nurse because that got me really scared but she managed to make me understand. (FS P)
There was very poor awareness of the HelpDesk. The service was only raised by a few women, but there was an expressed need for the service. The few who had used the service felt it to be useful. Concerns were raised about the cost of using the service.
There was a time when my child couldn't pass the stools for two days. I was at work and I called them. They told me that because she is still being breastfed. (MP M)
Respondents were extremely positive about MomConnect and its role in assisting their pregnancy, their health and that of their children. The system was felt to be good in that messages were delivered as expected and most women were easily registered. The service was free and having the messages delivered by a mobile phone appeared to increase credibility and attention. Problems with mobile phone reception need to be addressed both in terms of registration and message delivery. There was strong support for the programme to be continued and extended. This was shown in the confidence that the respondents expressed as a result of the knowledge, the reported improved health behaviours and the excitement that they felt about their role. This is similar to the results found in other studies such as the Text4Baby programme.24 This excitement was often shared by other family members, especially the fathers of the children. There are areas where MomConnect does need to improve, including problems with registration and some language issues. This approach can also provide direction on how to approach the use of text messaging tools in other contexts. Of particular importance here is the felt value of the messages for the recipients. The responses indicate that the mothers developed a particular connection with the messages, plus there was good trust in the source. This may be key to getting positive user support for such interventions.
In addition to the financial support, we would like to thank the staff of CDC South Africa for their input and advice at different stages of the project. We would like to thank the National Department of Health for assisting us with access to health facilities and for their input and advice on the project. We would like to thank all the fieldwork staff who assisted in collecting the data. Finally, we would like to thank the staff of the clinics and the patients who assisted us and participated in the study. Without all of this assistance, the project would not have been possible. The support provided by John Snow, Inc. (JSI) in the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded MEASURE Evaluation Strategic Information for South Africa (MEval-SIFSA) project to enable this publication is acknowledged with gratitude.
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Contributors The first author led the design and analysis of the paper. All the other authors contributed to the design of the methodology, assisted in the oversight of the fieldwork, contributed to the development of themes, read and did validity checks on the earlier reports on the data, and read and verified the current content of the paper.
Funding This project has been supported by the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under the terms of cooperative agreement (U2GGH000460).
Patient consent Obtained.
Ethics approval The full protocol for this study received ethical approval from the Stellenbosch University Health Research Ethics Committee.
Data sharing statement There are currently some unpublished data that the authors will be working on to publish further. No formal plans have been made for the data to be curated for sharing.
© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted. This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/


Another super easy one today (I know, I always say that, but seriously!).
We're going to create wreaths in Illustrator! It's as easy as drawing a little doodle, hitting a few buttons and BOOM it creates it for you. These are great coming into the silly season, you can create any design you like!
Here's three that I have made that you can download for FREE from the Freebie Library!
First, you need to open a new document in Illustrator.
Then you need to do a little doodle of basically anything. This is the pattern that will be repeated around the wreath, so with that in mind, draw whatever you like! It's good to just experiment with this step. You'll get a feel for what looks good and works when getting stretched into a circle after a few attempts.
Now you'll need to flip the doodle so it's on its side (I'll show you what happens later when you don't flip it on its side). Just select the whole shape, hold down shift, hover over its corner and click and drag to rotate!
Now we need to open the Brush panel. Window > Brushes. Then click the icon in the top right corner of the Brushes panel to add a new brush.
Now we'll need to create the circle shape, so select the Eclipse tool from the Shapes panel, hold down shift to keep it in the shape of a circle, click and drag to create the circle.
Tip: You can change the weight of the stroke to change the size of the pattern!
You can use this to your advantage and create some pretty cool things like this! So just remember that the brush will display whatever orientation you save it as.
How easy was that? So go and make ALL the festive wreaths to your hearts content! Let me know down below if you have any questions, or show me the wreaths that you've made!


National Democracy Week is a new initiative, designed to celebrate progress and champion democratic participation. This, its first year, also falls in the anniversary year of (some) women being given the vote. Here's a brief timeline showing other important milestones for women in Parliament — it's interesting to read it in tandem with our page on votes that changed women's lives and the first mentions of feminist and woman-related terms in Parliament.
Where possible, we have linked to our Parliamentary website TheyWorkForYou. TheyWorkForYou makes it simple to find out who your member of Parliament is, to see how they've voted, and to read everything they've said in debates. We also publish each day's activity.
Until recently, due to various technical reasons, our version of Hansard (the record of debates) stretched back only as far as the 1930s. In order to properly celebrate the first women in Parliament, we've managed to extend further back in time, meaning that you can now browse, for example, the maiden speech of Nancy Astor, the first woman to speak in Parliament. Hooray!
Parliament is generally agreed to have started in its current form when the Magna Carta stated the right of Barons to advise the king, though the word 'Parliament' wasn't used until 1236.
A mere 705 years later, Nancy Astor becomes the first woman to speak in Parliament (Note also that Countess de Markievicz was elected prior to Astor, but did not take her seat as she was a member of Sinn Féin).
Nancy Astor by John Singer Sargent; Countess de Markievicz via History Today: both public domain.
Margaret Bondfield becomes the first female cabinet minister. Since then, a total of 42 women have held Cabinet positions.
Women enter the Upper House as life peers (who do not pass their title on through the generations) as part of the House of Lords reform. Out of the first fourteen life peers, four were women, as announced on 24 July 1958.
Harriet Slater became the first female Whip, for Labour.
Barbara Castle becomes First Secretary of State, the only woman so far to have held this position.
Diane Abbott is the first black woman to be elected to the UK Parliament, and she has served as MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington ever since.
Betty Boothroyd becomes the first — and only to date — female Speaker of the House of Commons.
The 101 women MPs in Blair's 1997 Parliament were given the rather distasteful sobriquet of 'Blair's Babes' — but progress had been made. With 120 women in Parliament overall, the figure had exactly doubled in comparison to the 1992 election.
Under Tony Blair, these twelve months saw eight female Cabinet Ministers in position — the record up until that date. Theresa May matched this in 2015 (including herself), though numbers have dropped to five in the current line-up.
The number of women in Parliament rose by a third after the General Election: 191 of the 650 MPs (about 29%) were female.
When David Cameron stepped down as PM, he triggered a leadership contest. In being appointed party leader, Theresa May also became the UK's second female Prime Minister.
Image: Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office/ Andrew Parson OGL.
Another General Election and the number of women in Parliament rose again, to 208 — that's 32%. Labour's 43% did less towards this total than the Conservatives' 21% (with 232 and 330 MPs respectively). The Greens, of course, achieved 100%, but then again they only have one MP in seat.
Women members of Parliament on Twitter tweets short biographies of every woman to have been in Parliament.


