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HOME PAGE -> LATEST NEWS -> NEWS ARCHIVES (FEBRUARY - APRIL 2007)
News Archives
(February - April 2007)
Towards an International Day of Democracy
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29 April 2007. At its first meeting, the Advisory Board to the Chair of the Sixth International Conference of New or Restored Democracies (ICNRD-6) decided to work towards the creation of an International Day of Democracy. This is just one of the measures that figure in the Chair's programme of work for 2007 as part of the follow-up to the Doha Declaration adopted in November 2006. The Advisory Board meeting followed an Expert Seminar organized by IPU and the United Nations with the Swedish Parliament in March 2007, which made a series of recommendations on the past, present and future of the New or Restored Democracies movement. [ More on ICNRD-6 ... ]
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A snapshot of parliamentary elections in 2006
28 April 2007. The new edition of the Panorama of parliamentary elections was presented to IPU's Executive Committee when it met on Saturday 28 April, in advance of the 116th IPU Assembly. The Panorama gives a colourful snapshot of the main events in parliamentary elections in 2006. The year was marked by a high level of participation in the first multiparty elections to take place in the Democratic Republic of Congo in more than forty years. [ Download or order the Panorama of parliamentary elections ... ]
IPU HIV/AIDS Advisory Group decides to hold global AIDS Conference
18 April 2007. Meeting at the end of March, the Advisory Group decided that the IPU global conference on HIV/AIDS would select Leadership as its overall theme to echo the theme of the World AIDS Campaign. It would be staged at the end of November 2007 to coincide with World AIDS Day. Talks are under way to identify a parliament willing to host the event. The Group also examined a draft for a new handbook on HIV/AIDS. The work is being coordinated by
UNAIDS and UNDP with a view to holding a formal launch at the global meeting. Group members also discussed possibilities for field visits with the UN partners, to begin in June 2007.
2008 IPU Assembly to take place in South Africa
17 April 2007. The Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete, and the chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Johannes Mahlangu, and IPU Secretary General Anders B. Johnsson have jointly signed the agreement making South Africa the host to the IPU Assembly in 2008. It will be the 117th Assembly in the history of the organization, which first met in Paris (France) in 1889. Meanwhile, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, will open the 116th Assembly on 29 April 2007 in Nusa Dua (Indonesia). More than 1500 parliamentarians and parliamentary staff will be present to discuss a range of issues including global warming and peaceful co-existence between all religious communities. [ More on the 116th IPU Assembly ... ]
Forum on the participation of women in Algerian politics ahead of the May 2007 elections
21 March 2007. The Algerian Parliament held a forum on the political participation of women. Organized in conjunction with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the forum allowed the participants - members of parliament, political party representatives and civil society members - to exchange views and share experiences on the tangible steps that can be taken to promote greater women’s participation in elected assemblies. It provided an opportunity for the representatives of political parties organized as political groups in the National People’s Assembly to speak about what their parties are doing to ensure that women figure on the lists of candidates for the forthcoming legislative elections. The participants also discussed the experience of Rwanda, where almost half of parliamentarians are women, with Mrs. Judith Kanakuze, a Rwandan member of parliament and President of the Forum of Rwandan Women Parliamentarians. [ More on the participation of women in politics ... ]
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Consultation on minority representation in parliament
21 March 2007. It is widely agreed that a representative parliament should reflect the social diversity of the population. Yet the participation of minorities and indigenous peoples in parliament remains marginal in many countries. Building on IPU's successful work on women's representation, IPU and UNDP brought together a group of experts from parliaments, international organizations, NGOs and academia to discuss how best to address the question of minority representation. During the two-day consultation, Ms. Gay McDougall, UN Independent Expert on Minority Issues, underlined that fostering a sense of inclusion among minority communities - including their participation in elected bodies such as parliament - is a critical interest of stable societies. [ More on representative parliaments ... ]
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IPU calls for a parliamentary dimension to the Human Rights Council
13 March 2007. The IPU Secretary General, Mr. Anders B. Johnsson, addressed the High-Level Segment of the fourth session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which is meeting in Geneva from 12 to 30 March 2007. In his speech, the Secretary General renewed IPU's invitation to the Council to conceive of a parliamentary dimension to its work, including with regard to its universal periodic review mechanism. He reiterated IPU's readiness to explore how best to pursue this and other suggestions for ensuring a better parliamentary interaction with the Council. [ Full text of the speech (PDF, 31 Kb) ... ]
IPU joins the United Nations in marking the International Women's Day
8 March 2007. Speaking on behalf of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Ms. Dilian Francisca Toro Torres, President of the Senate of the Republic of Colombia, joined the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, international Prosecutor Carla del Ponte, Reverend Jacques De Graff and other prominent personalities in marking International Women's Day and calling for an end to impunity for violence against women and girls. In a powerful testimony evoking the type of violence that women continue to be subject to at all levels of society – in the household, in the community, in social and public life – Ms. Toro Torres underscored the value of cross-party solidarity among women legislators, at both the national and international levels, with a view to drafting and enforcing key legislation in this area. [ More on women in politics ... ]
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Parliament must guarantee respect for fundamental freedoms in the information society
5 March 2007. Parliaments need to play a more active and more decisive role in the development of the information society, IPU President Pier Ferdinando Casini told parliamentarians assembled at an international conference on The policymaking role of parliaments in the information society. Parliaments must oversee government policy and ensure that the right balance is struck between technological expertise and political leadership, between the use of personal data and the protection of citizens’ right to privacy. Parliaments should also promote international cooperation to ensure the fair distribution of the benefits of information and communication technologies (ICT). The conference was organized by the Italian Chamber of Deputies within the framework of the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament, a joint project of IPU and UNDESA that fosters parliamentary cooperation on ICT-related initiatives. [ More on the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament ... ]
