Press release of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Geneva, 11 June 1999
N° 78

"The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) believes that States should endeavour to reduce child labour through multi-faceted development strategies and compulsory primary education for boys and girls", asserted the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Council, Mr. Miguel Angel Martínez, as he took the floor today before the delegates to the 87th Conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO). M. Martínez stated that the Union's Council had noted with satisfaction that the Agreement between the IPU and the IPU, signed in Geneva on 27 May last, aimed at facilitating the effective exercise of mutually complementary activities and reciprocal assistance.

"It is no longer possible to speak of dialogue among States while referring only to intergovernmental structures, without including inter-parliamentary institutions in the process. The aspirations of economic, cultural and social actors - that is to say, the people themselves - must be heard on the international scene, and this can best be achieved through unique representative institutions - Parliaments", recalled Mr. Martínez. "The UN and its universe must open up to a much more ambitious process of democratisation. Radical changes are needed, and the concrete participation of parliamentarians in the activities of the UN is a driving force behind such changes", he stated.

In this connection, a process is at work which will lead the IPU, in close collaboration with the UN, up to the Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union which will convene in New York next year, on the eve of the Millennium Assembly, the Summit of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments. That event will provide an occasion for the IPU to advocate and mobilise for the establishment of a democratic world order with increased recognition and powers for the United Nations, in whose functioning Parliaments will be called to play a major role.

The President of the Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union ended with these words: "We seem to agree, for example, that in the longer run the issue of child labour is that of elimination of poverty and that of access to adequate education (...). This leads me to think of the multitude of tasks and opportunities that our two Organisations should explore together with a view to speeding up the process of ratification and implementation of the Convention on child labour to be adopted by the International Labour Conference. Parliaments will undertake to urge the governments of their respective countries to sign the Convention as rapidly as possible. ... It will be up to the IPU to prove how instrumental it can be in this respect. I believe that a sort of joint ratification campaign could be launched together by the two Organisations".

Contact Mrs Luisa Ballin, IPU Information Officer in Geneva: Tel. (41 22) 919 41 16 or 919 41 27, fax (41 22) 919 41 60 or 733 31 41, e-mail: lb@mail.ipu.org or cd@mail.ipu.org

The IPU also has a liaison office with the UN in New York: tel. (1 212) 557.5880,
fax (1 212) 557.3954, e-mail: ny-office@mail.ipu.org