The IPU and UNITAR combine efforts to ensure an effective parliamentary contribution to sustainable development

In February 2004 the IPU and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) signed a five-year partnership agreement aimed at jointly implementing a "capacity-building initiative for parliaments on sustainable development". This joint project was launched on 22 and 23 April 2005 at the Luxembourg Palace in Paris, seat of the French Senate, at an inaugural conference which brought together over 160 parliamentarians and numerous parliamentary staff members from nearly 70 countries. For two days, the participants worked with the help of experts on three main subjects: water management, energy and climate change, and trade for sustainable development. The reports of the specialized working groups formed on these subjects highlighted the challenges in these fields, the roles of parliamentarians and opportunities for them to take action. They made it possible to define the priorities that must be taken into consideration in the awareness campaigns that the IPU and UNITAR are planning on organizing at the regional and national levels.

This common initiative has the aim of helping parliamentarians to better understand the stakes of sustainable development, so as to integrate it better into national policies and legislation. It is intended to allow parliamentarians to follow up on the World Summit for Social Development and the international declarations and agreements on the Millennium Development Goals. Parliamentarians will thus be able to advocate solutions involving a comprehensive approach, taking into consideration the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable development, with a special focus on health and poverty. Lastly, the IPU-UNITAR initiative should eventually make it possible to identify emerging problems, with a view to allowing parliamentarians to carry out their mission of implementing sustainable development.

In June 2004, a needs assessment conducted among the parliaments of the entire world allowed the IPU and UNITAR to define the main thrusts of their awareness programme for parliamentarians on this subject.

Over 160 parliamentarians and numerous parliamentary staff members from nearly 70 countries took part in the initiative launched in Paris by the IPU and UNITAR.