IPU messages on peace and global governance resonate at the United Nations
As usual at this time of the year, the United Nations held a series of summits and high-level meetings to mark the opening of the new session of the General Assembly. IPU President Tulia Ackson and Secretary General Martin Chungong were in attendance, along with the President of the Board of the IPU Forum of Young Parliamentarians, Dan Carden MP (United Kingdom), the President of the IPU Bureau of Women Parliamentarians, Senator Cynthia Lopez Castro (Mexico), and the Chair of the IPU Working Group on Science and Technology, Denis Naughten MP (Ireland), among others.
The highlight of the 10-day meeting marathon that began on 20 September 2024 was the Summit of the Future and its many side events. The Summit concluded with the adoption of a Pact for the Future devoted to renewing global governance so that the UN-centred multilateral system can better deliver on its many promises for sustainable development and peace. As part of this, the Pact includes a strong commitment by the UN to deepen relations with parliaments and the IPU as a way of making the global system more democratic and accountable.
In speeches to the plenary of the Summit and at one of its Interactive Dialogues (on SDG financing), President Ackson reviewed the ways in which the UN has become more open to parliamentary engagement over the years but also stressed that a lot more was needed to achieve critical mass.
As a keynote speaker at the opening of a special youth segment of the Summit, Dan Carden looked forward to a future in which youth concerns are heard at the UN as well as in other decision-making bodies, including parliaments.
The other major event in which the IPU participated was a special Security Council meeting on “leadership for peace” held on 25-26 September 2024. In his first-ever address to the Council, Secretary General Chungong conveyed the IPU’s message about the primacy of dialogue as the only way to prevent or resolve conflict. He further encouraged the international community to rethink traditional notions of national security in a more developmental, people-centred perspective, arguing that real security does not come from armaments but from the way people feel and how they are provided for.
Other events in which the IPU leadership participated during this time included meetings organized by the UN Alliance of Civilizations, UN Women, the UN Youth Office, the European Parliament, the International Peace Institute and Women Political Leaders. President Ackson and Secretary General Chungong were able to convey some of the IPU’s key messages on the role of women in peacebuilding, and on ways to stop violence against women, including in the context of child marriage, as well as on the ways parliamentarians can work to counter hate speech and promote peaceful coexistence through interfaith and intercultural dialogue.
Capping the whole series of meetings, Secretary General Chungong met with the new President of the General Assembly (79th session), Mr. Philemon Yang, a fellow Cameroonian. Among other things, Mr. Chungong discussed some of the work ahead for the IPU in which President Yang is invited to play a role, such as the annual Parliamentary Hearing at the UN and the Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in 2025.
The IPU Secretary General addresses the UN Security Council ©IPU