IPU statement at UN CSW on the girl child
2 March 2007. In a statement by Ms Monica Xavier, Senator from Uruguay and President of the IPU Coordinating committee of Women parliamentarians, the IPU called for greater parliamentary action in addressing and combating violence and discrimination against the girl child. The statement reflected the results of the 1 March parliamentary event organized by the IPU and UNDAW on that topic as well as those of the Meeting of Women Speakers of parliament held on 2 March. [ Text of the statement (PDF, 24Kb) ... ]
Women Presiding Officers of Parliament meet in New York
2 March 2007. Globally, there are 262 Presiding Officer posts of parliament, and 35 of them are held by women in 2007. At the 51st session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York, nearly half of the world’s women Presiding Officers met and examine their role in caring for the next generation of women, today's girl children. The session examined some of the particular prejudices that girls suffer, including all kinds of violence and discrimination. The meeting the also noted the specific contribution of women Presiding Officers, and in particular noted the important contribution of women Presiding Officer as role models for future generations. [ More on the meeting of Women Presidents of Parliament ... ]
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A parliamentary perspective on discrimination and violence against the girl child
1 March 2007. During the 51st Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (UNDAW) organized a parliamentary event on what parliaments can do to combat violence and discrimination against the girl child. More than 150 members of parliament from around the world met with the aim of complementing and enriching the deliberations the CSW session. Discussions focused on legislation – the need to develop and adopt strong laws that cover outlawing all types of violence against the girl child, physical and psychological, but also in spheres where legislators sometimes hesitate to tackle like violence in the home. Debates also covered necessary monitoring and oversight mechanisms, the need to change mentalities in partnership with men and ways to empower girls, especially through education. [ More on the meeting in New York ... ]
Women in Parliament: More women make it to the top
1 March 2007. The IPU has released its latest analysis on women in parliament following parliamentary renewals in 51 countries in 2006. The figures reveal that the number of seats held by women in parliament reached an all time high of nearly 17 percent in 2006. This is a gain of 50 percent over 1995 figures when women held 11.3 percent of all parliamentary seats. Additionally, there are more women Presiding Officers of Parliament than ever before. Of the world’s 262 Presiding Officer posts, 35 were held by women in January this year. Positive political developments in the Arab States were registered in 2006, with the highest overall increase in the number of women in 2006 recorded in the United Arab Emirates, which moved from no women in the parliament to nine. Nordic countries remain in the lead followed by the Americas. [ Full text of the analysis (PDF, 401Kb) ... ]
Launch of new online platform on women in politics
1 March 2007. iKNOWpolitics is a major new resource for and about women. It offers women and men a platform where they can access information and exchange knowledge on a wide range of themes relating to women in politics, such as campaign planning, engendering legislation and voter education for women. iKNOWpolitics is a joint project of five organizations (International IDEA, IPU, NDI, UNDP, UNIFEM), with IPU taking special
responsibility for the section devoted to parliaments and representatives. Recent years have seen a steady increase in the number of women in parliament, though the world average of less than 17 percent remains far from the ideal of parity between women and men. [ Visit the iKNOWpolitics web site ... ]
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Major international conference on parliament and ICT to take place in Rome
19 February 2007. On 3-4 March the Italian Chamber of Deputies will organize an international conference on "The policymaking role of parliaments in the development of the Information Society". Discussions will focus on how national and regional assemblies can add a key parliamentary dimension to the effective implementation of the Information Society, as part of the follow-up to the World Summit on the Information Society. The conference will take place within the framework of the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament, which is a joint initiative of the United Nations and the IPU. IPU President Pier Ferdinando Casini will address the opening ceremony and chair the session on International cooperation, democracy and the information society. [ More on the Conference ... ]
International group of experts probes human rights violations in Sri Lanka
16 February 2007. An inquiry into major human rights violations in Sri Lanka has begun, assisted by an International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP). 16 cases are being investigated by a presidential Commission of Inquiry, including the murder of the three parliamentarians, the late Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadiragamar, Joseph Pararajasingham and Nadarajah Raviraj. Mr. Marzuki Darusman, an Indonesian parliamentarian proposed by IPU, was appointed as a member of IIGEP, which held its first meeting in Sri Lanka on 12-13 February. The IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians is separately considering a number of cases involving Sri Lankan parliamentarians. [ More on the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians ... ]
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IPU statement at UN employment meeting urges stronger labour market policies
15 February 2007. In a statement by Mr. Patrice Martin-Lalande, MP (France), First Vice-President of the IPU Standing Committee on Sustainable Development, Finance and Trade, the IPU called for more pro-active labour market policies to counter some of the negative effects of globalization on employment creation and the quality of work for people around the world. The statement came at the end of a three-day debate of the UN Commission for Social Development in which 25 MPs from 11 countries took part in response to an invitation from the IPU. To provide the MPs with further background on the global agenda for "full employment and decent work for all", a briefing session was held in cooperation with the International Labor Organization. It is expected that the discussions in New York will also contribute to the IPU proceedings on the occasion of its 116th Assembly later this spring. [ Text of the speech (PDF, 35 Kb) ... ]
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