Press release of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Geneva/Ouagadougou, 17 August 2001
N° 1

At the invitation of the Parliament of Burkina Faso, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) will hold its 106th statutory Conference and related meetings from Sunday, 9 to Saturday 15th September 2001, at the Ouaga 2000 Conference Centre. The inaugural ceremony will take place on Sunday, 9th September at 7 p.m. in the Ouagadougou Salon International de l'Artisanat Africain (SIAO) in the presence of the President of Burkina Faso, Mr. Blaise Campaore, the President of the IPU Council, Mrs. Najma Heptulla, the President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso, Mr. Mélégué Traoré, and the Secretary General of the IPU, Mr. Anders B. Johnsson.

Children and HIV/AIDS will be the two main items discussed. A panel on "Violence against women : excision" will take place on Wednesday 12 September at 10.30. The Conference will also take up a supplementary item, to be chosen in Ouagadougou on Monday, 10th September (see list). An emergency supplementary item may also be examined, as appropriate.

The statutory Meeting of Women Parliamentarians will take place on Sunday, 9th September at 9.30 a.m., with Mrs. Marie-Madeleine Ouedraogo, member of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso and member of the Coordinating Committee of Women MPs of the IPU in the chair.

The 106th Conference in Ouagadougou will also give the delegations in attendance an opportunity to hold bilateral meetings and examine conflicts in several parts of the world, in particular the Middle East, Cyprus and the Great Lakes area in Africa.

The IPU's Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, chaired by Chilean MP Juan Pablo Letelier, will continue to examine the many cases of violations of the human rights of MPs in several countries.

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.