BGIPU was represented at the 2nd High level Meeting of the GPEDC in Nairobi, including the IPU/AWEPA hosted Parliamentary Forum, by Lord Chidgey, of Hamble-le-Rice. In recent years, international discussions on aid and development have shifted their focus away from the delivery of aid to the effectiveness of development cooperation as a whole, known as the development effectiveness agenda with parliamentarians playing key roles in such deliberations.
Marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, IPU is launching an innovative self-assessment toolkit which assists parliaments in reviewing their functioning and working methods, and how these contribute to gender equality. This is a follow-up to the IPU’s landmark study on sexism against women MPs as part of the IPU’s commitment to advance gender-sensitive reforms in parliaments. BGIPU has been active in promoting the IPU’s work and sees the launch as a vitally important contribution to such efforts.
A meeting jointly organised by the IPU and the Moroccan Parliament, bringing together parliamentarians from all over the world, was held on 13th November 2016 in Marrakech, one week into the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22). The aim was to involve parliamentarians in promoting awareness of the issues being discussed at COP22, so that they could better hold their Governments to account for delivering on commitments made at COP21 in Paris in December 2015.
The IPU met in Geneva from 23-27 October for the 135th Assembly to debate “Human rights abuses as precursors of conflict: Parliaments as early responders”. In addition to acknowledging the achievements of its Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians on its 40th anniversary, the debate also highlighted the key role by played by parliamentarians as human rights defenders. Among other outcomes, the Assembly held an emergency debate on the situation in Syria and passed a resolution on the political empowerment of women.
BGIPU staff visited Hampstead Cemetery on 29 September to pay tribute to the life and work of the UK parliamentarian who founded the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Sir William Randal Cremer MP. His initiative with French counterpart, Frederic Passy, in 1889 created a global organisation now numbering 170 member parliaments spanning the globe. The IPU facilitates inter-parliament dialogue to enhance global peace, promote democracy and end the scourge of war.
IPU will be marking International Day of Democracy 2016 on 15 September with the theme ‘Democracy 2030’ – an invitation and challenge to all parliaments to think about the future of democracy. Imagining the future is fundamental for building strong democracies that contribute to achieving sustainable development. International Day of Democracy is a key opportunity to challenge ideas, allow diverse voices to be heard and engage the general public.
Marking IDD (15 September) with the theme “Democracy 2030”, IPU called on political leaders everywhere to strengthen connections between the globally agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and citizens’ demands for greater transparency, accountability and inclusive decision-making. “We are inviting and challenging all parliaments to think innovatively about democracy’s future, including from the perspective of ensuring the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development succeeds,” said IPU President Saber Chowdhury.
IPU welcomes the decision by China and the USA to formally ratify the Paris climate change agreement. The IPU has been mobilizing parliaments since the historic deal was signed in Paris back in December 2015. It has underscored the crucial role played by parliaments in ratifying international commitments made by governments and in overseeing their implementation nationally, including by allocating sufficient funds from the national budget in accordance with the IPU’s recently adopted the Parliamentary Action Plan on Climate Change.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted on 25th July by consensus a resolution on Interaction between the UN, national parliaments and the Inter-Parliamentary Union. IPU President Saber Chowdhury welcomed the adoption saying the UNGA decision “recognizes the key role of parliaments and of IPU in helping build political will to tackle the world’s many challenges. I am confident that it will provide a valuable framework for taking our strategic partnership even further, for the good of our global community”.
Speaking to the Development Cooperation Forum at UN HQ in New York, Lord McConnell stressed the need for more urgency in acting on the Global Goals and the danger in the search for perfect systems and outcomes, as that might block or stall basic progress. He called for more accountability within countries to national parliaments and to citizens with a bottom-up approach to engagement rather than simply international monitoring.
