The President of South Africa, Mr. Thabo Mbeki, opened the 118th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Cape Town today, after former South African President Nelson Mandela had welcomed the 1,700 delegates (including over 50 speakers of national parliaments) from 135 countries. In a video message, Mr. Mandela said, “We would not have hoped for a better theme than the one you have agreed on, that of Pushing back the frontiers of poverty. We commend the IPU's resolve to shine the candle of hope for those still afflicted by poverty. Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity, but a collective act of justice. All of us working together have the power to change the course of destiny and bring about a world free of hunger and disease”.
The inaugural ceremony was attended by the Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa, Ms. Baleka Mbete, the Acting Vice-President of the IPU Executive Committee, Ms. Katri Komi, the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Ms. Asha-Rose Migiro, and the IPU Secretary General, Mr. Anders B. Johnsson.
President Thabo Mbeki declared that “poverty negates the very essence of humanity and can lead many who subsist in poor conditions to a sense of hopelessness, despair, desperation and even anger against society and its important institution, such as parliament. This is particularly so today, because humanity has reached the highest level of economic, scientific and cultural advancement, while poverty exists cheek by jowl with incredible affluence. Billions of people in various parts of the world live in conditions of degradation and marginalization in what has been called poverty reserves, in both urban and rural areas”.
He added that “among the tasks that clearly face parliamentarians is continuous engagement with citizens so that these people, themselves, are better equipped to help create conditions for individuals to give full expression to their innate abilities, as part of the effort to guarantee them full enjoyment of freedom”.
For President Mbeki, in the IPU, parliamentarians “now have the challenge to occupy the front ranks in the struggle to push back the frontiers of poverty, recognising the fact that poverty constitutes a serious threat to the cohesion of human society”.
For Ms. Mbete, the Assembly's theme “focuses our attention on the vulnerable and marginalized and on one of the most pressing social exigencies of our time - poverty. While traditionally, poverty refers to a deprivation of those things that reduce one's quality of life, such as food, water and shelter, poverty also denies one the opportunity to learn, to exercise basic human rights and leads to a general sense of disempowerment”. In addition, “we have yet to find a lasting solution [to] the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in several countries across the world. The situation in the Middle East, and particularly Palestine, remains a serious threat to peace and stability in the world. The building of the wall, the violations of human rights and the continuous aggression must stop immediately”.
Ms. Mbete went on to say, “As parliamentarians we cannot remain silent when we witness sufferings and violation of human rights. We can also not remain silent about the situation in Zimbabwe. It is for this reason that six Speakers from the Southern African region, supported by the President of the Pan-African Parliament, Dr. Mongella, issued a statement to the SADC [Southern Africa Development Council] Heads of State gathering in Lusaka yesterday, urging a speedy resolution to a democratic process gone wrong. We look forward to a lasting solution in the interest of peace and stability in Zimbabwe and in the SADC Region”.
In her opening remarks, the Acting Vice-President of the IPU Executive Committee, Ms. Katri Komi, said she was speaking on behalf of the President of the IPU, Mr. Pier Ferdinando Casini, who was unable to attend because of Sunday's elections in Italy.
“South Africa is a country that knows much about the art of political compromise. South Africa's recent past has been turbulent and the peaceful and prosperous nation that welcomes us today is one that has much to teach us about the difficult art of conciliation and compromise”, Ms. Komi declared. She saluted “the achievements of your proud nation”, adding that “as the foremost arena for the adversarial politics that culminate in the consensus without which society cannot prosper, parliament is well attuned to the task of peace building and reconciliation”.
This is a theme that will be taken up during the week as legislators attempt to determine the extent to which peace building and reconciliation can transform society and its institutional framework.
Ms. Komi recalled that the IPU's mission is dialogue. “That dialogue must always be governed by the rules of the parliamentary institution to which we belong. As we gather here in Cape Town, the wider region of Southern Africa is in the minds of all, and the daily media reports bring the plight of neighbouring countries vividly to our attention. There, as everywhere, respect for the parliamentary institution, the process of democracy and the will of the people must be paramount”.
For Ms. Komi, “we live in troubled times, when acutely sensitive problems assail us from all sides. The threat of radicalism, at both extremes of the political divide, is never absent. As politicians, we are constantly called upon to balance the sometimes conflicting demands of collective security and individual freedoms”. It was her earnest hope that “our discussion on the role of parliaments in striking a balance between national security, human security and individual freedoms will generate some salutary conclusions that will help to defend the democratic principles that unite us. The calls for greater security should not lead to policies tinged with reprehensible isolationism”.
The United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Ms. Asha-Rose Migiro, spoke about “the critical involvement of parliaments in pushing back the frontiers of poverty and ensuring accountability in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) launched in 2000”. Many countries remained off track, but “still, we can point to a number of life-saving achievements. Compared to the year 2000, three million more children now survive annually, two million more people are receiving treatment for AIDS, and millions more children are in school”.
Ms. Migiro pointed to “impressive progress in individual countries and regions on certain goals”, but insisted that millions of people “remained trapped in extreme poverty and were vulnerable to disease, prone to suffer the worst effects of climate change and dying from preventable causes. They need our urgent help”.
For Ms. Migiro, parliaments are key to the process of achieving the MDGs. “We need political will to manifest in legislation and budget allocations”. MDGs are also linked to another issue that affects us all: climate change – which has been identified as the defining challenge of our time. According the latest Human Development Report, 40 per cent of the world's population lives in poverty and is unable to meet its daily basic needs. These 2.6 billion people face firsthand the risks of dangerous climate change and human development reversals.
“When Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the IPU in Geneva last July, he made a special plea for the IPU to continue galvanizing political support for the cause of mitigating climate change”, Ms. Migiro added, going on to say that parliamentarians can do more to foster good governance, which is an essential requirement for achieving the MDGs. “The IPU is an important partner of the United Nations in the historic effort to reach the MDGs. We can be proud of our joint work in a range of areas, like the iKNOW Politics online network that connects women candidates and leaders worldwide with the advice they need to be effective in office”.
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