text:
Q: difference between add and set in arraylist I need your help will you please tell me what difference between add() and set() in ArrayList. I Wrote a program uising set() and add() try to find out try to fing find out what are differences I search on the net but could not find my suitable answer
public class arraylistDemo
{

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception
{

        ArrayList al = new ArrayList();
        al.add(10);
        al.add("A");
        al.add("B");
        al.add(null);

        al.set(0, 11);
        System.out.println("After Add "+""+al);

        al.add(1, "AA");
        System.out.println("Using add method"+ " " +al);

        al.set(1, "AA");
        System.out.println("Using set method"+ " " +al);
    }

}

O/P- Using add method [11, AA, B, null]
Using set method [11, AC, B, null]

A: The add() method adds a value to the end of the list.
set() is used to replace an existing value in a specific index in the list.

A: From List:

add(E e)
Appends the specified element to the end of this list (optional operation).

add(int index, E element)
Inserts the specified element at the specified position in this list (optional operation).

set(int index, E element)
Replaces the element at the specified position in this list with the specified element (optional operation).

Use a debugger and step one line at a time to see how your list changes. You will see that it does exactly what the Javadoc states.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Don't bother with the online chat, they would only do a "professional installation" and after wasting about an hour of my time all I had was a list of local Comcast phone numbers which can be found using Google Maps.
Call up your local office (find it by searching for "Comcast" on Google Maps near you).
I spoke with the sales department.
Self-Installs are in their system, but when he checked stock none of my local offices had any. After digging a little further he informed me that they would not be available until August 1st.
Because we are so close to this date the sales associate offered to waive the ($16) installation fee.
Your tuner needs to be there when the tech shows up, this leaves me out of luck as mine has not shipped yet.
Due the the circumstances there wasn't much more I could do currently, so the sales associate left a note on my account. I am supposed to call back when I know the tuner's delivery date and schedule an install then (or self-install if it slips after the 1st).
!!!SUPER IMPORTANT!!! write down the sale associate's ID number, date and time that you spoke with them. The next time you call back they will call you a liar and lose any track of you ever existing. Get proof now or risk ripping all your hair out later.
Edit: I've been told by a Silicon Dust employee that it should be possible to take a CableCard from one of your STBs and use that until the self install kits arrive. Since the existing card isn't paired with your tuner, it will not be able to tune copy protected content, but MythTV users cannot tune this content anyways.
Great post - very useful. I don't know why comcast has such horrible service. I beleive they are the largest Cable provider. You would think they would have customer service down pat. They don't.


