Press release of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Geneva, 8 November 2000
N° 103

The UN General Assembly adopted today a consensus resolution on cooperation with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). The resolution, co-sponsored by 121 countries, is a new step in the implementation of the recent commitment contained in the Millennium Declaration of Heads of State and Government of September 2000. This Declaration calls for "closer cooperation between the UN and national parliaments, through their world organisation, the IPU".

In his annual report on cooperation between the two organizations, the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, expresses the hope that the increasingly close relationship between the UN and the IPU "may soon be recognized through a new, strengthened and formalized relationship between IPU and the General Assembly". The resolution adopted today recalls the unique inter-State character of the IPU and requests the UN Secretary-General to consult with Member States and IPU, to explore ways in wwhich “a new and strengthened relationship may be established between IPU, the General Assembly and its subsidiary organs”. The United Nations Secretary-General will report thereon by May 2001.

The Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations coordinated the resolution and introduced it to the General Assembly. In calling for its adoption by consensus, Ambassador Kamalesh Sharma referred to “the essential similarity in approach, convergence of actions and, most importantly, a congruence of objectives of the two organizations".

Speaking on behalf of Nigeria, the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly recalled the beneficial relationship between the United Nations and the IPU and called for further cooperation on programs specifically designed for the emerging democracies in Africa.

Ambassador David Levitt of France, speaking on behalf of the European Union, which also co-sponsored the resolution, called for "a joint effort based on imagination and boldness in order to give the oldest international political institution its rightful place within the United Nations".

The sponsors represented all regional groups at the United Nations and included Yugoslavia in one of its first formal acts since rejoining the United Nations.

Founded in 1889, the IPU, based in Geneva, currently has 140 national Parliaments affiliated and five regional parliamentary organisations associated. It also has a Liaison Office with the UN in New York.