Objective 7

Our Members continued to prioritize regional interaction as a means to access the latest data and expertise and learn from the experiences of other countries. Five regional seminars organized in 2019 brought together some 300 parliamentarians and staff from 68 parliaments from Asia-Pacific, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean.

Each seminar focused on bridging theory and practice, with field visits to projects promoting sustainability and prosperity. Poverty alleviation and climate change were key concerns, as witnessed through visits to Chinese provinces like Zhejiang and to depleting coastal areas of Maldives. The shared conclusion was that the only way to overcome such challenges is through greater cooperation with neighbours.

The Speakers of South Asian parliaments met for the fourth time to work closely with the IPU on monitoring parliamentary action on the SDGs. European parliaments met again only six months after their first meeting held in Israel in 2018 to find ways to use innovation as a driver of sustainable development, economic growth and health.

In 2019, the IPU-UNDP self-assessment toolkit on SDG implementation was used by the Parliaments of Sierra Leone, Vanuatu and Serbia. The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago decided to focus the Caribbean regional hub that will be organized within the IPU’s Centre for Innovation in Parliament on the realization of SDG 16.

At the international level, we organized multiple activities that brought together more than 140 parliamentarians from 50 parliaments to review progress towards the SDGs at the annual High-level Political Forum (HLPF) at the United Nations in New York. The Forum gave parliamentarians participating in the HLPF an opportunity to discuss the main theme of the session and exchange experiences of SDG implementation.

In the lead-up to the HLPF, we carried out a survey on parliaments’ contributions to the preparation of their countries’ voluntary national reviews. It found that, of the 47 countries reporting on SDG progress in 2019, about one third (34%) of their parliaments had been involved. This is consistent with data from the last three years.

A second IPU survey on institutionalizing the SDGs in the work of parliaments revealed a mixed picture. While examples of good practice emerged, with some parliaments playing a very active role, the data also showed that implementation of the SDGs remains primarily government-led. We will continue to strengthen parliaments’ capacity to deliver on the SDGs. We will also promote inter-parliamentary dialogue and exchanges of good practice, as well as collecting and providing data and evidence that feed into laws, policies and parliamentary practice.

Currently, at least half the world’s population does not receive the health services they need according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In October 2019, the 141st IPU Assembly adopted the first global parliamentary resolution on universal health coverage (UHC). This landmark resolution was the culmination of long-term efforts to mobilize parliaments worldwide. It calls for parliaments to take all legal and policy measures to achieve UHC by 2030 to ensure that the right to public health is guaranteed for all, without discrimination.

In April, at the 140th IPU Assembly, we held a debate on UHC that highlighted the need for the provision of people-centred health services without discrimination. In May, we joined forces with WHO to organize a technical briefing and a parliamentary seminar during the World Health Assembly. Participants identified political will and strengthening parliamentary institutions as key to progress on UHC.

As part of these efforts, we promoted the parliamentary perspective at the United Nations High-Level Meeting on UHC. We also strengthened partnerships by joining the multistakeholder platform UHC2030 and by launching the Legal Solutions Network, a new initiative with Georgetown University, WHO, UNAIDS and UNDP aimed at supporting policymakers in crafting laws, regulations and policies that realize the promise and power of UHC.

As we turn to the implementation of the IPU resolution on UHC, the IPU Advisory Group on Health has stepped up to act as focal point for parliamentary accountability. As such, starting in 2020, it will take stock of country efforts to expand health coverage and, on that basis, make targeted recommendations to national parliaments.

Under the umbrella of UHC, some groups require particular attention. In 2019, we continued focusing on women, children and adolescents. With the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) and other partners, we brought parliamentarians from 11 sub-Saharan countries together with researchers, civil society representatives and government officials to discuss data on inequity in women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health. The IPU’s leadership in this area is increasingly recognized: the IPU President and the IPU Secretary General sit on the Every Woman, Every Child High-Level Steering Group and the PMNCH Executive Committee respectively.

Finally, as part of our engagement on the determinants of health, at the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement Global Gathering the IPU Secretary General, who is a member of the SUN Movement Lead Group, took the lead in signing a pledge to take action on nutrition by encouraging governments to adopt a multisectoral approach to nutrition as well as to secure adequate fund allocation. The pledge also stressed the importance of integrating nutrition into UHC.

Parliaments asked, we listened – by joining forces with the UN Environment Programme and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to launch a new series of technical assistance workshops on climate change. In 2019, the Parliaments of Zimbabwe, Burundi and Zambia benefited from such workshops, which helped them determine how best to get involved in the national implementation of the Paris Agreement. In addition to the legislative branch, members of the executive, including UNFCCC national focal points, participated in the workshops, establishing the important but often-missing link between the two branches of power.

At the workshop in Zimbabwe, parliamentarians decided to review and tighten measures for collecting a national carbon tax. In Burundi, parliamentarians realized the importance of their role in raising public awareness and systematically advocating action on climate change and the conservation of biodiversity.

“The IPU is pivotal in bringing parliamentarians together to ensure that we put in place the policies that are going to deliver on the sustainable development goals before 2030. […] I think it’s fantastic that we can come together via IPU, via our parliaments and agree the sustainable development goals, agree a path towards achieving them making sure that no one is left behind, that young people have a future and that people have a way out of poverty.”

Dr. Lisa Cameron, UK MP

On the margins of the twenty-fifth Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 25), the IPU and the Parliament of Spain organized a parliamentary meeting that was attended by over 150 delegates from more than 30 countries. Parliamentarians and experts agreed on the urgency of climate action and the role of parliaments in maximizing their legislative, budgetary, and oversight functions to transform the Paris Agreement into national laws, policies and action plans, and to hold their governments accountable.

In early 2019 the IPU, together with the UN Environment Programme, published Shades of green: an introduction to the green economy for parliamentarians. The publication provides parliamentarians with a basic understanding of the green economy and of the policies required to transition toward it.