As a delegate from the BGIPU access was easier and broader than my past experiences of representing the UK NGO’s at CSW. Discussion not only on numbers of women involved in decision making bodies but around what they actually get to do when they are elected and equally importantly what difference, if any their presence in government may make to the lives of ordinary women in the country.
The Steering Committee of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO met on 11 and 12 February 2014 on the premises of the European Parliament in Brussels. The session was co-chaired by Mr. V. Moreira, representing the European Parliament, and Mr. K. Örnfjäder (Sweden), who had been recently appointed by the IPU President as coordinator of the IPU delegation to the Steering Committee and, in this capacity, co-Chair of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO. The UK Parliament was represented by John Spellar MP.
Jonathan Djanogly MP attended the joint European Parliament/IPU Parliamentary Conference on the WTO in Bali, Indonesia on 2 and 5 December 2013 convened in connection with the Ninth WTO Ministerial Conference. As the UK’s representative among some 270 MPs participating, he joined counterparts in urging governments to place development at the heart of the multilateral trading system, taking into full account the special needs and interests of developing counties, particularly the least developed. The meeting helped ensure parliamentary views were registered as WTO members successfully negotiated a new multilateral trade deal which is anticipated to add around $100 billion a year to global trade, potentially creating an additional 21 million jobs.
This Annual Parliamentary Hearing aimed to provide a parliamentary contribution to the on-going debate at the United Nations and in capitals on the development agenda after 2015, when leading development commitments are set to expire. Entitled Re-thinking sustainable development: the quest for a “transformational” global agenda in 2015, the Parliamentary Hearing was able to channel the views of parliamentarians directly into the UN’s deliberative process and build on the outcome of the 128th Assembly in Quito by considering the role of parliaments in the implementation of the new commitments for sustainable development as a universal agenda for both developed and developing countries.
The BGIPU, in partnership with the APPG on Trade out of Poverty, convened a briefing on 6 November by the Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint, Minister of State for Trade and Investment, on the preparations for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial to be chaired by Indonesia in Bali from 3 to 6 December. The briefing was chaired by the BGIPU Chairman, Robert Walter MP and participants from both Houses had the opportunity to discuss key challenges and expected outcomes with Lord Green who will also be one of the Vice-Chairs (along with counterparts from Peru and Rwanda) of the Bali Ministerial.
The IPU convened its first meeting to specifically address abolition of the death penalty in Geneva on 10 October 2013 marking the World Day Against the Death Penalty. The meeting was convened in cooperation with the International Commission Against the Death Penalty (ICDP), a body founded in Spain in 2010, which brings together a number of distinguished abolitionists who have held high office in governments around the world.
The 129th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly took place in Geneva, from 7 to 9 October 2013 and was attended by nearly 1200 participants, including 580 parliamentarians from 131 countries. Members of the UK delegation played very prominent roles in the proceedings through chairing key committees, presentations to Standing Committees and bilateral exchanges. The UK’s active role was recognised by BGIPU Chair Robert Walter being elected to the IPU Executive Committee.
On the 6th of June a panel including Mary Macleod MP, Roberta Blackman Woods MP and Dina Medland, a freelance journalist for the Financial Times, discussed, under the auspices of the BGIPU, whether stereotyping, misogyny and harassment through the media constitutes a form of violence against women in politics, and what measures may be taken to address such issues.
The Steering Committee meeting was held in Brussels in the European Parliament, who co-host the Parliamentary Conference with the IPU. The prime purpose of the Meeting was to prepare for the Bali Ministerial Conference in early December 2013.
The 128th IPU Assembly in Quito, Ecuador from 22 to 27 March 2013 was attended by more than 1350 participants from over 118 parliaments. The UK delegation was prominent and active throughout the Assembly, including as a member of the Emergency Item Drafting Committee, as moderators of panel discussions, in detailed Committee work and in a range of targeted bilateral exchanges.