text:
Doc. 14796
See related documents
Progress report | Doc. 14796 | 19 January 2019
Activities of the Assembly's Bureau and Standing Committee (12 October 2018-20 January 2019)
Bureau of the Assembly
Rapporteur : Mr Ian LIDDELL-GRAINGER, United Kingdom, EC
At its meeting on 12 October 2018, the Bureau appointed me as rapporteur for this report, which covers its activities over the period from the last Bureau meeting of the fourth part-session of 2018 (Friday 12 October) to the first Bureau meeting of the first part-session of 2019 (Monday 21 January).
The following chapters include the decisions taken by the Bureau at its meetings of 12 October in Strasbourg, of 22 November in Helsinki and of 14 December in Paris. Chapter 2 presents a list of decisions that were either already ratified by the Standing Committee on 23 November or which do not require ratification. Chapter 4 lists the decisions taken on 14 December that require ratification at the opening of the first part-session of the Assembly.
An addendum to this report will be issued after the Bureau meeting of 21 January, which will also include decisions to be ratified on the same day. Another addendum will be issued after the Bureau meeting of 25 January. It will include only the decisions to be ratified by the Assembly on the same day, notably the references and transmissions which will have been approved by the Bureau.
The Bureau will hold its next meetings in Strasbourg on Friday 25 January at 8.30 am and then on 28 February in Paris. The next meeting of the Standing Committee will also be held in Paris on 1 March.
2.	Activities of the Bureau since the last part-session and decisions not requiring ratification by the Assembly
2.1.	Standing Committee (Helsinki, 23 November 2018)
On 12 October and 22 November, the Bureau considered and took note of the draft agenda.
On 14 December, the Bureau approved the proposal made by the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly for the follow-up to be given to Resolution 2248 (2018) on the Procedure for the election of judges to the European Court of Human Rights and decided to refer the matter to the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs to be taken into account in the framework of the report on "Modification of various provisions of the Assembly's Rules of Procedure".
2.2.	First part-session of 2019 (21-25 January)
2.2.1.	Draft agenda
On 12 October, the Bureau drew up the preliminary draft agenda. On 22 November, the Bureau updated it and subsequently, on 14 December, the Bureau drew up the draft agenda.
2.2.2.	Joint Committee (Strasbourg, 24 January 2019)
On 14 December, the Bureau took note of the draft agenda.
2.3.	Communications
On 22 November, the Bureau took note of the communications by the President of the Assembly and by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
On 14 December, the Bureau took note of the communications by the President of the Assembly, the Secretary General and the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe. It also observed a minute of silence in tribute to the victims of the terrorist attack in Strasbourg on 11 December 2018.
2.4.	Revision of the list of rights of participation and representation whose exercise may be deprived or suspended in the context of a challenge of credentials under Rule 10.1.c with respect to voting rights in the procedure for electing personalities by the Assembly
On 22 November, the Bureau asked the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs to review the list of rights of participation and representation whose exercise may be deprived or suspended in the context of a challenge of credentials under Rule 10.1.c with respect to voting rights in the procedure for electing personalities by the Assembly.
On 14 December, the Bureau took note of the opinion of the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs and decided to declassify it.
2.5.	Declaration of interests of Parliamentary Assembly members
On 14 December, the Bureau took note of the information provided in the letter by the Chairperson of the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs. It also took note that as regards the deadline for submitting declarations, the declarations of interest 2019 should be submitted by 28 February 2019 for members whose credentials are ratified at the opening of the session in January (and for the last day of February for subsequent years). With regard to new Assembly members whose delegations submit credentials during the session, declarations of interests shall be submitted by the end of the month which follows ratification of the credentials by the Assembly (e.g. 30 April 2019 for new members whose credentials are ratified at the meeting of the Standing Committee on 1 March; 31 May 2019 for those whose credentials are ratified at the April part-session, etc.).
2.6.	Election observations
2.6.1.	"The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia": Referendum (30 September 2018) following the Final Agreement signed by Greece and "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" on 17 June 2018
On 12 October, the Bureau authorised the President of the Assembly to approve the list of members and appoint the Chairperson and authorised the conduct of a pre-electoral mission. On 22 November, the Bureau took note of the memorandum prepared by the Chairperson of the Election Assessment mission.
2.6.2.	Bosnia and Herzegovina: general elections (7 October 2018)
On 12 October, the Bureau took note of the statement of the observation mission. On 22 November, it approved the report of the ad hoc committee.
2.6.3.	Georgia: presidential election (28 October and 28 November 2018)
On 22 November, the Bureau took note of the statement of the election observation mission and of the fact that a second round would be held on 28 November 2018. On 14 December, it approved the report of the ad hoc committee.
2.6.4.	Armenia: early parliamentary elections (9 December 2018)
On 22 November, the Bureau approved the list of members of the Ad hoc Committee to observe these elections and appointed Mr Aleksander Pociej (Poland, EPP/CD) as Chairperson of the Ad hoc Committee (Appendix 1). On 14 December, it took note of the statement of the election observation mission.
2.6.5.	Republic of Moldova: parliamentary elections (24 February 2019)
On 22 November, the Bureau approved the list of members of the Ad hoc Committee to observe these elections and appointed Mr Claude Kern (France, ALDE) as Chairperson of the Ad hoc Committee (Appendix 2).
2.6.6.	Schedule of elections for 2019
On 14 December, the Bureau took note of the document.
2.7.	References and transmissions to committees
2.7.1.	References and transmissions
At its meeting on 22 November, the Bureau approved the following references and transmissions, which were subsequently ratified by the Standing Committee:
Doc. 14594, Motion for a resolution, The use of innovative technologies for the benefit of migrants: transmission to the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons for information
Doc. 14637, Motion for a recommendation, Unaccompanied and separated migrant children: the need for effective guardianship: reference to the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons for report and to the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development for opinion
Doc. 14638, Motion for a resolution, Urgent need to strengthen Financial Intelligence Units – Sharper tools needed to improve confiscation of illegal assets: reference to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights for report
Doc. 14639, Motion for a resolution, Fighting corruption – General principles of political responsibility: reference to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights for report and to the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy for opinion
Doc. 14640, Motion for a resolution, Following up on the Genocide Convention and developing processes for reflecting on historic genocides in Council of Europe member States: no further action
Doc. 14641, Motion for a resolution, Forced and child labour in the sectors of cocoa, coffee and tea: no further action
2.7.2.	Modification of a reference
