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HOME PAGE -> LATEST NEWS -> NEWS ARCHIVES (AUGUST - NOVEMBER 2008)
News Archives
(August - November 2008)
Parliamentarians take action for maternal and newborn health
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26 November 2008. Every minute somewhere in the world a woman dies due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth, amounting to more than half a million maternal deaths per year. In order to mobilize parliaments to address this situation, the IPU, the World Health Organization and the Parliament of the Netherlands are jointly organizing a three-day conference on the theme of Maternal and Newborn Health and Survival in The Hague (Netherlands), in the presence of HRH Princess Máxima of the Netherlands and the IPU Secretary General Anders B. Johnsson. "The statistics of today’s subject are frightening if you stop to think about them for just a second. Every minute eight newborn children die. That makes another 4 million dead children per year. No country is exempt from this sad reality", said the IPU Secretary General. [ See press release ... ]
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Parliamentary Hearing at the United Nations examines UN peacekeeping and the prevention of conflict
21 November 2008. Held under the joint auspices of the IPU and the Office the President of the UN General Assembly, the 2008 Parliamentary Hearing at the United Nations focused on "Effective peacekeeping and the prevention of conflict: Delivering on our commitments". It was well attended by over 250 legislators, UN officials and representatives from the diplomatic community, and allowed for a genuinely substantive and inter-active discussion on issues of topical importance: the responsibility to protect, sexual violence against women and children in conflict, the human security approach to UN activities, major challenges facing UN peacekeeping operations today. As proposed by the IPU and endorsed by the UN General Assembly, the summary Report of the hearings shall henceforth also be circulated as an official document of the General Assembly itself. Relevant information about the event, including the webcast of its official opening, statements by the United Nations Secretary-General, President of the General Assembly and IPU President, as well as the substantive background papers, are available on the IPU website. [ More on the Hearing at the United Nations ... ]
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The United Nations General Assembly adopts resolution on cooperation between the United Nations and the IPU
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18 November 2008. The United Nations General Assembly today adopted by consensus a resolution on cooperation between the United Nations and the IPU. The resolution was introduced to the General Assembly by the Ambassador of Namibia on behalf of the country that holds the Presidency of the IPU. The resolution was co-sponsored by 66 countries (Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Namibia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, Yemen). [ Text of the UN General Assembly resolution ... ]
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"Creating a culture of human rights should be central to our work", say legislators gathered at IPU Headquarters
5 November 2008. The IPU and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded a three-day seminar on achievements and challenges sixty years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Legislators stated that defending human rights starts at home: "Creating a culture of human rights in our countries should be central to our work, as it is the only way for all of society, in developed and developing countries alike, to lead a dignified life". They expressed their need to know more about their countries' obligations under international human rights treaties and demanded that governments submit country reports to parliament so that they could make their own contributions before the final text is submitted to the treaty bodies. [ More on the Seminar ... ]
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IPU applauds the new freedom of former Colombian MP Oscar Lizccano
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27 October 2008. The IPU welcomes the fact that Mr. Oscar Tulio Lizcano, a former member of the Parliament of Colombia, escaped from a FARC guerrilla camp along with a FARC member. Mr. Lizcano was taken captive in August 2000. "This is very good news indeed. We are delighted that the agony has finally ended for Mr. Lizcano and his family and that he can get the medical treatment he so desperately needs. News about his appalling conditions of captivity and precarious health should nevertheless remind us that some seven hundred hostages are still suffering at the hands of the FARC. The IPU therefore calls again on the FARC to release all remaining hostages immediately and put an end to their ordeal”, said the President of the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, Canadian Senator Sharon Carstairs. [ More on human rights of parliamentarians ... ]
