IPU logoThe Journal of the IPU
MONTHLY WEB PUBLICATION22 September 2000, Number 13
  Event of the month

Strengthening UN and IPU Cooperation in a
Reformed Multilateral Cooperation System

Group photo
Group photo of Presidents of Parliament taken on the occasion of the COP

The Millennium Summit of the United Nations was held in New York from 6 to 8 September. The gathering concluded by the Heads of State and Government adopting the United Nations Millennium Declaration in which they resolve "to further strengthen cooperation between the United Nations and national parliaments through their world organisation, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in various fields, including : peace and security, economic and social development, international law and human rights, democracy and gender issues".

The President of the governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Dr Najma Heptulla delivered a speech to the Summit on behalf of the Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments (COP) which had taken place a few days earlier in the United Nations Assembly Hall.

Referring to "the parliamentary vision for international cooperation", Dr Heptulla said :

"I am honoured to take the floor as the President of the Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments and on behalf of the oldest international organization, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, to present to you the outcome of a unique and historically compelling event held in this hall from 30 August to 1 September in cooperation with the United Nations, with the participation of some 150 Presidents of Chambers from 140 countries. This first ever Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments truly represents the commitment of representatives of the peoples, the Parliaments, to work ever more closely with the United Nations to ensure that the twenty first century is a century without fear, without deprivation and want, a century that allows for the fullest development of the inherent potential of each and every human being. That will be real globalisation.

Mr. Secretary General, we thank you for your very inspiring address on that occasion. Your messages will be reciprocated through our actions. After intense debate, we unanimously adopted a Declaration encapsulating our parliamentary vision for international cooperation at the dawn of the third millennium. It sets out the main challenges facing our societies and expresses our political resolve successfully to overcome them, through international cooperation. It also contains recommendations on the role of parliaments in a reformed multilateral cooperation system.

Parliaments stands stand firmly behind the United Nations and this support is both political and practical. Whether we belong to the majority or the opposition in our parliaments, we are committed to offering the necessary political backing to the UN as the cornerstone of the international cooperation system. We are also committed to allocating the resources which the United Nations and the other intergovernmental institutions need to accomplish their noble mission. We are unanimous in identifying a democratic deficit in the United Nations and the intergovernmental regime at large. If UN decisions are to interpret the concerns and aspirations of the peoples and if international agreements are to effectively find their way to our national realities, parliament, as the institution which legitimately represents society in its diversity and is accountable to it, should have a greater say in the international cooperation process."

Turning to the question of the right of participants to attend the Conference, she added: "... We were concerned that two of our fellow Presiding Officers were prevented from participating in our Parliamentary Summit. The denial of visas to them runs counter to the spirit on which the IPU and the UN are founded and is contrary to the principles of democracy underlying the functioning of parliaments. Furthermore, it calls into question our ability to meet at the United Nations in New York to express the support we intend to offer it. I therefore call on you all and the host country urgently to help us find a solution to such problems."

  They said at the COP

Mr Kofi Annan - UN Secretary-General

We need a parliamentary vision of international relations
"Over the next week, Heads of State from more than 150 countries will meet in these halls to chart a new course for this Organization and for the world. To succeed, they must summon the will to think anew about how to advance the interests of their citizens in a global era. No group of leaders is better placed to give expression to those interests than Heads of Parliaments.
You represent the people of the world - the peoples in whose name our Charter was written. You have a unique understanding of your citizens' needs and wishes, and of what they expect from the United Nations in the new millennium. You have experience of organizing constructive dialogue between different parties -between those in power and those in opposition. So you know how important it is to show tolerance to your opponents, and to safeguard the rights of minorities as well as majorities. And also you know how important it is, sometimes, to rise above party differences and unite for some great national purpose.
... The fact is that we need the parliamentary vision of international relations more than ever before. In the age of globalisation, the ancient challenges of poverty and conflict can no longer be met simply by Governments working together. Whole societies are affected by international relations, and are playing their part in it. They need to be represented in many different ways...Together, we at the United Nations and you, the parliamentarians, can do much to break down this wall of suspicion - by explaining the global changes to our peoples, and by ensuring that those changes redound to their benefit."

Mr Tamisuke Watanuki, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan

IPU potential to be completed
"National parliaments provide the most effective means of conveying the specific interests and aspirations of society to the process of government. As a gathering of the parliamentarians of the world, the IPU finds itself in a unique position - able to bring together the public opinion of the countries of the globe. In light of this, I believe there is plenty of room for developing mutually complementary relations between the IPU and the United Nations. It was in 1996 that the Agreement of Cooperation was concluded between our two organisations. Unfortunately, the full potential of the IPU is yet to be completely explored in terms of its relationship with the United Nations."