At its meeting on 22 November, the Bureau approved the following modification of a reference, which was subsequently ratified by the Standing Committee:
Bureau decision, The evaluation of the partnership for democracy in respect of the Parliament of Morocco: reference to the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy for report and to the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination and to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights for opinion
2.7.3.	Reply after consultation
On 12 October, the Bureau considered and approved the following reply after consultation:
Doc. 14544, Motion for a resolution, The protection of freedom of religion or belief in the workplace: reference to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights for report and to the Committee on Equality and Non-discrimination for opinion
2.7.4.	Extension of references
On 12 October, the Bureau considered and approved the following extensions of references:
Bureau decision, Activities of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) (new title: Promoting democracy by developing market economy: does the EBRD model work?), Reference 4247 of 14 October 2016 – extension until 30 April 2019
Doc. 14101, Motion for a resolution, The need to enable the Committee of Ministers to give answers to the Assembly even in the absence of a consensus, Reference 4236 of 14 October 2016 – extension until 4 October 2019
On 22 November, the Bureau considered and approved the following extension of reference:
Doc. 13978, Motion for a resolution, The functioning of democratic institutions in Poland, Reference 4206 of 27 May 2016 – extension until 25 July 2019
At its meeting on 14 December, the Bureau considered and approved the following extensions of references:
Doc. 14072, Motion for a resolution, Setting minimum standards for electoral systems in order to offer the basis for free and fair elections (Reference 4222 of 24 June 2016 – validity: 24 December 2018): extension until 31 December 2019
Doc. 14185, Motion for a resolution, Air quality and diesel emissions in urban centres (Reference 4265 of 23 January 2017 – validity: 23 January 2019): extension until 30 June 2019
Decision of the Bureau, The situation in Syria and its effects upon surrounding countries (Reference 4275 of 27 January 2017 – validity: 27 January 2019): extension until 30 June 2019
Doc. 14243, Motion for a resolution, Towards an Internet Ombudsman institution (Reference 4278 of 10 March 2017 – validity: 10 March 2019): extension until 31 December 2019
Doc. 14246, Motion for a resolution, Labour migration from Eastern Europe and its impact on socio-demographic processes in these countries (Reference 4280 of 10 March 2017 – validity: 10 March 2019): extension until 30 June 2019
2.8.	Issues raised by committees
2.8.1.	Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy
On 12 October, the Bureau authorised Mr Adão Silva (Portugal, EPP/CD) to carry out a fact-finding visit to New York, USA, on 3 December afternoon and 4 December 2018, in the framework of the preparation of his report on Strengthening co-operation with the United Nations in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and in conjunction with the meeting of the Sub-committee on External Relations (5-6 December 2018).
2.9.	European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT)
On 12 October, the Bureau took note of the letter by the Chairperson of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and drew up the list of candidates for the CPT in respect of Spain, which it forwarded to the Committee of Ministers.
2.10.	2018 World Forum for Democracy (Strasbourg, 19-21 November)
On 12 October, the Bureau approved the final composition of the ad hoc committee of the Bureau to participate in the Forum (Appendix 3).
2.11.	Initiative by Ms Kasimati's to propose to proclaim 18 September the European Day of Remembrance of the Victims and the Fight against Neo-Nazism and fascism
On 22 November, the Bureau took note of Ms Kasimati's initiative expressed at the meeting of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development on 18 September 2018.
2.12.	Expenditure of the Parliamentary Assembly for the 2019 financial year
On 14 December, the Bureau took note of the memorandum prepared by the Secretary General of the Assembly.
2.13.	Parliamentary co-operation activities – work plan 2019
2.14.	Co-operation with the European Parliament and other European Union institutions
On 14 December, the Bureau took note of the memorandum prepared by the Secretary General of the Assembly, reflecting the various joint activities and meetings.
2.15.	Apportionment of the allocation to political groups for 2019
On 14 December, the Bureau took note of the memorandum prepared by the Secretary General of the Assembly and approved the proposal for the apportionment of the allocation.
2.16.	Meetings elsewhere than Strasbourg and Paris
On 22 November, the Bureau authorised the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs to hold a meeting in Brussels on 15 January 2019.
On 14 December, the Bureau authorised:
the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media to meet in Granada, Spain, on 4 March 2019;
the Sub-Committee on Integration of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons to meet in Ankara in spring 2019 (exact dates to be confirmed);
the Monitoring Committee to meet in London on 16-17 May 2019.
2.17.	European Conference of Presidents of Parliament 2019 (Strasbourg, 24-25 October)
On 14 December, the Bureau took note that the Conference would discuss the following themes:
"Our Common European Home": the next 70 years;
Implementing the UN 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals: contribution by Parliaments;
and that the third theme will be a current political issue to be chosen amongst proposals to be suggested by Presidents of Parliament.
2.18.	2019 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize
On 14 December, the Bureau took note of the calendar of the 2019 edition of the Prize.
3.	Activities of the Standing Committee (Helsinki, 23 November 2018)
The Standing Committee heard a welcome address by Ms Paula Risikko, Speaker of the Parliament of Finland, and held an exchange of views with Mr Timo Soini, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and with Ms Anna Rurka, President of the Conference of the INGOs, Council of Europe.
The Standing Committee ratified the credentials of new members of the Assembly submitted by the delegations of the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Poland and Slovenia and approved changes in the composition of Assembly committees.
It also took note of the draft agenda of the first part-session of the Assembly (21 – 25 January 2019) and ratified the references which are contained in chapter 2.7 above.
It took note of the report of the ad hoc committee of the Bureau on the "observation of the general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina (7 October 2018)".
The Standing Committee adopted the following texts on behalf of the Assembly:
Recommendation 2143 (2018), Protecting and promoting sign languages in Europe
Resolution 2247 (2018), Protecting and promoting sign languages in Europe
Resolution 2248 (2018), Procedure for the election of judges to the European Court of Human Rights
Resolution 2249 (2018), The provision of palliative care in Europe
Resolution 2250 (2018), Encouraging the movement of international students across Europe
In the margin of the debate on the report on "Protecting and promoting sign languages in Europe", the Finnish rap artist "Signmark", who was born deaf, performed songs in sign language for the parliamentarians.
The Standing Committee decided to hold its next meeting on 1 March 2019 in Paris.
4.	Decisions of the Bureau requiring ratification by the Assembly
4.1.1.	Ukraine: presidential election (31 March 2019)
On 14 December, the Bureau, subject to receiving an invitation, decided to observe this election and constituted an ad hoc committee for this purpose composed of 30 members (EPP/CD: 10; SOC: 9, EC: 4, ALDE: 4, UEL: 2, FDG: 1 – in accordance with the D'Hondt system) as well as of the co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee and authorised the conduct of a pre-electoral mission.