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Parliaments of the world say no to violence against women
22 October 2008. The new President of the IPU, Dr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, who is also the Speaker of the National Assembly of Namibia, added his voice to those of other parliamentarians at the 119th IPU Assembly in Geneva as they pledged to make ending violence against women a national and international priority by signing up to UNIFEM’s Say NO to Violence against Women campaign. More than 200 members of parliament from over 70 countries signed the campaign, including Mr. Pier Ferdinando Casini, the outgoing President of the IPU, and Speakers of parliament from several countries, including Indonesia, Lesotho, New Zealand, the Philippines and South Africa. UNIFEM’s Say NO to Violence against Women campaign is supported by a number of well-known figures, including actress Nicole Kidman. [ Read IPU press release ... ]
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Information: an essential ingredient of an effective parliament
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20 October 2008. 200 parliamentarians, Secretaries General and staff of parliamentary library and research services took part in a one-day Conference on parliamentary information on 16 October. The lively debate underlined the challenges in getting the right amount of information to parliamentarians at the right time, and ensuring the quality and neutrality of this information. It pointed to the unique role of parliamentary library and research services as providers of a non-partisan service to all members on an equal basis. To quote the Secretary General of the Zambian National Assembly "Knowledge is power – and we are trying to make our MPs very powerful". The conclusions of the debates will be published by IPU, ASGP and IFLA before the end of the year. [ More information on the Conference ... ]
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Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab is new IPU President
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15 October 2008. The IPU has elected a new President, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, Speaker of the National Assembly of Namibia, to replace its outgoing President, Mr. Pier Ferdinando Casini of Italy. Mr. Gurirab, who will serve a three-year term, was Namibia's Prime Minister from 2002 to 2005 and Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1990 to 2000. He was a member of the Constituent Assembly Constitution Drafting Committee and a founding member of parliament. In 1999, he served as President of the 54th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. He was instrumental in driving forward the UN reform process and presided over the drafting of the historic United Nations Millennium Declaration in 2000. [ More about the new IPU President ... ]
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Women and men parliamentarians in Burundi debate CEDAW and the Maputo Protocol
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11 October 2008. At a seminar entitled "The role of parliament in the implementation of regional and international conventions on women's rights", Burundian MPs discussed the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol). The seminar, held in Bujumbura, was organized by the IPU and the Parliament of Burundi with the support of the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF). Participants identified the following priority actions: ratification of the Maputo Protocol and the Optional Protocol to the CEDAW, review of discriminatory laws, sensitizing public opinion and opinion leaders and overseeing implementation of laws and policies that promote equality, particularly through analysing the national budget. In a follow-up meeting, women parliamentarians initiated a dialogue on Burundi's ratification of the Maputo Protocol with members of civil society and religious leaders.
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IPU participates in UN Book Days
10 October 2008. The IPU participated in the first ever UN Book Days. A two-day book fair organized by the United Nations Department of Public Information took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The event provided a new forum for over 25 United Nations agencies and inter-governmental organizations to promote their publications and information products among librarians, academia and the public at large. The Opening ceremony was attended by the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, and the Under-Secretary-General for Communication and Public Information, Mr. Kiyotaka Akasaka. In addition to traditional table-top displays for publications and promotional materials, presentations ran throughout the two-day event providing an excellent opportunity to interact directly with attendees.
