Press release of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Ouagadougou, 9 September2001
N° 2

One hundred and forty eight women parliamentarians from 116 countries took part in the Sixth Meeting of Women Parliamentarians in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) on the occasion of the 106th Inter-Parliamentary Conference which is running until 15 September in the Ouaga 2000 Conference Centre.

The President of the Coordinating Committee of Women Parliamentarians, Mrs Viola Furubjelke, who is also Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of Sweden, noting that the attendance figure for the women MPs was the highest ever registered at a Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), said: "It is very important that women parliamentarians make their voice heard in gender partnership matters". Turning to the item on the agenda of the 106th Conference concerning the protection of children, she added: "whether we like it or not, it is the case that the major responsibility for the children in our societies rests witwith the women". It should also be noted that a round table on female genital mutilation will be held on Wednesday 12 September.

The President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso, Mr Mélégué Traoré, also took the floor at the Women's Meeting: "Within the IPU Gender Partnership Group I encountered an approach which I had not come across before, either as a diplomat or as a politician. It entailed a fundamental convergence between men and women parliamentarians, all of whom wished to give a specific meaning to our joint endeavours through IPU".

Mr Traoré added "More than other conferences, the 106th Inter-Parliamentary Conference will focus on discussions that are of particular interest to women. There is a fundamental link between the protection of children, HIV/AIDS and the status of women".

The President of the Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Dr Najma Heptulla, Deputy Chairman of the Indian Council of States, said that the items on the Conference agenda – AIDS and the rights and development of children – were intimately linked. "AIDS remains a tragic enigma. The most serious aspect is that despite being the most vulnerable group, the majority of children and adolescents are unaware of the risks and measures of protection".

On the question of children, the driving force of future society, the President of the IPU Council said "The outcome of our deliberations during this Conference shall be further discussed during the Parliamentarians' Forum for Children that the IPU will convene as a parallel event to the forthcoming Special Session of the UN General Assembly on Children on 20 September in New York".

The President of the Meeting of Women Parliamentarians, Mrs Marie-Madeleine Ouedraogo, Vice-President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso, stated that the Meeting was being held "in a country where women are involved in a daily struggle against poverty, the cause and sometimes the consequence of many of our society's ills". She added that "discussion of the protection of children, and a review of the AIDS question from the standpoint of its consequences for children, as well as the inclusion on our agenda of a panel on excision, will certainly be of interest to women".

Mrs Chantal Campaoré, First Lady of Burkina Faso, also took the floor. "Women make up half of the world's population. However, they are the least fortunate in the political, economic and even social spheres. I am glad to see that the Inter-Parliamentary Union is in the forefront of the recognition of women's political rights and their place in the conquest and management of power", she concluded.

Established in 1889 and with its Headquarters in Geneva, the IPU, the oldest multilateral organisation, currently has 141 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.