Sierra Leone: Parliamentary strategic planning
In December 2008 the IPU and UNDP pursued their cooperation with the parliament, helping it to develop a strategic plan. Study visits for members of the parliament were organized to Kenya and Uganda. During the visits participants received briefings on the goals and objectives of a strategic plan, the outcomes of a strategic management cycle within Parliament, the process for developing a plan and lessons learned. In December 2008 and January 2009, the IPU and UNDP organized two missions during which the parliamentary authorities and senior secretariat staff were acquainted in greater details with the intricacies of a strategic plan. The missions also assisted the authorities through participatory exercises in developing a draft mandate, mission, and vision as well as identifying the parliament's core values for inclusion in the parliament's strategic plan.
Global mapping of legislative strengthening programmes
In December 2008 the IPU completed a draft study, which began in September, to assess the feasibility of creating a database to map legislative strengthening projects. Behind the feasibility study is the IPU's view that a reliable, centralized source of information would facilitate more efficient planning, reduce the risk of overlap and duplication and enhance sharing of expertise and lessons learned.Conclusion of new agreements for continued assistance to national parliaments
In December 2008, the IPU concluded two new agreements. The first, in partnership with the European Commission and the Government of Equatorial Guinea, deals with the implementation of a project intended to build on an earlier phase of the project that began in 2004. The project, which falls under an overall programme designed to enhance governance in that country, aims to: strengthen the capacities of parliamentarians, particularly through parliamentary committees; train parliamentary staff by supporting and encouraging the involvement of women parliamentarians in political activities and building the parliament's capacity to promote gender equality; and strengthen the parliament's representational capacity, including that of its members. The second agreement, concluded with UNDP in the Maldives, provides for the implementation of a three-phase project that will assist the parliament in preparing a Code of Ethics, drafting a strategic plan and devising a staff development plan.Cambodia - Promoting parliamentary input to the Brussels Programme of Action (BPOA) 2001-2010
Within the framework of the joint IPUUN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UNOHRLLS) initiative to promote parliamentary input to the BPOA, the IPU organized a national workshop with special emphasis on commitment 2 of the BPOA relating to good governance. The workshop was held on 16 February 2009 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and provided an opportunity for participants to familiarize themselves with the BPOA and examine areas in which the parliament could lend important support and provide input to its implementation. During the workshop, a detailed presentation on actions taken by the executive in Cambodia to implement the BPOA was given by the national LDC focal point from the Ministry of Planning. It provided an opportunity for participants to provide input to a national action plan for the parliament BPOA support group, including ways in which the IPU, UN-OHRLLS, the extended UN family, the international community and Cambodian civil society could support its work.