Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament: in-person segment
The in-person segment of the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament will be held in Vienna, Austria on 7-8 September. The conference will be preceded by the Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament on 6 September.
Organized jointly by the IPU and the Austrian Parliament, in cooperation with the United Nations, the second part of the conference will be designed to ensure as much inclusivity as possible depending on the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic. Measures will be put in place to allow engagement by those Speakers of Parliament who may not be able to attend due to travel restrictions.
The first part of the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament took place virtually on 19 and 20 August 2020.
Speakers of Parliament who are interested will also be invited to stay on for a Summit on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism, to be convened jointly by the IPU and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on 9 September. Discover the conference website.
Preparations for the Speakers’ Conference have been guided by a Preparatory Committee, chaired by the IPU President, composed of parliamentary leaders, representatives of the IPU Executive Committee, the Bureau of Women Parliamentarians and the Forum of Young Parliamentarians, the Secretary General of the IPU, and the high-level representative of the UN Secretary-General.
Background
The first Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments took place in August 2000 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, just a few days prior to the Millennium Summit of Heads of State and Government. Organized with the full support of the United Nations, the conference concluded with a Declaration entitled The Parliamentary Vision For International Cooperation at the Dawn of the Third Millennium.
With this Declaration, the Presiding Officers of the world’s parliaments committed themselves and their institutions to join forces with the United Nations to help address the tremendous challenges facing the world community. The commitment of Member States for greater cooperation with the world of parliaments was embedded in the final declaration of the 2000 Summit, known as the Millennium Declaration. This declaration calls, inter alia, for the United Nations to work with national parliaments, through the IPU, in the pursuit of peace and security, economic and social development, international law and human rights, democracy, and gender issues.
Subsequent World Conferences were held every five years in conjunction with the United Nations:
Second World Conference of Speakers of Parliament (UN Headquarters in New York, 7-9 September 2005) – see outcome Declaration on Bridging the democracy gap in international relations: A stronger role for parliament
Third World Conference of Speakers of Parliament (UN Office at Geneva, 19-21 July 2010) – see outcome on Parliaments in a world of crisis: Securing global democratic accountability for the common good
Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament (UN Headquarters in New York, 31 August – 1 September 2015) – see outcome on Placing democracy at the service of peace and sustainable development: Building the world the people want
The in-person segment of the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament will be held in Vienna, Austria on 7-8 September. The conference will be preceded by the Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament on 6 September. © Austrian Parliament
