The IPU held a seminar for the Parliament of Benin to help strengthen the legislative drafting capacity of parliamentary staff and Members of Parliament. The seminar, attended by about 40 staff, took place on 26 and 27 September 2017. It was followed by an information session for Members of Parliament on 28 September at the National Assembly in Porto-Novo.
The seminar was given by Ibrahima Niane, Parliamentary Law and Practice Consultant and formerly head of the legislative services of the National Assembly of Senegal, and Alphonse Nombre, MP and former Secretary General of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso. This approach is in line with the IPU’s encouragement of peer-to-peer support and exchange between national parliaments.
Participants learned about the process of drafting legislation and amendments: identifying the problem to be resolved, researching the subject and reconciling divergent positions. They practiced drafting legislation and amendments, taking into account the need for clarity, cohesion and accessibility of language.
The IPU organized the seminar in response to a request from the National Assembly of Benin, and it took place within the framework of the Common Principles of Support to Parliament, to which Benin signed up in January 2016 and the National Assembly's strategic plan issued in 2016.
Watch the video of the seminar (in French).