Mr Li Peng, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China

Establish a just new order
"To enhance international cooperation, the most fundamental thing to do is to establish a just and equitable new international political and economic order of peace and stability. Hegemonism is the main source of the turbulence in the international situation. The unfair and inequitable old international economic order is a significant cause for the great disparity between the rich and poor in the world. The independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and national dignity of developing countries must be full respected.
The IPU is the biggest inter-parliamentary organisation in the world. Over the years, its cooperation with the UN has yielded positive results. The Chinese National People's Congress has taken an active part in the activities of the IPU. We hope that such cooperation will be strengthened."

Mr Gildas Molgat, Speaker of the Canadian Senate

Parliaments can play a role of mediator
"The Declaration also has the merit of placing parliaments and parliamentarians at the centre of the national and global dynamic that is confronting contemporary challenges. It affirms the crucial role of parliaments in the adoption and implementation of treaties and other international instruments. It underlines the growing importance of parliamentary diplomacy, and reiterates the inevitable place that parliaments must now occupy in international relations. Parliaments, as the Declaration so accurately observes, are the reflections and the agents of the civil society.
As such, they play at the national level the role of mediator and are the vehicle for the aspirations of all citizens for a fairer, more peaceful and more egalitarian world.
Lastly, the Declaration is an unequivocal profession of faith in the United Nations as the main instrument of the new world order so earnestly hoped for.
For all these reasons, I believe that the Declaration must not simply be submitted to the heads of state and government who are attending the special UN Millennium Summit in this very spot a few days from now. It also has an educational value for the world."

Mrs Birgitta Dahl , Speaker of the Swedish Parliament

Democracy means government by the people
"Democracy means government by the people. In today's world it also means political decisions across national boundaries. For practical reasons such joint political decisions have to be made by governments and their diplomats acting in good faith and with good intent. But quite often they are made in such a way - and at such a speed - that individual citizens do not feel that they are participating in them or that they are able to influence them. In those cases we can hardly expect them to assume their responsibility in implementing them."

M. Raymond Forni, Speaker of the French National Assembly

We must go further
"The cooperation agreement concluded in 1996 between the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the UN is a first, highly positive step towards associating our parliaments with the United Nations. But there is no question we must go further. The Inter-Parliamentary Union could ultimately become a true parliamentary assembly of the United Nations, to be consulted by the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and to submit proposals to them.
The time has come, I believe, to give the world organisation its full political dimension by creating its second component, indispensable to balance, the component closest to the peoples' voice.
In that perspective, the exchanges which we are committed to deepening among national parliaments in the IPU could achieve their full significance. The recognition that the institution of parliament would thereby receive at world level would be true progress for democracy.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is not some utopian dream but a direction arising from trends already in evidence, dictated by the wish to improve the functioning of the international system in concrete ways."

Mr Mosé Tjitendero , Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Namibia

The IPU stands at a crucial moment
"The Inter-Parliamentary Union today stands at a very crucial moment in its history and its evolution. The historic Conference pays tribute to this very fact as it bears the fruit of the long standing commitment of the Inter-Parliamentary Union to providing steady support to the United Nations' efforts in pursuit of peace and cooperation among nations. The Inter-Parliamentary Union has a long and solid track record in promoting democracy, the defence of human rights and the promotion of relationship of genuine partnership between men and women in political life. This in itself should be seen as a major milestone and should underscore the role that we, as the elected representative, can play in enhancing the people's understanding and support of the programmes of the United Nations. The Inter-Parliamentary Union, as the world's body of national parliaments, could be of particular service in extending and operationalising the programmes and objectives of the United Nations to civil society in the new Millennium, so that we the people and the nations can together provide a collective and strong platform for meaningful global cooperation, through the efforts of the United Nations and the world parliamentarians."

Mr Antonio De Almeida Santos , President of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal

We need another UN
"The United Nations Organisation was conceived as an "organisation of States" which meanwhile are no longer what they were. The UN Charter is still a remarkable document. But an historical one.
Its underlying principles are still valid. But it shows no aptitude to perform the role of World Government which the new world needs.
Its reform is on the agenda. However, when we try to draft it we come up against the fatalism of the status quo.
What we need is another UN, not the same one revamped.
If those, that is citizens as a whole, who represent nations are the national Parliaments, should we not explore their increased representation in future world-wide decision-making bodies?"

Mrs Violet Neilson, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Jamaica

The people can influence the discussions of Governments
"The people must feel that they can influence the discussions of Government. We must have a system where people can elect their representatives without fear or favour.
… At the international level, cooperation among countries with similar systems and problems is a most desirable objective with the intent of finding meaningful solutions to problems. This can be viewed from different perspectives such as economic cooperation, political cooperation or the sharing of ideas and experiences through conferences and exchanges.
… What then should we, the community of democracies adopt as the parliamentary vision of the new millennium? The vision globally should be to eradicate poverty, to improve the standards of education and remove all forms of injustice thus creating the conditions necessary for the realization of the human potential."

