From 8 to 12 June 2015 BGIPU staff member Anja Richter participated in a seminar at the IPU headquarters in the House of Parliaments in Geneva, together with Secretaries and Clerks from other parliaments’ IPU Groups, to learn more about the functioning of the IPU and its procedures, and to exchange ideas and knowledge with counterparts.
A major international conference of the world’s young MPs in Tokyo in late May has called for policies to end the alienation and radicalization of young people, including new education policies and employment quotas. About 190 young MPs attended the IPU Global Conference of Young MPs making a series of recommendations on addressing some of the biggest challenges facing the world’s 3.5 billion youth populations including unemployment, discrimination and conflict. Gavin Shuker MP represented the UK Parliament at the event.
More than 700 MPs from 127 countries, including almost 50 Speakers, are now registered to attend the 132nd IPU Assembly in Hanoi, Viet Nam. The Assembly will look at concrete ways parliaments can implement the new sustainable development goals (SDGs) when they are adopted later this year. The Assembly, which takes place on 28 March to 1st April, aims to adopt a declaration on the role of Parliaments in supporting the achievement of the post-2015 SDGs at its conclusion.
Members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) have committed to taking the necessary action to carry forward proposed new sustainable development goals (SDGs) due to be adopted later this year. The success of the SDGs would transform the world and the lives of its people. Parliaments from across the world reaffirmed their vision of sustainable development based on human rights, poverty eradication, peace and security in the Hanoi Declaration, adopted at the conclusion of the five-day 132nd IPU Assembly in the Vietnamese capital.
On 1 April 2015, the 12 Plus Geopolitical Group adopted a Declaration on Ukraine at the 132nd IPU Assembly in Hanoi Vietnam. The 12 Plus Group declared it was deeply concerned about the current situation in Ukraine and expressed its strong support to the Ukrainian people and Government. It said Russia’s support to illegal armed groups in eastern Ukraine, its financial, military and technical assistance to pro-Russian forces threaten Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, destabilize regional stability and security in Europe and undermine the world order based on respect for international law.
The 132nd Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly convened in Hanoi, Vietnam from 28 March to 1 April 2015 was attended by over 1,500 participants including 715 members from 132 parliaments, 51 Speakers and 201 women MPs. The key theme of “The Sustainable Development Goals: Turning words into action” saw adoption of the Hanoi Declaration in advance of the post-2015 sustainable development goals, in addition to an emergency item debate on the role of parliaments in addressing the scourge of global terrorism.
This year CSW welcomed the largest contingent of 1100 NGOs (non-governmental organisations) from all over the world, composing 8600 women. I led a delegation of UK parliamentary delegates including Gavin Shuker MP, Roberta Blackman-Woods MP, and Diane Abbott MP for first week sponsored by the British Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (BGIPU). It is a truly amazing conference on many levels. Especially moving are some of the NGO events where one hears from human rights defenders often under threat on the ground.
On 26 February 2015, BGIPU and Health Poverty Action (HPA) brought a panel together to discuss drug policy as a driver of poverty and its impact on human rights and international development. The occasion was in honour of the launch of the HPA report “Casualties of War” which highlights how the war on drugs is harming the world’s poorest.
The Annual 2015 Session of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO took place in Geneva, on 16 and 17 February 2015. The WTO Director General, Mr. Roberto Azevêdo, addressed the meeting making a good case for the need to maintain momentum and to agree a clearly defined work plan by July 2015; before the ministerial meeting in Nairobi should finalise the Doha Round. He emphasised that all discussions were being conducted on the most transparent basis, with all members represented by ambassadors at key meetings. The WTO Secretariat also explained to participants the steps for implementation of the Bali Trade Facilitation Agreement and how developing countries will be supported through assistance and grants for implementation.
This year’s Parliamentary Hearing at the UN, jointly convened by the IPU and the UN from 19-20 November, was entitled, “Ensuring a people-centred approach to the new SDGs: A shared responsibility”. Key issues which drove the discussion included: how economic and social inequality, as well as discrimination, risked undermining people-centred development; the need to strengthen transparency and accountability to the people in both the public and private sectors; the responsibility of governments vis-à-vis the market; and how countries could deal more effectively with their human rights responsibilities and obligations.
