Can parliaments help to avert outbreaks of global instability? Can the international system be made to work better through more direct involvement of parliaments? How can global democratic accountability become a concept grounded in practical reality?
More than 150 Speakers of Parliaments have accepted the invitation of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to attend the 3rd World Conference of Speakers of Parliament. For three days (19-21 July 2010) they will examine their collective response as the highest representatives of their legislatures to a world facing multiple challenges. The Conference will be held in the United Nations in Geneva, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will speak at the opening ceremony.
The third in a series of five-yearly events, this Speakers Conference will break from the precedent set by the first two and be held in Geneva rather than New York. The Speakers, many of them the second or third highest ranking office holder in their country, will also hold a panel discussion on public perceptions of parliament and democracy, and debate the role of parliament in helping reach the targets of the Millennium Development Goals, along with other burning issues such as human trafficking. At the close of the proceedings, they will adopt a Declaration.
"The Conference of Speakers of Parliament has become a significant factor in helping parliaments assume a more proactive role on the global arena and thus bridge the democracy gap in international relations", said IPU President Dr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, who is also the Speaker of the National Assembly of Namibia and a former President of the United Nations General Assembly.
Three days before the Conference, on 16 and 17 July, the Women Speakers of Parliament will gather in Bern, at the invitation of the Speakers of the two Swiss Federal Chambers, Ms. Pascal Bruderer-Wyss and Ms. Erika Forster-Vanini. At the Federal Palace, the Women Speakers of Parliament will debate maternal, child and newborn health before proceeding to Geneva.
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