Global parliamentary representation debated at Yale University

Two panels at an event on “New Topics in Global Justice” focus on the question of global parliamentary representation

Gathered in one of the oldest buildings of Yale University in New Haven, a 2.5-day workshop on “New Topics in Global Justice” kicked off on October 28th with a session on the creation of a world parliament. Practitioners and academics came together to discuss practical and theoretical issues surrounding the topic.

The debate began with opening remarks from the director and co-founder of the international Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly, Andreas Bummel. With reference to a world parliament he said that the idea “is based on the conviction that all people are members of a single family of human beings encompassing the whole world.” The purpose would be to ensure equal representation of the world’s citizens in global governance. He stated that eventually a “global legislative system” would probably have to rest on two chambers: “a citizen-elected parliament” and “a body representing the states, similar to today’s UN General Assembly”. He pointed out that a consultative UN Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA), initially made up of deputies from the national parliaments of UN member states, would be a pragmatic first step into the direction of this long-term goal. It could be established without Charter reform with a decision of the UN General Assembly.

Following the opening speech, the first panel was started with short presentations of Vito Tanzi of University of Munich, Lynette Sieger of Rutgers University, Alexandre Sayegh of Yale University, and Deen Chatterjee of University of Utah. The panel discussed a wide range of topics, including immigration as a human rights issue, the potential for a World Tax Organization, enfranchisement and the social conditions for democracy, and the global governance of climate change mitigation. Alexandre Sayegh stressed the potential role of a UNPA in achieving climate justice.

Lynette Sieger, a doctoral candidate at the Division of Global Affairs of Rutgers University in Newark, argued against a UNPA and voiced concern regarding how a global parliament could operate within or alongside an intentionally fragmented global system. If a parliamentary assembly is housed within the UN, she asked, what authority would it then have over institutions that do not belong to the UN? She also said that implementing the principle of “one person, one vote” in a global parliament would overly benefit large countries and marginalize small ones. On the other hand, she argued that a population-based allocation of seats could incentivize economically powerful states to leave the UN. Another point she put forward was the question of how to deal with undemocratic countries.

During the question and answer period, the audience was particularly interested in seat apportionment schemes for a UNPA, and debate within the panel on the merits of such an assembly was lively. Bummel agreed with Sieger that the social and political conditions for a full-fledged global parliament do not yet exist. He stressed that a UNPA at the beginning would not be based on the principle of “one person, one vote” but on a system of “degressive proportionality” according to which small countries would be allocated relatively more seats per capita than large ones. In his opinion, this would balance the interests of small and large states. He also asked who would be determining whether a country is democratic or not and emphasized that often even in autocratic regimes there was a legitimate democratic opposition that would benefit from having a voice in a UNPA.

The second panel featured experts Richard Ponzio of The Stimson Center, David Mwambari of the US International University in Nairobi, and Andrew Strauss of the University of Dayton. Richard Ponzio started the panel with a discussion of the recent report of the Commission on Global Security, Justice, and Governance which recommended the creation of a UN Parliamentary Network (UNPN). He described such a network as a “stepping stone” towards a UNPA “as a second chamber”. It would be elected from within national parliaments and complement the activities of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Initially, the network could meet once per year every September. Public hearings would be a major vehicle for its work. In Ponzio’s assessment, the creation of a UNPN “can happen in the next five years in the runup to the 2020 anniversary of the United Nations.”

In his presentation, Andrew Strauss endorsed the proposal of a global parliament and called for direct elections “rather sooner than later.” He argued that even if it initially had only advisory capabilities, the members of the assembly would very likely work towards the goal of strengthening it step by step. According to Strauss, such a parliamentary body would be able to expand in power quickly owing to its “unique moral authority.”

In the subsequent discussion a key topic was the question of how states and the concept of statehood fit into the idea of a UNPA or global parliament. It was pointed out that while the UN General Assembly is made up of representatives of states, the UNPA would be made up of representatives of citizens. Responding to fears that individual large countries could dominate a global parliament, Strauss emphasized that “there are no states” in a parliamentary body of this kind. It was unlikely, he said, that the delegates of one country would vote as blocks. Parliamentarians would align themselves not by country or region but ideologically. In his view, a global parliament could be started by 20 to 30 geographically representative and democratic states.