Mr Abdulhadi Majali, Speaker of the Jordanian House of Representatives

Dialogue among parliaments should be developed
"The revolution in information technology is working towards bonding nations of the world reinforcing international relations in our "global village" in opening the window of opportunity towards crystallizing a wider concept of international cooperation which will necessitate that our parliaments assume a greater role in the intricate issues facing the peoples of the world since parliament is a major component of the contemporary state that embodies the sovereignty and contributes in forging its will. We henceforth believe that dialogue among parliaments should be developed and enhanced at all levels to encounter the challenges that face the international community."

Mr Jack Fritz, Speaker of the eleventh Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia

A challenge for parliamentarians
"We parliamentarians can make a contribution, and I would like to issue a challenge to all of the parliamentarians in this building, based in part on what Secretary-General Annan said to us on Wednesday. Let us do what we can, collectively and individually, within the limitations of our respective forms of government, to actively engage ourselves with the United Nations. If I dare say that we, as parliamentarians, are the closest thing to the voice of our people, we are remiss in our work if we do not take a more active role."

Mr Theo Ben Gurirab, President of the UN General Assembly

The IPU has arrived on the UN scene
"I would like to personally underline the relevance and, indeed, the importance of this Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is a global organisation and it is, therefore, a natural ally of the United Nations. Regrettably, this obvious reality had, for many years, failed to hit a home run. The IPU has, at last, arrived - but with a bang-on the United Nations scene, never to look back or to walk away. Let us celebrate this great victory. Let us make this newly formalized relationship between the United Nations and the IPU constructive and lasting."

Mr Mike Moore, Director General of WTO

We can cooperate
"I believe parliamentarians, the elected representatives of the people, could be more closely involved in the WTO...The IPU can plan an important role. By definition, the issues that the WTO deals with transcend national borders. So it makes sense if parliamentarians from across the world with similar interests get together to develop closer links with us. Parliaments, like governments, increasingly need to co-operate internationally. Unlike other organisations, our agreements must be accepted by Parliaments, so the better the understanding, the better it is for Ministers and Governments, many of whom want to advance our relationship further.
...I congratulate the IPU. I hope that your Members will agree that we can cooperate. I think a seminar, or a symposium about our activities would be good. You are all welcome in Geneva."

Mr March Malloch Brown, Administrator of UNDP

Parliaments will help meet the challenge of the new millennium
"It is not that long ago that talking about a parliamentary vision for international cooperation was inherently contradictory. In the first place, there were too few representative legislatures in the world and second, international issues were very much seen as the province of the executive - and a distinct and rarefied segment of the executive at that.
But as with so much else, the whirlwind of globalisation that is sweeping across the world transformed the political, social and economic landscape. And while many other national and international institutions have been weakened - and sometimes flattened - by these forces, parliamentary systems have grown and strengthened. Ninety per cent of countries now have some form of representative legislature, over 60% are multiparty democracies and the proportion of countries rated as free has more than doubled in less than a decade. That clearly represents tremendous progress. We must now strive to use these parliaments to help meet the most urgent challenge of the new millennium: finding ways to end the marginalization of poor both within and between countries.
From Gabon to Cambodia we are already working with a wide range of valued partners - pre-eminently the IPU, with whom we have a very productive and rewarding relationship - in areas from lawmaking, oversight and constituency outreach to concrete challenges like increasing gender diversity and integrating human rights and environmental concerns into parliamentary work."

Mr Juan Somavía, Director General of the ILO

Action is in your hands
"... The ILO brings together governments, employers and workers to design a better social architecture in the world. Parliaments build the edifice of democracy through national debate and political action. We forge international conventions and you convert them into national legislation. Inevitably, our paths intertwine.
... Today, above all, I stand before you to plead a cause : the cause of those children forced to work and deprived of their childhood. I have come to ask all of you to join the ILO global campaign to wipe out child labour from the face of the earth. I ask you to ratify ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour.
... Child Labour - in its worst forms - is abuse of power. It is adults exploiting the young, innocent, weak, vulnerable and insecure for personal profit. Child exploitation is also lack of opportunity for parents. Together with the 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty, it is the biggest failure of development efforts. It represents the dark side of the global economy and of our own societies. Often, a child's pay is the only family income.
Action is in your hands. The parliaments of each member State must ratify this convention and incorporate it into national legislation. So far, 36 out of the 175 member States of the ILO have ratified Convention 182 in its first year of existence. It is a record. It will come into force on 19th November 2000. For those parliaments that have not yet done so, I entreat you to give it the highest priority."