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Briefing for parliamentarians at start of UN General Assembly
26 September 2008. As part of its constant efforts to bring a parliamentary voice to international relations, the IPU convened a briefing session in New York for the members of parliament joining their high-level national delegations at the opening of the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. Over eighty legislators attended and engaged in an open and interactive discussion on cooperation between the United Nations, national parliaments and the IPU to address the complex global challenges of the day and with a view to bridging the democracy deficit in international relations. In his message to participants, General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann said: "I respectfully urge you, parliamentarians, as agents of national democracy, to also act as agents of international democracy. I urge you to support this General Assembly President in his efforts to work towards the democratization of the United Nations". [ More on the briefing ... ]
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Sub-Regional Workshop on Special Measures for Women
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26 September 2008. The IPU co organized a meeting to examine measures to promote women's access to the Pacific Island States' parliaments, a region of the world with the lowest representation of women in the world at less than 3 percent. The workshop, "Sub-Regional Workshop on Special Measures for Women," targeted parliamentarians and officials in the Melanesian region. The meeting discussed the challenges that women face being elected to Pacific parliaments. It then discussed over two days how special measures could best be implemented within existing electoral arrangements in each of the states. The workshop took place in Papua New Guinea on 24-25 September, and was opened by the Right Honorable Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. The workshop was organized in collaboration with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat; the Department of Community Development, Papua New Guinea; the Secretariat of the Pacific Community; the United Nations Development Fund for Women; the United Nations Development Programme Pacific Centre; the International Development Law Organization and with support from the Australian Agency for International Development and PNG Sustainable Development Program Limited.. [ More on the meeting ... ]
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Panel on the human rights of parliamentarians
18 September 2008. A panel discussion on the human rights of parliamentarians was organized by the IPU at the US Congress, with the co-sponsorship of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus and the House Democracy Assistance Commission. The panel was presented as an opportunity to mark the first International Day of Democracy (15 September), and included a video message from former US President Jimmy Carter. United States Congressmen Jim McGovern and David Price opened the discussion, followed by IPU Secretary General Anders Johnsson. Statements were made by Senator David Coltart of Zimbabwe, Mr. Amanullah Paiman - Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Afghanistan, Mr. Lenin Hurtado - member of the Constituent Assembly of Ecuador, and Ms. Ariela Blatter - deputy managing director with Amnesty International. A special testimonial from Ms. Leyla Zana, member of parliament from Turkey, was read by Kathryn Porter, President of the Legislative Council for Human Rights. The event received much attention from members of Congress, professional staff and the think tank community. A group of members of parliament from Afghanistan, Haiti, Liberia, and Timor-Leste were also in attendance, and participated actively in the ensuing discussion. [ More on the IPU work to promote human rights ... ]
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Women MPs in Burundi strengthen their communication skills
17 September 2008. As part of the activities under the project in support of women MPs in Burundi, implemented by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Parliament of Burundi, capacity-building workshops on "Public speaking, speech writing and communication strategies and techniques" were held in Bujumbura from 8 to 18 September 2008. Women MPs delved into techniques to improve their public speaking and speech writing skills. Special focus was placed on how to manage stage fright, control one's emotions, overcome one’s fear, construct and deliver a speech, and hold the attention of the audience while earning its trust. At the close of the sessions, speeches were written and read using the methods taught during the workshops.
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State legislators of American Legislative Exchange Council visit IPU
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15 September 2008. A high-level delegation of State legislators from the United States of America, members of the 2008 American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) visited IPU Headquarters. The IPU Secretary General briefed them on the different activities of the world organization of parliaments.
