Theme: Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation

A waste disposal project in Monrovia funded byt World Bank Infrastructure project.JPG

Visit to Liberia to meet the UN Secretary General’s “High-Level Panel” on Post-2015 Global Development Goals

On 30 January in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, Hugh Bayley MP joined senior parliamentary colleagues from Liberia, Bangladesh and Uganda in a roundtable discussion to convey to the post-2015 High Level Panel the IPU’s perspectives on the importance of democratic governance, particularly the role to be played by parliaments, in determining any future international development goals.

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Hugh Bayley MP visits UK and World Bank aid projects in Liberia

In addition to the primary role as a member of the IPU delegation to meet the UNSG’s High Level panel on post-2015 Global Development goals, Hugh Bayley MP also had the opportunity to have a number of other meetings  during my visit to Liberia which provide valuable insight into the current situation in Liberia, including UK interests in the country.

BGIPU Executive Committee Member, Mr John Robertson MP, also a member of the Energy and Climate Change Committee, provided a report on his perspectives on COP18 saying that while ambitions had been admittedly low, progress made was sufficient in setting up a way forward which maintained momentum for global action and encouraged governments to continue to focus on how best to find agreement on areas to be progressed

Good COP / Bad COP: Parliamentary Perspectives from COP18

The two week long climate talks in Doha came to a close on 8 December with 194 countries agreeing to implement a second phase of the Kyoto Protocol, from 2013 through 2020. The Doha round of talks mark the beginning of a transition to a new global climate change regime that will come into effect from 2020 and include within its ambit all countries. The BGIPU held a lecture to discuss: Good COP / Bad COP: Parliamentary Perspectives from COP18.

The BGIPU sent two delegates to the Annual UN Parliamentary Assembly on Peacebuilding at UN Headquarters in New York , Craig Whittaker MP and Lord McConnell.

Parliamentary Hearing at the United Nations

‘A road less travelled: parliamentary approaches to conflict prevention, reconciliation and peace building’; By focusing on the role that Parliamentarians and Parliaments can play in conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction, the Conference dealt with an element of peacebuilding that receives too little attention in the normal course of events.

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President of Tunisia discusses democratic transition with UK Parliamentarians

The President of Tunisia, HE Dr Moncef Marzouki, visited Parliament on Monday 26 November to meet with UK Parliamentarians for a BGIPU-hosted discussion entitled “Perspectives on Tunisia’s Democratic transition”. With the President providing a brief opening statement but preferring to respond directly to questions from the floor, the event was highly interactive and provided a unique opportunity to engage with a pivotal figure in the evolution of political transition following the events of the Arab Spring in Tunisia and the wider region.