"I strongly recommend to use iKNOW Politics"

The Vice-President of the IPU Executive Committee,Mrs. Margareth Mensah-Williams, participated in the launch of the first virtual network linking women in politics throughout the world, at United Nations Headquarters in New York in early March. "It is important that we take stock of the different approaches and tools available to bolster women's access to politics, and to support their participation in decision-making once there. iKNOW Politics is an important initiative. It is a testament to the effectiveness of working in partnership to support change; making use of the latest technology to bring people together across regions and time zones", said Mrs. Mensah-Williams, who is also the Vice-Chairperson of the National Council of Namibia. See: www.iknowpolitics.org.

New Development Cooperation Forum seeks to breathe new life into ECOSOC

Don't feel humbled if you have never heard of ECOSOC, the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Though one of the main bodies of the United Nations, ECOSOC has long been overshadowed by its big brother next door, the Security Council, and of course by their shared parent, the General Assembly. It is partly to bring this essential body out of its relative obscurity and to restore its rightful role as a global decision-making centre on development issues that it will soon undergo a major overhaul.

ECOSOC reform stems from a decision made by the heads of State and Government at the 2005 World Summit. At its core lies the creation of a new Development Cooperation Forum (DCF) whose mandate is to bring together under the same roof all stakeholders and players, at both the giving and the receiving end of development.

The DCF will meet every two years during the ECOSOC Substantive Session in July. It will provide an opportunity for United Nations Member States, multilateral and bilateral donor agencies, civil society and private sector representatives to engage in interactive debate. The new forum will also invite representatives of private foundations, whose impact around the world has grown exponentially in recent years.

In a nutshell, the aim of the DCF is to restore order and rationality into the dispersed, confusing and often wasteful world of donor agencies. The result should be more streamlined development aid and, more importantly, higher and more effective aid expenditure.

If truth be told, no one today can be certain how well taxpayers'money is being spent when it arrives in a developing country. Given that the number of donor agencies worldwide has mushroomed in recent decades, there is no way systematically to ensure that they do not duplicate each other's efforts or work at cross purposes. All too often, the conditions attached to aid disbursements to developing countries turn out to be unnecessarily stifling and counterproductive. With its broad membership and far-reaching mandate, the new DCF will hopefully become a major player in the world of development. Given that discussions about aid are ultimately within the purview of parliaments (as part of the budgetary process, but also as part of their general oversight function in respect of foreign relations), the IPU is currently engaged in discussions with the United Nations on how best to introduce a parliamentary dimension into the new forum's work. This is in line with the recommendation made last year in the United Nations General Assembly resolution on cooperation between the IPU and the United Nations, encouraging the IPU "to play an active role in support of the Economic and Social Council, particularly in the implementation of the new functions devolved to the Council by the 2005 World Summit".

Another aspect of ECOSOC reform is the creation of an Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) to provide more authoritative policy guidance in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. In the context of the IPU's evolving partnership with the United Nations, as well as of its own reform agenda – which includes the establishment of an IPU Committee on United Nations Affairs – both organizations have expressed a strong interest in taking this institutional cooperation to a new level.