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HOME PAGE -> LATEST NEWS -> NEWS ARCHIVES (MARCH -MAY 2010)
News Archives
(March - May 2010)
Regional conference in Cotonou
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30 May 2010. The regional Cotonou Conference provided a forum for frank discussion about the various types of parliamentary action that can be taken to combat trafficking in persons. It was the first in a series of activities foreseen under the joint IPU-Sahel and West Africa Club (SWAC) project to promote a parliamentary contribution to the fight against trafficking in persons, in particular trafficking in children. One hundred participants from West and Central Africa devised a strategy which they included in a Declaration that was adopted at the end of the meeting. Implementation of the Declaration will span over the short and medium terms. The Declaration underscored inter alia the need to: set up or strengthen parliamentary bodies on children's issues, establish a special committee composed of a cross-section of all parliamentary committees that will be mandated to visit children in foster care who have been freed from traffickers, adopt implementing legislation for laws already passed, promote permanent dialogue between the parliament and the local government authorities, create or strengthen networks with a view to enhanced coordination, foster public debate on trafficking and its consequences, increase budget allocations for children's issues, and encourage birth declaration and registration in order to facilitate travel authorizations and apprenticeship contracts. At the national level, a parliamentary body will be entrusted with implementation of the Declaration. It will be assisted by a regional Committee, composed of a member of each of the parliaments involved in the project, which was set up at the end of the Cotonou meeting.
[ More on the Conference ... ]
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Third Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations takes place in Rio de Janeiro
29 May 2010. On the occasion of the third annual Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations, the Inter-Parliamentary Union organized a half-day parliamentary meeting on The Role of legislators in promoting intercultural dialogue and cooperation. The meeting, attended by MPs from some 20 countries and three regional parliamentary organizations, was chaired by Brazilian Speaker Michel Temer and received a keynote address by UNAoC High Representative Jorge Sampaio. It provided an opportunity to review progress in the implementation of the IPU Bali Resolution of 2007 on peaceful coexistence and mutual respect among religious communities in a globalized world, and examined how parliaments can more pro-actively pursue the objectives of the Alliance of Civilizations. During the main program of the Forum, IPU also organized the first thematic session devoted to democracy, good governance and cultural diversity. This session allowed participants to explore the nexus between democracy and diversity, as well as the modalities aimed at promoting the effective participation of ethnic minorities and indigenous groups in public life. The thematic session was moderated by Mexican Senator and IPU Vice-President Angel Alonso Diaz Caneja, and featured prominent international personalities such as the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevick, the Minister of Culture of Brazil and LatinoBarometro President Marta Lagos. [ More on the parliamentary meeting in Rio ... ] |
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Parliamentary events on the occasion of the 2010 Review Conference of the parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
7 May 2010. The Inter-Parliamentary Union, in collaboration with Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), organized a series of activities in the context of the 2010 NPT Review Conference, currently under way at United Nations Headquarters in New York. Parliamentarians from all regions of the world gathered in New York, many of them as part of their national delegations, to share ideas and experiences on how to further advance and support the growing momentum towards a nuclear weapons-free world. They were joined on 6 May in a panel discussion by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who welcomed their initiatives and urged further action towards effective nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. [ IPU Statement before the plenary of the NPT Review Conference ... ] |
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Parliamentarians from Latin America adopt strategies to eliminate violence against women
29 April 2010. At a seminar hosted by the National Assembly of Ecuador and co-organized with the IPU, parliamentarians from nine Latin American countries came together to discuss strategies to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women. At the end of two and a half days of lively exchanges, participants adopted a list of recommendations for concrete parliamentary action to ensure the implementation of legislation on violence against women. These recommendations deal with issues such as acknowledging new forms of violence against women; repealing laws that discriminate against women and adopting measures to promote male participation in violence eradication efforts; analyzing budgets from a gender perspective and providing budgetary allocations, in particular, to secure the coordination and proper training of all those concerned with curbing this violence; strengthening monitoring and reporting mechanisms; reinforcing partnerships with civil society, international organizations, the media and private-sector stakeholders to develop policies and programmes for the prevention and eradication of violence against women. [ More on the Seminar ... ] |
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United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee authorizes resumed US membership in the IPU
