Press release of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Geneva, 12 April 2000
N° 1

At the invitation of the Jordanian Parliament, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) will hold its 103rd statutory Conference and related events from Sunday, 30 April to Saturday, 6 May 2000 in Amman, at the Grand Hyatt/Zara Expo Conference and Exhibition Centre. The Inaugural Ceremony will take place on Sunday, 30 April at 7 p.m., at the Cultural Palace, in the presence of His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan.

The distinguished hosts of the Conference will be His Royal Highness Prince Hassan Ben Talal (who will address the Conference on Tuesday, 2 May at 4 p.m.) and His Excellency Abdul Ra'uof Al-Rawabdeh, Prime Minister of Jordan (who will speak on Thursday, 4 May at 4 p.m.).

Some 1,500 delegates from over 130 countries are expected to attend the Amman Conference. They will include a great many Presiding Officers of national parliaments from all areas of the world, and in particular all those of the Middle Eastern countries, including Israel. Representatives of Palestine, the United Nations and UN specialised agencies will also be in attendance as observers.

In addition to the general debate on the political, economic and social situation in the world, two topics have been placed on the agenda of this Conference: "Achieving peace, stability and comprehensive development in the world and forging closer political, economic and cultural ties among peoples", as well as "the dialogue among civilisations and cultures". The Conference will also include in its agenda a supplementary item - to be chosen in Amman on Monday, 1 May - from among the following requests which have reached the IPU Secretariat:

• Parliamentary action against the growing trend of cross-border terrorism (submitted by India)
• Ethnic separatism (submitted by Azerbaijan)
• International cooperation to develop and implement strategies to combat people smuggling (submitted by Australia)
• Contribution of parliaments to the prevention of military coups over democratically elected governments (submitted by Namibia)
• Support for the Peace Plan for Somalia proposed by the President of the Republic of Djibouti (submitted by Djibouti)
• Prevention of cross-border terrorism (submitted by Bangladesh)
• Support of parliaments for the rights of refugees and persons displaced by war and occupation, and assistance with a view to their repatriation (submitted by Algeria, on behalf of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Groups)
• Role of parliaments in achieving international peace and security in general and in the Gulf in particular (submitted by the United Arab Emirates)
• Responding to natural disasters in developing countries (submitted by South Africa)
• Protection of the rights of migrant workers and migrant populations (submitted by Nicaragua)
• Establishment of an IPU task force to assist emerging nations in introducing sophisticated information and communication technologies (submitted by Israel)
• Action by parliaments to halt the use of minors in military operations (submitted by Italy)
• Parliamentary action to promote international cooperation for combating piracy and armed robbery against ships (submitted by Japan).

The Inter-Parliamentary Union, founded in 1889 and based in Geneva, currently has 139 member parliaments affiliated and 5 regional parliamentary organizations associated. It also has a Liaison Office with the UN in New York.

The Meeting of Women Parliamentarians will be held on Sunday, 30 April beginning at 9.30 a.m. It will be presided by Senator Leila Sharat, who will represent the host Parliament.

Contact in Geneva, press, interviews (on the spot or by telephone) and accreditation: Mrs Luisa Ballin, IPU Information Officer. Tel.: (+41.22) 919.41.16/27 or (+41.79) 649.71.45, fax: (+41.22) 919 41 60, e-mail: lb@mail.ipu.org or cd@mail.ipu.org