Preparing for Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in 2020
The Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments is scheduled to take place in 2020 and is expected to build on the outcomes from the previous sessions (see below) and further reinforce the parliamentary dimension of global governance.
Preparations for the Speakers Conference are 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.
The first Preparatory Committee for the Fifth Conference of Speakers was held in Geneva from 8 to 9 February 2019. The BGIPU Chair, Rt Hon John Whittingdale MP, is representing the Speaker of the House of Commons, Rt Hon John Bercow MP, on this Preparatory Committee.
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 Preparatory Committee for the 5th Conference is chaired by the IPU President, composed of parliamentary leaders.
Rt Hon John Whittingdale MP, as BGIPU Chair, is representing the Speaker of the UK House of Commons, Rt Hon John Bercow MP
Mr Whittingdale MP with the IPU President Ms Gabriela Cuevas-Barron in front of a photo of the IPU's UK founder, Sir William Randal Cremer MP
