Press release of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Beijing, 16 September 1996
N° 5

IPU CONFERENCE INAUGURATED IN BEIJING BY PRESIDENT OF CHINA

The 96th Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) was officially declared open in Beijing today by the President of the People's Republic of China, H.E. Mr Jiang Zemin, in the Grand Assembly Hall of the Great Hall of the People, with the President saying that China was “ready to work with Governments and peoples of other countries for a better world”.

However, Mr Jiang warned, “We must not lose sight of destabilizing factors, especially the persistent presence of hegemonism and power politics, the widening gap between the rich and poor, precarious conditions for survival and development of mankind and the intranquility in the world.

“As we all live in the same planet, we must respect each other, enhance co-operation, maintain peace and promote development, which should become the consensus shared by those statesmen and far-sighted men who care about the future of mankind and what all countries in the world should do.”

“China is an important force making for world peace and stability,” Mr Jiang said, expressing the hope that the IPU would continue to serve as a “bridge of friendship between parliaments and peoples of various countries and make its contribution to world peace and development”.

The President of the Inter-Parliamentary Council (IPU governing body), Dr Ahmed Fathy Sorour, spoke of the importance of the two main subjects on the Conference's agenda -- human rights in general and in particular for women and children, and the right to food in this time of globalization of the economy and trade liberalization.

The two topics are very closely-related, Dr Sorour said. “In fact, the right to food is the right to life itself, and without securing the right to life no other human right will hold any significance. It is absolutely necessary and urgent that concrete action is taken in this respect, a task which amounts to no less than saving the future of humanity as a whole because hunger, disease and misery do not respect artificial political boundaries.”

Dr Sorour said the protection of human rights was an issue for institutions, and called for “practical measures and legal guarantees in order to enhance that protection”. He said that “women and children deserve particular attention because the children are the future, and women are the makers of that future.”

On the topic of the right to food, Dr Sorour said there was room at the Conference for a “whole range of concrete proposals” in favour of human beings “dying of hunger in so many parts of the globe. Those people have neither the time nor the strength to wait for intellectual oppositions to be resolved. Those people are not expecting mere views from us, they badly need action”.

The IPU, he said, “is actively committed to the defence and promotion of not only the right to life but also the right to live in decent human conditions from every point of view. This is the very basis of democracy, the essence of our responsibility and, in fact, our ''Raison d'être'' here today”.

A message from the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dr Boutros Boutros-Ghali, was read to the Conference by his Special Representative, Ambassador Joseph Verner Reed.

“Parliamentarians are increasingly prominent players on the international scene”, Boutros-Ghali said. “You participate in United Nations operations ranging from electoral assistance to institution building and preventive diplomacy. You serve as essential links between the world organization and the world public, building understanding and support for United Nations goals and activities. And as representative bodies, you are fostering democratization not only at the national level but, just as importantly, among States. You are democratizing the international system.”

The UN Secretary-General said the world's parliaments have “an important role” to play in the area of human rights. “They can enact legislation making national laws conform with international norms. They can allocate national resources -- personnel as well as funding -- to support such legislation. And they can establish parliamentary commissions to monitor the effectiveness of legislation and recommend new or redoubled efforts where necessary.”

“Another fundamental task for parliaments is to promote implementation of the right to food through national legislation and policies that address the root causes of hunger and malnutrition,” Dr Boutros-Ghali said.

After reading the message, Ambassador Reed appealed to the assembled parliamentarians to continue to support the United Nations, notably during its present financial crisis, and especially now that the IPU and the UN “have entered a new phase of co-operation” following the signing in July of a formal co-operation agreement.

The Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Mr Qiao Shi, said that “arduous efforts are required to maintain peace and promote development” in the world.

“The NPC and its Standing Committee will, as always, continue to attach importance to exchanges with foreign parliaments,” and “we will actively enhance the understanding and friendship with parliaments and peoples of other countries and work hard to make our due contributions to human progress”.

Mr Qiao expressed the hope that participants in the Beijing Conference would “have extensive and thorough consultations and exchanges”, and “seek common ground while putting aside differences, thus contributing to world peace and development”.