4.2.	Rules on access to and movement and security within the Council of Europe during sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly and meetings of Assembly committees and sub-committees
On 22 November, the Bureau adopted the Rules on access to and movement and security within the Council of Europe during sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly and meetings of Assembly committees and sub-committees (Appendix 4).
4.3.1.	References and transmissions to committees
On 14 December, the Bureau approved the following references and transmissions, subject to ratification by the Assembly:
Doc. 14642, Motion for a resolution, The use of explosive weapons as a key driver of justified displacement: no further action
Doc. 14643, Motion for a resolution, Deteriorating situation of national minorities in Ukraine: reference to the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) to be taken into account in the framework of the report on the "Honouring of obligations and commitments by Ukraine"
Doc. 14645, Motion for a resolution, Pushback action by member States: reference to the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons for report
Doc. 14646, Motion for a resolution, Involuntary addiction to prescription medicines: reference to the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development for report
Doc. 14650, Motion for a resolution, Judges in Poland and in the Republic of Moldova must remain independent: reference to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights for report
Doc. 14652, Motion for a resolution, Misuse of the Schengen system by Council of Europe member States as a politically-motivated sanction: reference to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights for report
Doc. 14653, Motion for a resolution, Follow-up to the Azerbaijani Laundromat investigation: reference to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights for report
Doc. 14654, Motion for a resolution, Humanitarian action for refugees and migrants in countries at the southern Mediterranean Sea: reference to the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons for report and to the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development for opinion
Doc. 14655, Motion for a resolution, Role of parliaments in implementing the United Nations global compacts for migrants and refugees: reference to the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons for report
Doc. 14656, Motion for a resolution, The rights of the German minority in Romania: transmission to the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination for information
Bureau decision, Follow up to Resolution 2248 (2018) on the procedure for the election of judges to the European Court of Human Rights (paragraphs 8.3 and 8.4): reference to the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs to be taken into account in the framework of the report on "Modification of various provisions of the Assembly's Rules of Procedure"
4.3.2.	Lapse of a reference (Rule 26.4 of the Assembly's Rules of Procedure)
On 14 December, the Bureau approved the following lapse of a reference:
Doc. 14599, Motion for a resolution, Undue influence of financial capital in political systems of microstates of the Council of Europe (Reference 4403 of 12 October 2018)
The Assembly is invited to ratify these Bureau decisions.
5.	Gender equality in the functioning of the Assembly
1. Since 2012, following a Bureau decision, statistics on the gender breakdown of Assembly positions are prepared every year and included in the Progress report on the activities of the Assembly's Bureau and Standing Committee presented during the January part-session. They provide a picture of the situation as of December of any given year. The publication of this information aims at enhancing transparency and raising awareness.
2. In 2018, the total number of women members of the Assembly continued to go down, albeit slightly: they represented 34% of members, compared to 37% in 2017 and 39% in 2016. It should be noted, however, that the total share of women members of parliament in Council of Europe member States as of 1 June 2018, according to data collected by the Inter-parliamentary Union, was lower: 25,92%. This shows that the provisions laid down in Rule 6.2 a. of the Assembly's Rules of procedure, namely that 'national delegations should include members of the under-represented sex at least in the same percentage as in their national parliaments' have had a positive impact, since in many cases the national delegations to the Assembly have a higher representation rate of women than national parliaments.
3. Nevertheless, it should be noted that at the opening of the 2018 session, the still unratified credentials of the parliamentary delegation of Andorra were challenged on the grounds that the delegation comprised no female representative in violation of Rule 6.2.a of the Rules of Procedure, which provides that each delegation should include 'at a very minimum, one member of the under-represented sex appointed as a representative'.
4. Bearing in mind the assurances provided by the Andorran delegation to ensure full compliance with the condition laid down by the Rules of Procedure at the earliest opportunity, the Assembly ratified the credentials of the delegation, while deciding for the automatic suspension of the voting rights of its members, with effect from the April 2018 part-session, if the composition of the delegation had not been brought into conformity with Rule 6.2.a of the Rules of Procedure. This did not happen, as the composition of the Andorran delegation was brought in conformity with the Rules in time.
5. In 2018, the Assembly's presidency was held by a man, Mr Michele Nicoletti, from the January part-session to the opening of the June part-session, and subsequently by a woman, Ms Liliane Maury Pasquier. The percentage of women as Vice-Presidents of the Assembly decreased from 42% to 33% while the percentage of women as Bureau members increased from 43% to 47%. This reflects the increase in the number of women as Chairpersons of committees (6 out of 9 in 2018 or 67 %, up from 4 or 44% in 2017).
6. As regards the composition of committees, overall 35% of full members in 2018 were women, down from 40% in the previous year, while alternates remained stable at 33%. In 5 out of 9 committees, women's representation as full members is below the average of 35%, including in the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs (21%), the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (25%), the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy (31%), the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media (32%), the Monitoring Committee (32%).
7. On average, the representation of women as Rapporteurs for report improved from 22% in 2017 to 37% in 2018. It remains, however, rather low in some committees, and is as low as 14% in the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. It should also be noticed that all the reports presented by the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs in 2018 had women as rapporteurs. The representation of women as Rapporteurs for opinion overall increased from 48% last year to 62% this year.
OVERVIEW ASSEMBLY
Percentage of men
Percentage of women
Vice-Presidents
Presidential Committee
Assembly Bureau
Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy
Vice-Chairpersons
Rapporteurs for report
Rapporteurs for opinion
Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media
Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination
Committee on Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States (Monitoring Committee)
Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs
Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights
OVERVIEW COMMITTEES
Committee Chairpersons
Committee Vice‑Chairpersons
GENDER BREAKDOWN, BUREAUX OF SUB-COMMITTEES
Sub-Committee Chairpersons
Vice-Chairpersons of Sub-Committees
Sub-Committee Chairperson
OVERVIEW – SUB-COMMITTEES
Sub-Committee Vice-Chairpersons
GENDER BREAKDOWN – NATIONAL DELEGATIONS