Other topics discussed on the second and third day of the workshop included illicit financial flows, the rights of migrants, and the problem of statelessness. The panels on the first day were moderated by Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox of Quinnipiac University.

The event was co-hosted by the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly, Quinnipiac University, the Oxford Consortium for Human Rights, Academics Stand Against Poverty, and the Yale Global Justice Program.

Ibrahim Gambari highlights need for a UN Parliamentary Network at Stanley Foundation conference

Each year the Stanley Foundation in Washington D.C. convenes its Strategy for Peace Conference on policy challenges in key global issue areas with experts from the public and private sectors.

In the keynote address to this year's 57th conference from October 26-28, the co-chair of the Commission on Global Security, Justice, and Governance, Ibrahim Gambari, highlighted the creation of a United Nations Parliamentary Network as an important recommendation that the Commission made in response to global policy challenges. He explained:

Established as an advisory body to the General Assembly under Article 22 of the Charter, the UN Parliamentary Network would bring together national parliament­arians to create a new platform for input and exchange, consistent with other networks in place for the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, and regional organizations.

Describing the Commission's strategic approach to achieve global governance reform through "parallel tracks", the former Nigerian foreign minister said that specific UN task forces in New York—composed, for example, of a select group of Permanent Representatives from all major regions and co-chaired by PRs from the Global North and South—could deliberate on creating new bodies such as a UN Parliamentary Network or on reforming existing ones.

A second major reform vehicle that the Commission promotes is to organize in the run-up to the United Nations’ 75th anniversary a series of formal intergovernmental, yet at the same time multistakeholder, negotiations leading to the convening, in September 2020, of a heads of state and government-level World Summit on Global Security, Justice & Governance.

In line with the Commission's goal of forming UN task forces, the international Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly is currently exploring the prospects of an intergovernmental "Group of Friends of a UNPA" at the United Nations. Representatives of several UN member states have already indicated to be interested in such a group.

Earlier this year, Mr. Gambari said in a statement that "a UN Parliamentary Assembly should be established in order to create a democratic connection between the world organization and the world's citizens. The international efforts towards this aim deserve broad support."

Mr. Gambari served as Nigeria's ambassador at the United Nations from 1990 to 1999 and then was appointed the first Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Africa. From 2005 to 2007 he was Under-Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Department of Political Affairs.

United Nations experts endorse the creation of a UN Parliamentary Assembly

Six current UN experts elected by the world organization's Human Rights Council in Geneva have supported the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, in short UNPA, in the past weeks

According to Maina Kiai from Kenya, the UN's special rapporteur on rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, "one weakness of the United Nations is that its member states are represented solely through the executive branch. The involvement of additional actors such as parliamentarians and civil society is critical to democratizing the UN."

The UN's special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Heiner Bielefeldt from Germany, noted that the UN was "meant to be an inclusive space for active engagement with the civil society and multi-stakeholders." Considering the "great value of cross-boundary work on the promotion of freedom of religion or belief by parliamentarians around the world" that he has seen, he stated to believe "in the great potentials that a UN Parliamentary Assembly has for strengthening the UN system."

The UN's expert on the right to food, Hilal Elver from Turkey, said that "795 million world citizens are suffering from chronic hunger. An elected UN Parliamentary Assembly may be a means to give these most vulnerable members of our global community a stronger voice so that the systemic international causes of their misery can be more adequately addressed."

In 2013, the UN's expert on the promotion of an equitable and democratic international order, Alfred de Zayas, recommended that the UN should conduct a study on how a World Parliamentary Assembly "may advance genuine participation."

Confirming his support of the proposal he pointed out today that "a UN Parliamentary Assembly is necessary to advance an international order that is more democratic and equitable. Transparency, accountability and rule of law will be better served when the people have greater participation in decision-making."

In addition, the international appeal for a UNPA was recently endorsed by Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the UN's special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, as well as François Crépeau, special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants (in his capacity as professor at McGill University).

Other prominent supporters of the appeal with ties to the UN include former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former Under-Secretary-Generals Ibrahim Gambari, Shashi Tharoor, Brian Urquhart and Heitor Gurgulino de Souza, former Assistant Secretary-General and former President of Slovenia, Danilo Türk, former Assistant Secretary-General Anders Wijkman, the former commander of the UN mission in Rwanda, Roméo Dallaire, the UN’s former rapporteurs on the right to food, Olivier de Schutter and Jean Ziegler, the former rapporteurs on torture Theo van Boven and Manfred Nowak, and former UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor.

