On 20 October 2006, the United Nations General Assembly adopted by consensus a robust and forward-looking resolution on "Cooperation between the United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union", with a record 133 States signing on as co-sponsors. In addition to welcoming the fact that the two organizations collaborate on virtually every item on the agenda for peace, democracy and development – a fact clearly attested to by the United Nations Secretary-General’s own comprehensive report - the resolution endorses a series of key recommendations for future action.
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The resolution calls inter alia for the further development of the Annual Parliamentary Hearing and other specialized parliamentary meetings at the United Nations, as joint UN-IPU events. The formal recognition of the joint nature of these events will require the United Nations to take partial ownership of them, and eventually fully integrate them into its overall agenda and meeting schedule. Moreover, the Resolution states that the IPU is now invited to be more closely involved in the elaboration of system-wide strategies for consideration by the United Nations "with a view to ensuring greater and more coherent support by parliaments to the work of the United Nations."
The 2006 Parliamentary Hearing held in mid-November at the United Nations augured well for the new partnership developing between the two organizations. The meeting attracted tremendous interest from national parliaments, which were well represented, while at the same time drawing in many representatives from Permanent Missions, including Permanent Representatives, as well as United Nations officials and members of the academic community. There was a substantive, discussion on issues high on the United Nations agenda – conflict prevention, peace-building, good governance and the fight against corruption, which resulted in a number of proposals for action by parliaments at the national level, in support of United Nations initiatives.