National Delegations (Representatives and Substitutes)
''The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia''
GENDER BREAKDOWN – NATIONAL DELEGATIONS (REPRESENTATIVES ONLY)
National Delegations (representatives)
GENDER BREAKDOWN – NATIONAL DELEGATIONS (SUBSTITUTES ONLY)
National Delegations (substitutes)
OVERVIEW – NATIONAL DELEGATIONS
National Delegations
Appendix 1 – List of members of the ad hoc committee to observe the early parliamentary elections in Armenia (9 December 2018)
(open)
Chairperson / Président: Mr / M. Aleksander POCIEJ, Poland / Pologne
Group of the European People's Party (EPP/CD) / Groupe du Parti populaire européen (PPE/DC)
Mr / M. Damien ABAD, France
Mr / M. Aleksander POCIEJ, Poland / Pologne
Mr / M. Jordi ROCA, Spain / Espagne
Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group / Groupe des socialistes, démocrates et verts (SOC)
Mr / M. José MONTILLA, Spain / Espagne
Mr / M. Roberto RAMPI, Italy / Italie
Ms / Mme Soraya RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS, Spain / Espagne
Ms / Mme Adriana Diana TUȘA, Romania / Roumanie
European Conservatives Group (EC) / Groupe des conservateurs européens (CE)
Mr / M. Alberto RIBOLLA, Italy / Italie (NR / NI)
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) / Alliance des démocrates et des libéraux pour l'Europe (ADLE)
Mr / M. Andrii LOPUSHANSKYI, Ukraine
Group of the Unified European Left (UEL) / Groupe pour la gauche unitaire européenne (GUE)
Ms / Mme Feleknas UCA, Turkey / Turquie
Free Democrats Group (FDG) / Groupe des démocrates libres (GDL)
Co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee / Co-rapporteurs de la commission de suivi (ex-officio)
Ms / Mme Yuliya LOVOCHKINA, Ukraine
Mr / M. Andrej ŠIRCELJ, Slovenia / Slovénie
Venice Commission / Commission de Venise
Ms / Mme Katharina PABEL, Substitute Member / Remplaçante
Appendix 2 – List of members of the ad hoc committee to observe the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova (24 February 2019)
Chairperson / Président: Mr / M. Claude KERN, France
Mr / M. Jason AZZOPARDI, Malta / Malte
Mr / M. Corneliu Mugurel COZMANCIUC, Romania / Roumanie
Ms / Mme Alina Ştefania GORGHIU, Romania / Roumanie
Mr / M. Killion MUNYAMA, Poland / Pologne
Ms / Mme Maria Concepción de SANTA ANA, Spain / Espagne
Ms / Mme Elisabeth SCHNEIDER-SCHNEITER, Switzerland / Suisse
Mr / M. Ionuţ-Marian STROE, Romania / Roumanie
Mr / M. Stefaan VERCAMER, Belgium / Belgique
Mr / M. Volkmar VOGEL, Germany / Allemagne
Mr / M. Titus CORLĂŢEAN, Romania / Roumanie
Mr / M. Stefan SCHENNACH, Austria / Autriche
Mr / M. Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ, Switzerland / Suisse
Mr / M. Antonio GUTIÉRREZ, Spain / Espagne
Ms / Mme Peta BAYR, Austria / Autriche
Mr / M. André VALLINI, France
Mr / M. Christian LANGBALLE, Denmark / Danemark
Mr / M. Yıldırım Tuğrul TÜRKEŞ, Turkey / Turquie
Mr / M. Markus WIECHEL, Sweden / Suède
Mr / M. Claude KERN, France
Ms / Mme Melisa RODRÍGUEZ HERNÁNDEZ, Spain / Espagne
Mr / M. Aleksandar STEVANOVIĆ, Serbia / Serbie
Mr / M. Petter EIDE, Norway / Norvège
Ms / Mme Miren Edurne GORROTXATEGUI, Spain / Espagne
Mr / M. Egidijus VAREIKIS, Lithuania / Lituanie
Ms / Mme Maryvonne BLONDIN, France
Appendix 3 – List of members of the Ad Hoc Committee to participate in the World Forum for Democracy on 19-21 November 2018 in Strasbourg
Chairperson / Présidente
Ms / Mme Liliane Maury Pasquier – President of the Parliamentary Assembly / Présidente de l'Assemblée parlementaire
Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy / Commission des questions politiques et de la démocratie
Mr / M. José Cepeda (Spain, SOC / Espagne, SOC)
Ms / Mme Ioanetta Kavvadia (Greece, UEL / Grèce, GUE)
Ms / Mme Patricia Riberaygua (Andorra, ALDE / Andorre, ADLE)
Mr / M. Jordi Roca (Spain, EPP/CD / Espagne, PPE/DC)
Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights / Commission des questions juridiques et des droits de l'homme
Ms / Mme Eka Beselia (Georgia, SOC / Géorgie, SOC)
Ms / Mme Klotilda Bushka (Albania, SOC / Albanie, SOC)
Mr / M. Emanuelis Zingeris (Lithuania, EPP/CD / Lituanie, PPE/DC)
Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development / Commission des questions sociales, de la santé et du développement durable
Ms / Mme Yolaine De Courson (France, NR/NI)
Ms / Mme Jennifer De Temmerman (France, NR/NI)
Ms / Mme Nina Kasimati (Greece, UEL / Grèce, GUE)
Ms / Mme Milica Markovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina, FDG /Bosnie-Herzégovine, GDL)
Mr / M. Stefan Schennach (Austria, SOC / Autriche, SOC)
Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons / Commission des migrations, des réfugiés et des personnes déplacées
Ms / Mme Rósa Björk Brynjólfsdóttir (Iceland, UEL / Islande, GUE)
Mr / M. Killion Munyama (Poland, EPP/DC / Pologne, PPE/DC)
Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media / Commission de la culture, de la science, de l'éducation et des médias
Mr / M. Rafael Huseynov (Azerbaijan, ALDE / Azerbaïdjan, ADLE)
Ms / Mme María Concepcíon de Santa Ana (Spain, EPP/CD / Espagne, PPE/DC)
Mr / M. Jordi Xucla (Spain, ALDE / Espagne, ADLE)
Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination / Commission sur l'égalité et sur la non-discrimination
Ms / Mme Sahiba Gafarova (Azerbaijan, EC / Azerbaïdjan, CE)
Mr / M. Jean-Pierre Grin (Switzerland, ALDE / Suisse, ADLE)
Ms / Mme Zita Gurmai (Hungary, SOC / Hongrie, SOC)
Ms / Mme Petra Stienen (Netherlands, ALDE / Pays-Bas, ADLE)
Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) / Commission pour le respect des obligations et engagements des Etats membres du Conseil de l'Europe (Commission de suivi)
Ms / Mme Yuliya Lovochkina (Ukraine, SOC)
Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs / Commission du Règlement, des immunités et des affaires institutionnelles
Ms / Mme Petra De Sutter (Belgium, SOC / Belgique, SOC)
Appendix 4 – Rules on access to and movement and security within the Council of Europe during sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly and meetings of Assembly committees and sub-committees
Adopted by the Bureau of the Assembly on 22 November 2018, subject to ratification by the Assembly on 21 January 2019
The following rules shall apply to all premises where Assembly sessions and Assembly committee meetings are held, in particular in the Palais de l'Europe and the Council of Europe Office in Paris, unless otherwise specified.
I. Access to the Council of Europe and movement within Council of Europe premises
1.	Access to Council of Europe premises and in particular to the Palais de l'Europe is governed by general rules issued by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the Director General of Administration. During Parliamentary Assembly sessions, however, the specific rules below apply. The same rules apply to other Council of Europe premises, in the case of meetings of committees and sub-committees.
2.	The general rules on security, as well as subsidiary rules issued by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the Director General of Administration, apply to the control of access to Council of Europe premises and to movement within those premises, and govern matters relating to the issuance and wearing of access badges, security checks, restrictions on movement, the carrying of weapons and the protection of personalities on official visits.
3.	Responsibility for enforcing safety and security measures lies with the staff mandated to this effect by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, in accordance with Rule No. 1388 of 21 February 2017 on the framework of accountability in matters of security. During Assembly sessions, this duty will be performed in close co-operation with the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly.
4.	Access badges are issued to members of the Assembly, members of observer, partner for democracy and special guest delegations, secretaries of national delegations and third parties in accordance with the rules laid down by the Director General of Administration, in agreement with the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly. The wearing of badges is compulsory.