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28 April 2010. For the first time since 2005, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday passed bipartisan legislation approving an overall budget and policy framework for US foreign operations. Among other provisions, the bill proposes to strengthen US diplomacy, increase accountability of development programs, and renew the commitment to international organizations - including by authorizing US reengagement with the IPU, the world organization of national parliaments. As noted by Committee Chairman John Kerry, "The Committee has taken an important step in fulfilling its responsibility to oversee and guide the policies of the State Department and related agencies. I hope the full Senate will take this legislation up quickly to enact these measures into law". |
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Parliamentary event at the United Nations Forum on Indigenous Issues
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21 April 2010. During the Ninth Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, together with the United Nations Development Programme and the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations organized a side event on Promoting inclusive parliaments: The effective participation of indigenous peoples in decision-making. The panel was comprised of three indigenous parliamentarians from Colombia, Mexico and New Zealand who shared their personal experiences and discussed the main challenges facing indigenous peoples when entering parliament and the barriers they encounter as elected representatives. Lessons learned and recommendations were also shared among participants. |
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Resolutions of the 122nd IPU Assembly
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2 April 2010. The 122nd statutory IPU Assembly has finished its work in Bangkok. More than 1200 delegates from 124 countries, among them 35 Speakers of Parliament, were in attendance. The Assembly adopted four key resolutions dealing with such diverse issues as solidarity with the people of Haiti and Chile in the wake of recent earthquakes in these countries; global fight against organized crime and terrorism; South-South cooperation; youth participation in the democratic process. [ Texts of resolutions ... ] |
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122nd IPU Assembly going ahead as planned
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19 March 2010. The IPU President, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, and the Secretary General, Mr. Anders B. Johnsson, made today the following statement: "The 122nd IPU Assembly, which is due to take place in Bangkok from 27 March to 1st April 2010, is going ahead as planned. We are in close contact with the Thai Parliament and Government and have received all the necessary assurances that delegates will be able to participate in this Assembly in the usual manner. We look forward to welcoming all delegates in Bangkok next week". [ More on the 122nd IPU Assembly ... ] |
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New IPU-United Nations Map on Women in Politics 2010
3 March 2010. Taking stock of women’s political participation today gives cause for guarded satisfaction. Fifteen years after the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, overall improvements have been registered in parliamentary and executive spheres of government. Still, the target of gender balance in politics is far off in too many countries. This is the main conclusion of a new survey on progress and setbacks of women in parliament released by the IPU. The survey is being published along with a new World Map of Women in Politics 2010, a poster-size map produced in cooperation with the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women showing the number of women politicians by country and region. By the start of 2010, the global average for the proportion of women parliamentarians reached a high of 18.8 per cent, compared to 1995, when it stood at 11.3 per cent. This equates to an average 0.5 percentage point gain per year. For women in the Executive and Heads of State, overall progress is even slower than at the parliamentary level. As shown in the World Map, women count for just nine out of the 151 elected Heads of State (6%) in 2010, up from just eight women leaders in 2005. On average, women hold 16 per cent of ministerial posts. [ Order or download the map ... ] |
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Parliamentary events at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
2 March 2010. During the 54th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women organized their sixth annual parliamentary meeting. The event was attended by more than 150 members of parliament from around the world and focused on the role of parliaments in enforcing gender equality and women's rights, fifteen years after Beijing. Discussions focused on progress and setbacks in women's access to parliaments over the past fifteen years. Participants also reviewed and addressed discriminatory legislation with the aim to develop a more gender sensitive legal framework. On March 1, a side event on the role of parliaments in enforcing legislation on violence against women was also organized at the margin of the CSW. [ More on the event in New York ... ] |
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IPU Secretary General at the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union's meeting in Cairo
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2 March 2010. The IPU Secretary General, Anders B. Johnsson, addressed the meeting of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union in Cairo in the presence of the Speakers from all Arab Parliaments. On this occasion, the highest representatives of the Arab parliaments elected the Speaker of the Palestine National Council, Mr. Saleem Al-Za’noon, as Head of the AIPU for the next year and discussed issues of major importance to the Arab nation. Mr. Johnsson highlighted the numerous crises the world is facing and the need for a stronger parliamentary engagement period. [ Full text of the speech ... ] |
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