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ISSUE N°4, DECEMBER 2001
Page 5 of 8

C O N T E N T S
OF THE ISSUE

white cube Special Guest: Mr. Mosé Tjitendero
white cube Editorial: Albert, Marlene, Melina, Gilberto and the others
white cube Event: UN/IPU Day
white cube Dossier: MPs and the protection of refugees
white cube Activities: Parliaments and the budgetary process including from a gender perspective
white cube Historical Focus: Passy and Cremer sign the decision to launch the First Inter-Parliamentary Conference
white cube IPU and WTO
white cube IPU Field work IPU and UN join hands to usher East Timor into statehood
white cube Parliamentary Developments

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The World of Parliaments
 Activities

Parliaments and the budgetary process including from a gender perspective

From 1 to 3 November, the IPU and the National Assembly of Mali organised a regional seminar in Bamako for French, Arab and Portuguese-speaking African parliaments, entitled "Parliaments and the budgetary process including from a gender perspective". The seminar, supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank, brought together parliamentarians and parliamentary officials from the following countries: Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal and Togo. It follows a similar event for English-speaking African parliaments which was held in Nairobi in May 2000 at the invitation of the Kenya National Assembly (see IPU web site).

Podium of the Bamako Seminar
From left to right: Mrs Kadidiatou Coulibaly, Second Vice-President of the National Assembly of Mali; Ms Christine Pintat, IPU Assistant Secretary General; His Excellency Mandé Sidibi, Prime Minister of the Republic of Mali; His Excellency Alpha Oumar Konaré, President of the Republic of Mali; Mr Assarid ag Imbarcaouane, President a.i. of the National Assembly of Mali
In his opening statement, Mr Alpha Oumar Konaré, President of the Republic of Mali recalled that "in order for democracy to take root in our countries, the parliamentary institution must enjoy the necessary respect and full support in order to fulfil its mission to legislate and oversee the Executive".

The President a.i. of the Mali National Assembly, Mr Assarid Ag Imbarcaouane, said "the duty of overseeing government activity that befalls to us as parliamentarians is also conducted through the national budget. This represents significant power that we should use with clear-sightedness in the interest of the people whom we represent. In most of our countries, women represent the majority of the population, but they do not enjoy equal representation in the major sectors of national life".

The UNDP Resident Representative, Mrs Jocelline Bazile-Finley said that the UNDP pledged "to work jointly with the IPU and all the development partners to reinforce democratic institutions".

French MP Yves Tavernier, a member of the IPU Executive Committee, pointed out that "the task of preparing and executing of our government budgets should not be appropriated by civil servants from the ministries of finance. The strength of a democracy can be measured in terms of the capacity of parliamentarians to debate draft budgets and control the use of public funds. It is therefore necessary to provide them with both the information and the training that they need to perform that duty better".

"Full control over the workings of the national budget enables a parliamentarian to fulfil the role of overseeing the Executive more efficiently. The vote on the national budget is also an opportunity to check that the government's political commitments are in line with its investment priorities and budgetary spending", said Mr Soumaila Cisse, Minister of Equipment, Infrastructure, Environment and Public Works, and acting Prime Minster.

The IPU Assistant Secretary General, Ms Christine Pintat, recalled that the budget was not a neutral instrument. "It is the main vehicle for the Government's general policy, and expresses the fundamental values on which the Government's core policies are based. It reflects its social and economic priorities and reveals the extent to which the Government cares about equity, not only between the different groups and sectors of the population but also between the sexes."

Delegates debated the respective roles of the government and parliament in the budgetary process; parliamentary oversight to ensure transparency and responsibility in the budgetary process; the role of the Government Audit Office and, finally, ways to establish a gender-sensitive budget.

By way of follow-up to the seminar, the delegates recommended that similar initiatives be organised in other regions of the world and in individual countries, and that a handbook be prepared on the budgetary process for use by parliamentarians. They pledged to bring the report of the seminar to the attention of their parliaments and agreed that it was important for their parliaments to debate gender matters, including with the assistance of experts.

The Bamako seminar recommended:

Parliaments should have the means to act effectively

Parliaments should have the human and material resources they need to oversee the action of the government effectively:

  • Parliaments should enjoy greater financial autonomy;
  • Assistants and experts should be available to parliaments to assist them in the performance of their duties;
  • Training could be provided to parliamentarians and parliamentary officials;
  • Access to reliable information should be guaranteed;
  • Parliaments should be assisted in their oversight function by Government Accounting Offices with guaranteed independence;
  • Mixed-gender parliamentary groups are recommended to help parliamentarians ensure that the Budget Act takes due account of the gender dimension.
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