5.	Any request by a parliamentarian to be accompanied by a bodyguard will be submitted to the President of the Assembly. Such bodyguard will not, however, be allowed access to the Chamber or the meeting rooms.
6.	The carrying of weapons and the presence of armed bodyguards within Council of Europe premises is prohibited. Any request for an exemption, in exceptional circumstances, must be submitted in writing to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, who decides in agreement with the President of the Parliamentary Assembly.
Palais de l'Europe
7.	Areas of movement and right of access to different places of work (Chamber, meeting rooms, offices of national delegations, offices of Permanent Representations, etc.) and other areas (cafeteria, restaurants, etc.) will be determined by the issuing of distinctive badges for each category of people. The badge must be used exclusively by the person to whom it has been allocated, in strict respect of the areas to which it gives access. The person concerned is solely responsible for the use of the badge attributed to him/her.
8.	All badge requests emanating from a parliamentarian, a delegation, a political group or a committee should be referred exclusively to the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly. The Council of Europe's Protocol will not proceed with any request for the issuance of a badge for Assembly members, their families or their relatives.
9.	No parliamentarian may invite more than six people per day, irrespective of their capacity (family members, friend or relative, voter from the parliamentarian's constituency, representative of an interest group). The parliamentarian concerned shall assume full responsibility for their movements, behaviour and for their departure from the building. Any requests for a bigger group of visitors will be submitted to the Council of Europe Visitors' Service.
10.	When it comes to organising events/side events, parliamentarians, national delegations, political groups or committees may make badge requests. No more than 30 persons can be invited to a side-event.
11.	The maximum period for which badges may be issued is one day, except in the case of parliamentary assistants and national parliamentary officials drafted in as reinforcements for parliamentary delegations and political groups, as well as the Assembly honorary members and official guests of the political groups.
12.	Requests should be submitted by the Wednesday before the part-session, and in any case not later than one working day before the desired date, by means of a form indicating in particular the identity of the requestor, the identity of the guest and his/her relationship with the requestor, and the precise time at which access is to begin and end.
Office of the Council of Europe in Paris
13.	At the time of committee and sub-committee meetings, access is granted to persons mentioned in paragraph 20 below.
14.	An access badge will be issued to experts and persons invited by the chairperson of the committee / sub-committee (see below chapter IV) whose name will have been communicated by the secretariat of the committee concerned to the Paris Office one working day at least before the meeting. For a meeting open to the public, in part or in full, the list of participants should be communicated at least 72 hours before the meeting. Anyone whose name has not been communicated in the forms and deadlines provided will be denied access to the premises.
II.	Access to the Chamber
15.	Article 23.1 of the Assembly Rules of Procedure shall be applied in such a way as to permit access to the Chamber by the following categories of individuals:
i. Members of national delegations
representatives and substitutes from national delegations, members of observer, partner for democracy and special guest delegations;
members of delegations of parliaments of Council of Europe non-member States covered by an agreement of the Bureau;
members of delegations of parliaments which participate in the annual debates on OECD activities.
ii. Government representatives and representatives of the Committee of Ministers (Rule 57 of the Rules of Procedure)
representative to the Committee of Ministers and minister of the government of a member State;
Permanent Representatives and their deputies;
representatives of non-member States who enjoy observer status with the Council of Europe or whose parliaments enjoy observer, partner for democracy or special guest status with the Parliamentary Assembly;
representatives of non-member States whose parliaments participate in the annual debates on OECD activities.
iii. Secretariat
Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly and staff of the secretariat of the Assembly;
Secretary General of the Council of Europe and Deputy Secretary General; members of the Private Office of the Secretary General;
secretaries of national delegations and of observer, partner for democracy and special guest delegations;
secretaries of political groups;
directors general and directors of the Council of Europe;
the Head of the Protocol Department and his/her deputy;
any other staff whose duties require their presence there.
iv. Other persons
personalities invited by the President or by the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly;
the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, the President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, the President of the European Court of Human Rights, the President of the Conference of INGOs.
16.	Requests for access should be submitted to the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly. He/she may grant other Council of Europe staff members access to the Chamber upon request (Protocol staff, press officers from the Directorate of Communication) or upon request for a specific debate (members of the secretariat of the Committee of Ministers when the communication from the Committee of Ministers is being delivered, or members of the secretariat of the Commissioner for Human Rights when the Commissioner is presenting the annual activity report). The Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly may also grant access to the Chamber to persons accompanying a personality invited by the President of the Assembly or by himself/herself.
III.	Access to the Chamber gallery
17.	Only persons wearing a badge that has been duly issued for this purpose by the Safety and Security Service of the Council of Europe will be admitted to the galleries. Priority shall be given to access requests signed by the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly.
18.	Members of the public who are admitted to the galleries must be appropriately dressed, remain seated and keep silent. Anyone expressing approval or disapproval will be removed immediately by the security agents.
IV.	Access to the meeting rooms of committees
19.	Rule 48 of the Assembly Rules of Procedure shall be applied as follows:
Committee meetings shall be held in private.
A committee may decide, at the latest at the time of adopting the meeting agenda, that part of the meeting or a specific item will be open to the public, and to divide the agenda into items that are open to the public and others that are not; only items concerning a hearing or an exchange of views with experts, ministers or members of a national parliament or government, representatives of an international organisation or representatives of civil society may be open to the public.
A committee may decide to hold all or part of a meeting in camera, i.e. with only members of the committee or its secretariat being present. The decision shall be taken by the Chair of the committee and shall appear in the draft agenda sent to members, or by the committee itself, at the latest at the time of adopting the agenda for the meeting in question. Where appropriate, checks may be carried out to ensure that only authorised persons are admitted to the meeting room.
The Monitoring Committee and the Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights shall meet in camera, except in the case of joint meetings with other committees or hearings or exchanges of views if the committee so decides. Only their respective members shall take part.
