AFGHANISTAN: Helping parliament strengthen democracy Since late 2003 the IPU has been working with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in assisting the National Assembly of Afghanistan to establish itself as a democratic institution, enabling it to carry out its role as a representative, open and transparent branch of government. In addition to ongoing training of parliamentary staff, the IPU and the UNDP have also focused on strengthening the capacities of the members of parliament. They jointly organized a Conference on Effective Legislative- Executive Relations in Kabul from 15 to 17 April 2006. This conference was attended by Members of the Meshrano Jirga (House of Elders - Upper House) and key senior staff of the relevant government ministries, including representatives of the State Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. During the three-day event, participants joined resource persons from Bangladesh, Canada, India, Sri Lanka, the United Nations and the IPU in exploring in-depth ways and means of enhancing cooperation between parliament and the Executive. The IPU and UNDP also organized a Study Visit for members and senior staff of the Afghan Parliament to the Japanese National Diet in June 2006. During this visit, participants were able to engage their Japanese counterparts on issues related to the overall functioning of parliament. Areas of focus included decision-making through parliaments, separation of powers between parliament and government, bicameralism, electoral systems and party politics. Discussion were also held on the legislative process, including parliamentary involvement in the budget process. Participants also looked at how the Japanese National Diet tackled the issue of parliamentary oversight of the Executive in order to promote transparency and accountability and fight corruption. They examined the facilities available to members including research, ICT (Information and Communication Technology) as well as ways and means of mainstreaming gender parity and human rights into parliamentary procedure and practice.

"The Afghan Parliament needs to become acquainted with other parliaments of the world by becoming a member of the IPU"

Interview with the Speaker of the Meshrano Jirga (House of Elders) of Afghanistan, Prof. Sebghatollah Mojaddedi, who is also President of the National Commission for Peace and Reconciliation

Q: For the first time in 30 years Afghanistan has a parliament. What are the main challenges facing this institution and what can the international community do to assist it?
Prof. Sebghatollah Mojaddedi : As you are aware, due to a 30-year long gap in the activities of a democratic parliament in Afghanistan, the current parliament has to face many challenges and problems. Current problems facing the Afghan Parliament may be summarized as follows: inappropriate building and inadequate space for Parliament to meet the needs of the general sitting, committee sessions and general secretariats. The Upper House has formed 16 committees and the Lower House has set up 18 committees. In the present parliament building there are only 12 rooms for committee sessions. Thus, a total of 34 committees from both Houses are using these rooms on a tight schedule, which has a negative impact on the work of the committees. In the Afghan Parliament there are separate secretariats for both Houses, which have 13 departments altogether.

Q: Can you give us concrete examples?
S.M. : We are facing serious problems in terms of accommodating the secretariat staff owing to insufficient office space. In most parliaments around the world, members are provided with their own offices furnished with modern IT equipment, but in Afghanistan no member is provided with such facilities. The Upper House of the Afghan National Assembly has formed eight groups. One of the problems we have is that we have no office space to accommodate those groups. With a few rare exceptions members of the Afghan Parliament have no parliamentary knowledge and experience. Therefore, vocational training in Afghanistan and abroad is urgently needed. In our opinion, the IPU can be of great assistance to parliamentarians in the area of capacitybuilding. As you know, modern democratic parliaments can exist when they are supported by active and strong secretariats to provide legislative, administrative and logistical services. Therefore, promoting capacity-building for parliamentary staff is also needed. We believe that the IPU can provide assistance in this regard. For the purpose of upgrading parliamentary activities, the Afghan Parliament needs to become acquainted with other parliaments of the world by becoming a member of the IPU. The general secretariats of the Afghan Parliament should also seek membership with the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments. We think that the IPU could be helpful in this respect.

Q: Parliaments have an important role to play in post-conflict reconciliation. How do you see this process working in Afghanistan?
S.M. : Afghanistan has undergone decades of war and turmoil. During those three decades of conflict, especially during the civil war, the parties directly or indirectly involved became used to solving any kind of disagreement through tension and hostilities. Intolerance of others' opinions has become part of the tradition of those who were engaged in the fighting. One of the main achievements of the elected Parliament of Afghanistan is the resolution of differences through debate in a friendly and democratic manner. It is clear that the current Parliament of Afghanistan is composed of members with different views. There is a hope that members of the Afghan Parliament, by putting the national interest before their individual interests, will be able to strengthen the process of peace and national reconciliation. It is worth mentioning that the National Commission for Peace and Reconciliation, stablished one and a half years ago and which I chair, along with the Afghan National Assembly, is a useful instrument for speeding up the process of national reconciliation. Thus far, approximately 1,800 opposition elements have joined the peace process in Afghanistan.

Q: The IPU promotes partnership between men and women in politics. What steps is your parliament taking in this direction and is there anything the IPU can do to offer its support?
S.M. : In relation to the gender issue and equal participation of women in running the dayto- day activities of parliament, the Afghan Parliament has achieved satisfactory results; participation of women in the Afghan Parliament is visible. Women represent approximately 27 per cent of the Afghan National Assembly, while, six of the 16 committees in the Upper House are chaired by female members.

	Exploratory mission to the Parliament of the Republic of the Congo For much of the 1990's the Republic of the Congo was embroiled in conflict and civil war. This considerably hindered the parliament's ability to build institutional experience and tradition. In an attempt to fill this gap and in response to a request from the parliamentary authorities of the country, the IPU dispatched in April 2006 a needs-assessment mission to Brazzaville. The mission was organized in cooperation with the French National Assembly and was intended toreview the functioning of the parliament, identify bottlenecks and needs and propose solutions that could be implemented inter alia with external support. The mission held wide-ranging discussions with members and staff of both the Senate and National Assembly. It observed that the multifarious difficulties facing the parliament included organizational lapses such as the lack of autonomy over human resource management within parliament. There is no real parliamentary service and staff are seconded on loan from the ivil service and the offices of some Bureau members. This situation impedes the parliament's ability to function independently of the Executive. The problem is compounded by the fact that each election leads to changes in the Bureaux of each House and consequential changes in staff. Institutional memory is thus lost. The Parliament is also in dire need of equipment and space. Currently, standing committees share meeting rooms, many staff members work in corridors and parliamentarians have to rent office space outside parliament. The mission has proposed a series of activities designed to alleviate these difficulties and help parliament to better perform its functions and thus increase its ability to contribute to effective governance. Success in accomplishing these aims will depend on the commitment of the Congolese Parliament in updating its working procedures and in particular putting in place a full-fledged parliamentary service. Support from the international community will also be crucial for the parliament to improve its long-term ability to carry out its representative, law-making and oversight functions.

	IPU to train team of stenotypists for Equatorial Guinea's House of Representatives of the People On 6 March 2006, IPU launched a programme to train stenotypists with the assistance of the Africa Script company. The two-year training programme is designed to equip the parliament of Equatorial Guinea with a team of qualified professionals who will be able to produce the transcripts of parliamentary debates. These records are indispensable for parliamentarians to carry out their mandate and for the public to be kept aware of parliamentary activities, thereby fostering transparency – a key element of democracy. At this early stage, the trainees have been busy learning the phonetic writing method of stenotyping in Spanish. To date, over 80 per cent of trainees have already mastered this writing method. They are also urged to broaden their general knowledge base and progressively increase their speed in preparation for stenotyping phonetic recording. The training programme has been well-received and according to the trainees, "it should make an impact on parliamentary activities, and also on the professional development of the staff concerned".