The United Nations General Assembly today adopted a resolution on cooperation between the United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). Having granted observer status to the IPU earlier this week, the Assembly went on to give the IPU the exceptional rigright to circulate its official documents. Speaking at the UN General Assembly, the President of the IPU Council, Chilean Senator Sergio Páez, expressed the gratitude of the IPU to the United Nations and its member States. "This resolution represents an important milestone in the evolving relationship between the world organisation of national parliaments and the United Nations", he said.

Over the years, the IPU has played a discreet but rewarding role in bringing people together. "As parliamentarians, we are particularly apt at helping to solve problems by using our personal and parliamentary skills. We are often able to open up channels of communication and build bridges of international understanding when official diplomacy is unable or unwilling to do so. The fundamental notion underlying the exercise of democracy is the respect of the other. Democratic life entails both the right to differ and the acceptance of such difference by all. Parliamentary practice takes those differences and uses them to build majorities and forge agreements; we parliamentarians can therefore help to assemble the national consensus that is necessary for international action", added Senator Páez.

The President of the IPU Council recalled that "two years ago, the IPU brought to this hall the Speakers of the world’s parliaments. In an unprecedented summit, the world parliamentary community, at the highest level, committed itself to providing a parliamentary dimension to international cooperation. The declaration adopted on that occasion also stated that parliaments embody the sovereignty of the people and can, in all legitimacy, contribute to expressing their will in the international arena. This assertion underpins the first important step on the long road towards a more democratic international order".

Senator Páez concluded by welcoming "this opportunity to reinforce the relationship between the United Nations and national parliaments through the IPU" and committing the Union "to a new stage of cooperation with the United Nations that will provide mutual benefit to both organizations".

In its resolution, the UN General Assembly decided that the IPU will be authorized to circulate its documents at the UN. For the IPU Secretary General, Anders B. Johnsson, "this exception is granted in view of the unique inter-State character of the IPU as the world organization of parliaments. It is only natural that it should be able to distribute its official documents at the United Nations". He added that "it is one important way of bringing the voice of the people, through their elected representatives, to the United Nations".

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Established in 1889 and with its Headquarters in Geneva, the IPU, the oldest multilateral organisation, currently has 144 affiliated national parliaments and five regional assemblies as associate members. The organisation of the world's parliaments also has a Liaison Office with the United Nations in New York.
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Contacts:

In New York: Mr. Alessandro Motter. IPU Liaison Office with the UN. Tel. +1212 557 58 80 Fax: +1212 557 39 54 E-mail: ny-office@mail.ipu.org In Geneva: Mrs. Luisa Ballin, IPU Information Officer Tel. +4122 919 41 16/27 Fax: +4122 919 41 60, 919 41 97 E-mail: lb@mail.ipu.org or cbl@mail.ipu.org