  Focus

 

The Declaration: Remarks by Mr Melegué Traoré Speaker of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso
Rapporteur to the Conference

Bring people closer to multilateral cooperation

"This declaration conveys a political vision of the major challenges facing the world at this highly symbolic juncture. It is a synthesis of the foremost concerns and aspirations of people everywhere as we perceive them through our direct and daily contact both with the citizens who have elected us to represent them and with the national and local realities we share with them. Equally important, the declaration transmits a new vision of the process of international cooperation. We are witnessing a momentous evolution in international relations that makes it urgent to bring people closer to multilateral cooperation and to international negotiating fora.

... I would like to make two comments on this first part of the declaration. The first relates to the question of national sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of States to which many of you have referred to in your statements. Clearly, the debate on these concepts has intensified in recent years and you can rest assured that they were hotly discussed in the Preparatory Committee.

... Let me now turn to the second section of the declaration which considers the role of the United Nations. The UN must remain the cornerstone of strong and effective global cooperation, it must be strengthened, and members are urged to provide it with the necessary human and financial resources. The UN reform process must also be continued and completed. As you know, there are very divergent views on UN reform and, in particular, on possible reform of the UN Security Council.

... The third section of the declaration describes the evolution of international relations and makes the point that parliaments must be much more closely involved in international cooperation. International relations are no longer limited to traditional diplomacy. International cooperation today requires different working methods and the participation of new actors. One of them is parliament. Their involvement is all the more necessary because of globalisation and the technical revolution that have given us a much smaller world which is dramatically more interdependent than ever before. The ensuing complexity requires parliaments and their members to play a more assertive role as intermediaries between citizens and international decision-making."

  Events

Workshop on Human Rights In South-East Asia

From 9 to 11 August, the Parliament of Mongolia -the State Great Hural - hosted the North-East Asia workshop on the theme "Parliaments and Human Rights", organised jointly by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Members of the Parliaments from the Republic of Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Japan, the People's Republic of China and Mongolia took part in the event together with a number of experts.

This meeting, the first of its kind, permitted Members of Parliaments from the five countries of the region to discuss strategies for more effective promotion and protection of human rights at the national level. The debates were also helpful in identifying the focus and contents of a practical Handbook for Parliamentarians on Human Rights which the IPU and the OHCHR plan to develop in the next few months.

  Read in the Press

The New York Times

With many new democracies and some old ones under strain because of economic setbacks, rebellions and unsatisfactory 'political leadership, lawmakers from around the world have spent the last three days urging one another to make legislative bodies at every level of government stronger institutions.

The lawmakers were part of the first "summit" meeting of more than 150 presiding officers of the world's legislatures, an event that leaders of the United States Congress chose not to attend. Throughout the conference, the speakers, who for the most part were elected by grass-roots constituencies, repeatedly addressed the question of how to give their voters a more direct sense of involvement in national policy making.

Speakers of both lower and upper houses of parliament at the conference, organized by the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union, said that in an era of globalisation, ordinary people often seemed to feel that political and economic power was moving farther away from them, even in established democracies".

Agence France Presse (AFP)

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the world's parliaments on Wednesday to reject the "fig-leaf democracy" of elections without free speeches and a free press. Opening the first global conference of presiding officers of national parliaments from 141 countries, he said "rights cannot be guaranteed simply by holding elections".

The three-day conference was organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), which groups the legislatures of almost all countries except small island states in the Caribbean and the Pacific.

Annan told delegates: "By ostracising those who would claim a place in the community of democracies on false pretences, you can help ... to restore democratic government where it has been overturned and to strengthen it where it is in peril".

CNN.com

More than 140 countries are sending top lawmakers to the first global gathering of parliamentary leaders. But the United States isn't sending anyone - and it's barred the speaker of Cuba's National Assembly from coming.

While the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which organized the conference, says all its member Parliaments are democratically elected, human rights experts have questioned the democratic credentials of some participating countries --including Iraq, Congo, and Yugoslavia. And the participation of some parliamentarians at the conference has been challenged.

Reuters

Days before a possible summit on the Middle East, Israel's parliamentary speaker called on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to think of history and the children of the region and to compromise on a peace pact. "From this podium, I call to him in the name of all of Israel -- Do not say no !" Avraham Burg, speaker of the Israeli Knesset told the first meeting of presiding officers from parliaments around the world.

...He was addressing 900 participants from 141 countries at an Inter-Parliamentary Union forum and called on the group to "join me in my prayers for peace -- that the days of suffering and war in our region have ended -- and in the hope that our children will no longer perish on the battlefields". Burg also invited the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mehdi Kharroubi, to come to Jerusalem, saying he spoke most eloquently about the concept of a "Dialogue among Civilizations".

Le Monde

In New York, for the first time in more than 20 years, Iranian parliamentarians met with their American colleagues. The meeting took place on the occasion of the Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments being held at UN Headquarters. Held in the Metropolitan Museum, it was played down by the Iranians and announced to the media by the Americans. The parliamentarians discussed the fate of 10 Jews sentenced in Iran to prison terms for spying.

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