International peace conference in South Korea supports a UN Parliamentary Assembly

26. February 2020

An outcome message of this year’s PyeongChang Peace Forum from 9-11 February 2020 in South Korea that brought together around 4,000 participants calls on the UN's member states to "consider bold proposals, such as a UN Parliamentary Assembly and the World Citizens Initiative to ensure clear, meaningful and empowered civil society consultation and representation within the UN system."

Panel on UN75 with UN Under Secretary-General Fabrizio Hochschild (left)

The call was made in connection with the UN's 75th anniversary that is being commemorated this year. The message says that "civil society advocates are deeply concerned about a UN system that is under-resourced, under attack, underutilized, and unable to respond adequately to the many challenges facing humanity and the planet."

At a panel discussion in PyeongChang, the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy on the UN75 commemorations, Fabrizio Hochschild, noted that it was "a paradox of our time" that countries were retreating from international collaboration "while it is needed more than ever before."

The proposal of a UN Parliamentary Assembly was raised as a way to give representatives of "We, the Peoples" a stronger voice in UN affairs.

Jeffrey Huffines of the UN2020 and Together First civil society initiatives announced that an NGO Peoples’ Forum will be held in New York on 23 April 2020 in order to discuss joint positions of global civil society.

The Secretary-General of the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly, Andreas Bummel, recalled that the final declaration of the Millennium NGO Forum twenty years ago already included strong support for a UN body composed of elected representatives. "We know that the current environment at the UN isn't good but at the very least we now need to create strong reference points for a Post-2020 process," he said.

More information

PyeongChang Message for Peace 2020