Top image: A general view of participants at the thirty-first regular session of the Human Rights Council, UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

Hilal Elver

795 million world citizens are suffering from chronic hunger. An elected UN Parliamentary Assembly may be a means to give these most vulnerable members of our global community a stronger voice so that the systemic international causes of their misery can be more adequately addressed.

Global Week of Action for a World Parliament launched in Buenos Aires

A first event of this year’s Global Week of Action for a World Parliament was held last Tuesday at the University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires. The founding member of the Argentine organization Democracia Global, Fernando Iglesias, presented the international Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly to an eager auditorium of more than 30 graduate and undergraduate students of international relations and political science.

In his presentation Mr. Iglesias pointed out that a UN Parliamentary Assembly would be a forum that allows for the discussion of global problems from the perspective of the world’s citizens and not only narrow national interests, in particular climate change, human rights violations, or transnational crime, among others. According to the well-known Argentine author, the industrial and technological revolutions of the last two centuries have propelled globalization processes that directly affect all citizens of the world. He called on all world citizen’s to “think a global community with shared problems and challenges, in a global context marked by diversity”.

The former member of parliament said that once citizens and politicians become aware that solutions adopted by a new global parliamentary forum favor the world community as a whole, the focus on narrow national interests would fade in the background. In this sense, Mr. Iglesias stressed that this idea of political integration to advance the common good was already reflected by the European Union which, despite its shortcomings, has managed to maintain peace in Europe for more than 70 years and helped to overcome historic national rivalries.

The Global Week of Action for a World Parliament is an annual event celebrated for one week in October around United Nations Day on the 24th. During this week independent events worldwide are held to promote the establishment of a democratically elected world parliament.

The issue of a world parliament will be one of the topics at the Global Justice conference at Yale University in New Haven from 28th to 30th October.

Mario Bunge

Global problems require global solutions. A World Parliament is precisely the forum which takes humanity's point of view, it's the institution which proposes nothing less than to save us all from our own limitations. The rumor of the day is that a group of powerful hawks is preparing the Third World War. We should hope that this rumor will be debated in public forums that are guided by nothing but reason.

Workable World Trust joins Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly

As of October 2016, The Workable World Trust, WWT, based in Minneapolis joined the Steering Committee of the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly.

The Trust was established in 2014 by Dr. Joseph E. Schwartzberg, Distinguished International Professor Emeritus of the University of Minnesota. Its main thrust is to disseminate and promote support for the proposals in Dr. Schwartzberg’s book, Transforming the United Nations System: Designs for a Workable World that was published in 2013 by the United Nations University Press with the warm endorsement of former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali (who was a patron of the UNPA Campaign) and numerous other prominent global thinkers. Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian and Spanish editions as well as a Study and Discussion Guide are under preparation.

One of the key proposals supported in the book and by WWT is the establishment of a World Parliamentary Assembly. “I firmly believe that a World Parliamentary Assembly, WPA, would be the best way to allow for citizen input in global governance. Providing the diverse strands of humankind with a meaningful voice in making the decisions that will shape their destiny will do more to legitimize the UN than any other reform that I can envisage,” Dr. Schwartzberg stated earlier this year.

In October 2015, WWT organized the conference “Creating a Workable World” which included a presentation of the WPA proposal.

The UNPA Campaign and WWT have agreed to collaborate on a long-term basis.

“Overcoming indifference”: Over 100,000 demonstrate for world peace and against violence at peace march in Italy

Protest against indifference and war / Platform includes call for a UN Parliamentary Assembly

Over 100,000 people participated in a peace march from Perugia to Assisi, two municipalities in the center of Italy, around 170 kilometer North of Rome. It was the biggest peace rally in recent times not only in Europe, but in the world.

Referring to the conflicts and wars in Syria, Yemen, Congo, Iraq, Afghanistan or South Sudan, among others, the event sent a signal against “a deafining silence” of the world community and denounced its inability to stop mass atrocities in the city of Aleppo.

The march was lead by a banner that read “Overcoming Indifference”. “This is a message against the indifference of international institutions but also to all those who think they can’t do anything,” said Flavio Lotti of Tavola della Pace, one of the event’s organizers. The organizers called for an open Europe that should welcome and protect “those fleeing war and hunger.”

