Led by the President of the IPU, Dr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, a contingent of some 50 members of parliament attended the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development held in Doha, Qatar, from 29 November to 2 December 2008. The Conference focused on the ways and means of mobilizing further resources for development, such as foreign aid, foreign direct investments, debt relief and a host of other innovative mechanisms. Also on the agenda were trade liberalization and the reform of the financial architecture. The global financial crisis featured in many of the discussions.
The IPU delegation came together at a pre-Conference hearing to help members of parliament focus on some of the salient items on the agenda. The hearing was hosted by the IPU President together with the Speaker of the Advisory Council of Qatar, Hon. Mohamed Bin Mubarak Al-Khulaifi. The Chair of the OECD Development Assistance Committee, Mr. Eckhard Deutscher; the Director of the ILO Office at the United Nations, Ms. Jane Stewart; and the Executive Director of Social Watch, Mr. Roberto Bissio, were on the panel.
The IPU was invited to speak on behalf of the parliamentary community at the opening plenary on 29 November. The IPU statement was presented by President Gurirab. It served to introduce an official parliamentary message on financing for development that was issued at the recent 119th IPU Assembly in Geneva.
Members of the IPU delegation participated in various roundtables and side events of the Conference to share their own experiences and views with negotiators and other government delegates.
The Doha Conference served to follow up the 2002 groundbreaking agreement on financing for development known as the Monterrey Consensus. The draft declaration of the Conference, which runs several pages long, acknowledges for the first time the role of parliaments in respect of national ownership of development plans. The key passage, in paragraph 46, states: “We recognize the importance of efforts by developing countries to strengthen leadership of their own development, national institutions, systems and capacity to ensure the best results of aid by engaging with parliaments and citizens in shaping those policies and deepening engagement with civil society organizations.”