20.	The following persons have access to committee meetings (unless the Rules of Procedure stipulate otherwise ):
committee members and their substitutes;
other members of the Assembly, observers, partners for democracy, special guests and delegations / representations of parliaments of non-member states of the Council of Europe with the agreement of the Bureau, in those committees where they are allowed;
secretaries of national delegations, subject to a maximum of two secretaries per national delegation, i.e. one maximum official for each constituent assembly of the national parliament (for countries with bicameral parliaments), or one secretary per observer, partner for democracy or special guest delegation (whose name must appear in the Assembly list), carers accompanying parliamentarians with reduced mobility, in those committees where they are allowed;
secretaries of political groups, in those committees where they are allowed;
members of the Committee of Ministers or any other minister of the government of a member State;
Permanent Representatives/Ministers' Deputies (including chargés d'affaires duly notified to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe), or one of their deputies, whose name will be, if possible, notified in advance to the chairperson of the committee concerned; only Permanent Representations of member States of the Council of Europe may be represented (no access either for other representatives of diplomatic missions of member or non-member states or for representatives of international organisations, unless specifically authorised by the committee concerned);
the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the Deputy Secretary General;
the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly and the staff of the secretariat of the committee concerned;
other members of the staff of the secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly (except in the case of the Monitoring Committee, the Committee on Rules, Immunities and Institutional Affairs and the Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights);
at the invitation of the Chair of the committee, for a specific agenda item, where appropriate: directors general and directors of the Council of Europe; secretaries of Council of Europe bodies (Committee of Ministers, Commissioner for Human Rights, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, European Court of Human Rights) and steering committees and expert committees of the Council of Europe; the Private Office of the Secretary General; permanent representatives or ambassadors of States which have observer, partner for democracy or special guest delegations to the Assembly; representatives of other international organisations with which the Parliamentary Assembly has a co-operation agreement; representatives of the Conference of INGOs; subject to a maximum of one person per committee or body; guests and experts for a hearing.
21.	Committee documents shall be distributed to parliamentarians having access to the committee concerned.
22.	The above rules shall also apply to Assembly committee meetings which are held at venues other than the Council of Europe.
V.	Parliamentarians' Bar
23.	During Assembly part-sessions, the Parliamentarians' Bar shall be reserved, as a matter of priority, for parliamentarians, their guests and persons who have access to the Chamber.
VI.	Use of electronic means of communication during sittings and meetings
24.	Assembly members and individuals attending or participating in sittings or meetings shall exercise discretion when using mobile telephones and other electronic means of communication and shall refrain from any behaviour that might interfere with the smooth conduct of business. Anyone who fails to comply with these instructions will be asked to leave the Chamber or meeting room.
25.	Committee meetings must not be filmed or recorded, even partially, by those attending or participating in the meetings.
VII.	Press and media
26.	During Assembly sessions, requests for press and media accreditation shall be handled by the Directorate of Communication of the Council of Europe, in line with the latter's regulations. Journalists and representatives of the press and media are required to comply strictly with the instructions issued by the Directorate of Communication of the Council of Europe and the Assembly's Communication Division. The wearing of badges is compulsory.
27.	Media activities must not:
compromise security
interfere with the maintenance of order, the proper conduct of activities or the free movement of individuals
compromise people's dignity and interfere with their privacy
cause damage to physical property and equipment
hinder television recording by the Assembly.
28.	Journalists and representatives of the press and media will not be allowed into the Assembly Chamber, except for photographers accredited by the Directorate of Communication of the Council of Europe.
29.	All plenary debates and speeches are recorded and broadcast by the Council of Europe's audiovisual department. There shall be no filming in the Assembly Chamber. Filming is permitted only from the galleries.
30.	Photographs may be taken and video or audio recordings made in a committee room only if the meeting is open to the press. In the case of meetings which are not open to the press, the committee chair may give permission for such activities before the meeting starts or at the end of the meeting.
31.	Interviews must not be conducted either inside the Assembly Chamber or in the committee meeting rooms.
32.	Press briefings will be held in the designated locations, as indicated by the Assembly's Communication Division. Only duly accredited journalists may attend.
33.	Press conferences should preferably be held at times other than during plenary sittings and committee meetings. They should focus on subjects which fall within the Assembly's mandate or otherwise fall within the scope of Council of Europe action. Authorisations are not given for press conferences where the subject for discussion could impair the good name or prejudice the impartiality of the Council of Europe, or otherwise run counter to its fundamental objectives. Press conferences will take place in the prescribed place, as indicated by the Assembly's Communication Division (usually Room 1 in the Palais de l'Europe when the Assembly is in session). Only duly accredited journalists may ask questions.
34.	Filming is permitted in the context of the parliamentary business and activities of the Assembly, except in areas duly indicated, in particular in the Parliamentarians' Bar. Filming in the offices of a national delegation is subject to prior approval by the delegation concerned.
35.	During periods when the Assembly is not in session, especially in the case of meetings of the Standing Committee and other Assembly committees which are held in venues other than the Palais de l'Europe, the Assembly's Communication Division will determine the specific rules governing access and activities of journalists and representatives of the press and the media.
VIII.	Enforcement measures
36.	Any persons who are found or are observed to be without good reason in an area which they were not authorised to enter, or whose behaviour compromises the smooth conduct of Assembly business, may, at the request of the President of the Parliamentary Assembly or the Secretary General of the Assembly, be removed and permanently prohibited from entering the Council of Europe, including the Palais de l'Europe.
37.	The President of the Parliamentary Assembly or the Secretary General of the Assembly may ask the Directorate General of Administration/Directorate of General Services to deny access to the Palais de l'Europe or any other Council of Europe building, in particular the Council of Europe Office in Paris, to any individuals in respect of whom he/she has been informed or has good reason to believe that their behaviour is liable to disrupt the activities of the Assembly or its committees.
38.	Guidance on all matters covered by these rules and situations which may arise from their application may be sought from the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly.

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