UN Parliament should monitor implementation of Sustainable Development Goals

25. September 2015

Campaign statement on the occasion of the UN’s Sustainable Development Summit

On the occasion of the United Nations summit in New York for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda, the campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly has called for stronger mechanisms “to maintain momentum and provide the necessary oversight and accountability for the implementation of the post-2015 goals, targets and indicators.”

Image: UN

In particular, the efforts of the UN’s new High Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development should be complemented by a parliamentary body.

The campaign’s representative, Fergus Watt from Canada explained that “in the years ahead it may become more important that the UN system have greater political means to promote accountability in the fulfillment of the SDG commitments. While the SDGs are a significantly improved development framework for the international community, only time will tell whether governments are prepared to act on their commitments. A UN Parliamentary Assembly would be an important tool to promote accountability and keep the development agenda in the public spotlight.”

The campaign argues that adding a parliamentary body of citizen representatives from among the membership of national and regional parliaments to the UN system would be “a powerful mechanism to generate greater accountability and democratic legitimacy in global governance.”

In the pursuit of the Post-2015 goals, such a UN Parliamentary Assembly “would make the activities and decisions of the UN system more widely known, transparent and responsive to the needs of the world’s citizens. Through its hearings, studies, debates, committees and other oversight functions, the assembly would be able to broaden the engagement of various stakeholders.”

To date, the campaign’s international appeal for a UN Parliamentary Assembly has been endorsed by over 1,400 parliamentarians, over 400 NGOs, and over 5,000 individuals including several former heads of state or government, foreign ministers, and former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

Read the campaign’s statement