On 26 September, the IPU convened a briefing session at the United Nations Headquarters in New York for members of parliament attending the opening of the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. The session was attended by some 80 MPs from over twenty countries. Ambassador Norman Miranda - Chef de Cabinet to the President of the General Assembly, Mr. Finn Martin Vallersnes – himself a member of the Norwegian Parliament and Chair of the IPU Advisory Group on United Nations Affairs, Senator Rosario Green of Mexico and IPU Secretary General Anders Johnsson opened the discussion with an overview of the growing partnership among the United Nations, national parliaments and the IPU.
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Mr. Vallersnes briefed parliamentarians on the history of the IPU Committee on United Nations Affairs – established in 2007- and its mandate on issues such as assessing progress on the Millennium Development Goals, financing for development, following the work of the Human Rights Council, providing parliamentary support to the United Nations system-wide coherence and conducting field missions to evaluate progress in terms of UN reform at the national level. In particular, he referred to the field mission recently conducted in Tanzania, which had also issued a series of conclusions and recommendations for future action.
A message was delivered on behalf of the new President of the General Assembly, presenting his main objectives for the current session of the General Assembly, with a special focus on the democratization of the United Nations, including through meaningful reform of the Security Council and the revitalization and empowerment of the General Assembly.
As the IPU Secretary General noted, the objective of democratizing the United Nations is not entirely new for the IPU - the 2005 World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, for example, had debated the issue and issued a political declaration entitled Bridging the democracy gap at the United Nations. He referred to the special significance of the first International Day of Democracy - celebrated on 15 September 2008 - for the IPU and the broader international community. Last but not least, he drew attention to the recently issued Report of the United Nations Secretary-General on Cooperation with the IPU.
The briefing provided an opportunity for the participating legislators to share ideas, experiences and good practices in terms of how they relate to the United Nations agenda. The lively discussion that followed highlighted the usefulness of continuing such consultations in the context of major international events.
