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ISSUE N°3, OCTOBER 2001
Page 1 of 8

C O N T E N T S
OF THE ISSUE

white cube Event: Parliamentary Meeting on Racism
white cube Editorial: The role of the IPU in the fight against Terrorism
white cube Dossier: Female genital mutilation: an attack on human dignity
white cube Opinion: Can Parliaments play a role at international summits
white cube MPs pledge: MPs and the Kyoto Protocol - Combating desertification - FfD
white cube Historical Focus: Albert Gobat
white cube Parliamentary Developments
white cube Read in the Press

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The World of Parliaments
 Event

Parliamentary meeting on racism

"MPs committed to fighting racism"

Mrs Frene Noshir Ginwala and  Mrs Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma
On the left, Mrs Frene Noshir Ginwala, Speaker of the South African National Assembly and Chairperson of the parliamentary meeting; on the right, Mrs Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa and Chairperson of the World Conference
At a meeting organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the South African Parliament on the occasion of the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) in Durban, some 300 parliamentarians from over 50 countries unanimously adopted a Declaration in which they expressed their commitment to combat racism. The Declaration, while recognizing the particular role and responsibility that parliaments have in the fight against racism, also acknowledges that their members have a personal responsibility to use their influence on public opinion to promote the values of diversity and tolerance.

"We cannot afford to fail"
The Speaker of the National Assembly of the South African Parliament, Dr. Frene Ginwala presented the Declaration to the Plenary of the WCAR on 4 September. "As elected representatives, individually and collectively, parliamentarians are both the product and custodians of the democratic values, processes, and systems in our countries and must set the national tone for tolerance and to support new ambitious initiatives in this field in the international arena", she said. Commenting on the final document, she added, "the world will be watching with great interest to see if we indeed take concrete action and follow up on our Declaration. We therefore cannot afford to fail".

"Parliaments are key actors"
The Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Mr. Anders B. Johnsson, pointed out that "parliaments have a key role to play in supervising government action, enacting appropriate legislation where needed and deciding on the allocation of the national budget. Moreover, parliaments are key actors in elaborating plans of action". He also said that "the IPU is certainly keen to take up the invitation which is included in the Declaration of the Parliamentary Meeting and the Programme of Action of the World Conference itself to encourage Parliaments to follow up on the commitments made."

"Up to MPs to push this…"
Mrs Mary Robinson
Mrs Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs. Mary Robinson, stressed that "As a world organisation of parliaments, the Inter-Parliamentary Union is an important - indeed unique - forum for parliamentary dialogue and work for peace and co-operation among people, for the promotion of democracy and for the defence and promotion of human rights and the protection of the rule of law....Parliamentarians can be a strong voice for those who are discriminated against. Whether raising issues in parliament or playing an active role in parliamentary committees, or simply by speaking out, parliamentarians are well placed to focus public intention on issues of racism, xenophobia, discrimination and intolerance, and may do so to considerable effect...Another point I would stress is that follow-up is all important for Durban. Governments will be called on to put in place national plans or programmes of action and I hope that these will be as specific as possible. Whatever is decided here by governments must be implemented in practice if Durban is to be considered a success. It is up to parliamentarians to push this in the legislative field and to assess performance".

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