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Freedom of expression: one of the best indicators of the health of democracy
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15 September 2008. Since freedom of expression is one of the best indicators of the health of democracy, the IPU has decided to set up an exhibition of satirical drawings on the occasion of the first International Day of Democracy. Satire is a universal art but humour and sensitivities may differ from culture to culture, region to region. Drawings of caricaturists were selected from the archives of the magazine Courrier international. These artists come from different regions of the world, including Ajubel (Spain), Amorim (Brazil), Arcadio (Costa Rica), Ares (Cuba), Bouton (France), Boligán (Mexico), Castillejos (Mexico), Chappatte (Switzerland), Côté (Canada), Falco (Cuba), Glez (Burkina Faso), Hachfeld (Germany), Horsch (Germany), Kazanevsky (Ukraine), Kichka (Israel), Kopelnistsky (USA), Krauze (UK), Haddad (Lebanon), Martirena (Cuba), Mayk (Sweden), Norio (Japan), Palomo (Chile), Jeff Parker (USA), Pavel (Romania), Plantu (France), Shahid (Pakistan), Stephff (Thailand), Tioiunine (Russian Federation), Vlahovic (Serbia) and Zapiro (South Africa). The exhibition is currently on display at The House of Parliaments and will remain there until 12 October. Afterwards, it will be moved to the Geneva International Conference Centre (CICG) for the duration of the 119th IPU Assembly, from 12 to 15 October. [ More about the exhibition ... ]
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First International Day of Democracy celebrated in fitting manner
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15 September 2008. "The first International Day of Democracy, instituted a year ago by the United Nations, could not be celebrated in a more fitting manner. Greece is not only the cradle of philosophy, science, historiography and fine arts, it is also the cradle of democracy" said IPU President, Mr. Pier Ferdinando Casini, in his address to the Hellenic Parliament. The IPU was actively involved in having this Day proclaimed by the UN General Assembly, recalled Mr. Casini. [ Full text of the speech ... ]
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Parliaments celebrate the International Day of Democracy
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15 September 2008. Around the world, parliaments are mobilizing in support of the first International Day of Democracy. Parliamentary events range from the adoption of a resolution marking the Day in Uruguay to television and radio programmes in Namibia; from a day of ‘open doors’ in Indonesia to a special session of the Greek parliament in Athens – the birthplace of democracy - that will be attended by IPU President Pier Ferdinando Casini. In addition to parliaments, the United Nations and other organizations are using the first global democracy day to debate the challenges democracy faces as well as the opportunities it offers, at home and at the international level. [ List of parliamentary events ... ]
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New publication: "Evaluating parliament: A self-assessment toolkit for parliaments"
14 September 2008. The new self-assessment toolkit published by the IPU invites parliaments to evaluate their democratic performance against a set of criteria based on the core values set out in IPU’s ground breaking study Parliament and democracy in the twenty-first century: A guide to good practice. The purpose is not to rank parliaments. It is to help parliaments to identify their strengths and weaknesses against international criteria, in order to determine priorities for strengthening the parliamentary institution. [ Download or order the self-assessment toolkit ... ]
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WTO Director-General: "Key players ready to give WTO negotiations another try"
 11 September 2008. "My sense today is that there is scope for renewed engagement over the coming weeks", said World Trade Organization (WTO) Chief, Pascal Lamy, at the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO organized by the IPU and the European Parliament in Geneva. "Key players told me they were ready to give it another try", Mr. Lamy informed the more than 400 delegates from over 80 countries. "If we cannot complete the Doha Round by the end of the year, let’s at least aim to complete these modalities that would take us 80 to 90 per cent of the way in 2008 so as to conclude the Doha Round in 2009", added the WTO Director-General. [ More on the Conference ... ]
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Deadlock at the WTO: "This is a situation where parliaments can help"
 11 September 2008. "Whether the WTO members can pick up where they left off during the ministerial meeting remains to be seen. Governments have made various pledges and pleas to retain what is currently on the table. The truth is, however, that they have no obligation to honour such non-binding commitments offered in the course of negotiations. This is a situation where parliaments can help", said Belgian MP Geert Versnick, on behalf of the IPU, welcoming more than 400 delegates from over 80 countries gathered in Geneva for the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO, convened by the IPU and the European Parliament today and tomorrow. [ More on the Conference ... ]
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Legislators and HIV/AIDS: Leading by example
5 August 2008. There is a need for greater political leadership in the response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and few are as well-placed to provide it as members of parliament. The face of the AIDS pandemic is changing. Today’s victim is increasingly black, poor, young and female. "Our response must take this reality into account. If the pandemic is being feminized, so should the solutions", said legislators from all around the world who attended the Parliamentary Briefing organized by the Senate of Mexico and the IPU on the occasion of the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. "Achieving universal action would necessarily require much greater political will. We must mobilize political leaders in our countries, and we should lead by example", they added. [ More on the Parliamentary Briefing ... ]
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