The march was supported not only by over 100 Italian schools and various civil society organizations, but also nearly 500 cities and many provinces and regions.

A common platform presented at a press conference in Rome by the umbrella organization Rete della Pace, which is part of the peace march, included a call for a federal and united Europe and the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly. The document asks the Italian government to “submit a plan for UN reform to the next UN Secretary-General” who will begin his term in January 2017.

A manifesto published on the occasion of the peace march in 2001 already included a call on the Italian parliament and government, the European Parliament, and the UN General Assembly to work towards “strengthening and democratizing the United Nations by abolishing the veto right in the Security Council and by establishing a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly.”

Last week, the international campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly was endorsed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate the 14th Dalai Lama.

The peace march is organized since 1961 and was held on 9 October this year.

Call for a UN Parliamentary Assembly at joint sitting of Pan-African and Arab parliament

Pan-African Parliament and Arab Parliament consider UN reform at joint sitting in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt

The proposal to establish a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly was presented today at a joint sitting of the Pan-African Parliament and the Arab Parliament in Sharm El Sheik that was held in Egypt on the occassion of the 150th anniversary of the Egyptian parliament.

"To meet the challenges of this new century, the UN must become more effective, more representative and more democratic," said Ivone Soares, a member of parliament from Mozambique, in a plenary speech.

Addressing the reform of the UN Security Council, Ms. Soares said that Africa should be given two permanent seats. She added, however, that in her opinion, "the privilege of the veto enjoyed by the permanent members must be called into question." If a single member was able to block any decision, "the Security Council will continue to be unable to protect people from mass atrocities and unable to maintain international peace and security," Mrs. Soares stated.

Call on Arab Parliament to endorse a UNPA

The chief whip of the parliamentary group of the opposition party Renamo in Mozambique stated that it was important to "look beyond the Security Council" when it comes to United Nations reform.

Mrs. Soares recalled that the Pan-African Parliament was at the forefront of the international campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly. In a resolution adopted unanimously five months ago, the parliamentary body of the African Union reaffirmed its position that "a UN Parliamentary Assembly is needed to strengthen the democratic and representative participation of citizens from around the world at the United Nations," Mrs. Soares said.

Mrs. Soares called on the Arab Parliament to back the efforts for a UN Parliamentary Assembly.

African Parliamentary Alliance for UN reforms

The speech by Mrs. Soares was preceded by a presentation of Onyango Kakoba, a member of parliament from Uganda who belongs to the ruling party National Resistance Movement.

Mr. Kakoba annonced the establishment of the African Parliamentary Alliance for UN reforms, a "international organisation working with parliaments and parliamentarians to spearhead advocacy for UN reforms," as he pointed out.

According to Mr. Kakoba, the alliance, among other things, strives to "bring together the best minds across the African continent" and to give "parliamentary impetus" to the work of the African Union Committee of Ten that is mandated to develop and advance common African positions relative to UN reforms.

While the "primary focus" of the alliance "is the reform of the UN Security Council in favor of Africa," Mr. Kakoba said in the plenary debate that they could collaborate with the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly to advance this subject as well.

Related News

13 May 2016: Pan-African Parliament calls on African Union to support the creation of a UN Parliamentary Assembly

New Topics in Global Justice: 28-30 October 2016, Yale University

Jointly organized by the Global Justice Program at Yale University, Quinnipiac University, the Oxford Consortium for Human Rights, the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly, and Academics Stand Against Poverty, a 2.5-day workshop from 28-30 October 2016 at Yale University will discuss "New Topics in Global Justice."

The first session on the 28th, 2pm, will deal with the question of how the needs, interests and voices of the poorer majority of humankind can be better reflected in decisions on global rules and policies. From different perspectives two panels will discuss whether the creation of a world parliament could be a plausible institutional step and if so, how this could be implemented.

The second session on the 29th, 9:30am, includes three panels that investigate the problem of illicit financial flows. The morning panel is preceded by a screening of the movie The Price We Pay.

The third session on the 30th, 9:30am, includes three panels that deal with the movement to put migrant rights onto the international agenda, including formulating what that means, and will discuss how to take them forward. The situation of stateless persons and how it can be improved will also be a subject.

All sessions will be held in Faculty Room, Connecticut Hall, Second Floor, Yale University, New Haven.

Admission is free. No prior registration is necessary.

For more information please visit the conference website.