Denny Taylor

There is a cluster of existential risks confronting everyone now alive on the planet. Each of them involves a cataclysmic scenario for which we are not prepared. The reality is that no country in the world has the capacity to protect us from a planetary scale disaster. Multilateralism has failed. The retreat to unilateralism is ratcheting up the risks. Realistically the only hope for us all and future generations is a U.N. Parliamentary Assembly and global governance that set planetary integration into motion. The alternative is annihilation.

Amre Moussa

Die Einrichtung einer Parlamentarischen Versammlung der Vereinten Nationen ist ein wichtiger Vorschlag, den ich gerne unterstütze. Der UN-Sicherheitsrat ist weitgehend unfähig, seiner Pflicht zur Wahrung des internationalen Friedens und der internationalen Sicherheit nachzukommen. Der Aufstieg der extremen Rechten in einigen Ländern und der Mangel an diplomatischen Fähigkeiten untergräbt die internationale Zusammenarbeit. In dieser Situation kann eine Parlamentarische Versammlung der Vereinten Nationen dazu beitragen, Bürger und Parlamente zur Unterstützung der Vereinten Nationen zu mobilisieren und den Multilateralismus und das internationale System zu stärken.

New Danish ministers previously supported a UN Parliamentary Assembly

After the Danish national elections, which were held on June 5, the election winner and Denmark's new Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen has recently formed a minority government of the Social Democrats and announced her list of cabinet members. Two of the government's ministers are on record as signatories of the international appeal for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA).

One of them is Jeppe Kofod, who has been appointed Foreign Minister. For the last five years Mr Kofod has served as a Member of the European Parliament, to which he was also elected for a second term in the European Parliament election in the end of May. Earlier in his parliamentary career Mr Kofod served 1998-2014 as a member of the Danish Parliament, Folketinget. 2011-2013 he was the chairman of the parliament's Foreign Policy Committee. In 2012 Mr Kofod endorsed the international call for a UNPA.

The other Danish cabinet member listed as a supporter is Dan Jørgensen, who has been appointed minister of Climate, Energy and Supply. Mr Jørgensen has also been a Member of the European Parliament (2004-2013) and he has served as Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries in the Danish government 2013-2015. Mr Jørgensen signed the appeal already in 2007, the year when the international campaign for a UNPA was originally launched.

In letters sent to both ministers on behalf of the UNPA Campaign, Democracy Without Borders congratulated Mr Kofod and Mr Jørgensen on their appointments and expressed its hope that the new Danish government would help promote the cause of a more democratic UN in the intergovernmental realm.

Other prominent supporters in Denmark include three current party leaders: Pia Olsen Dyhr (Socialist’s People’s Party), Uffe Elbæk (The Alternative) and Pernille Skipper (Red-Green Alliance).

Top image: Christiansborg in Copenhagen seen from the Marble Bridge. Source: Moahim / Wikimedia Commons

Together 2030

National Governments and their Parliaments should be requested to endorse the call for a proposed UN Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) so that citizens of the world can have a direct and legitimate voice at the UN.

Together 2030 civil society coalition endorses a UN Parliamentary Assembly

Position paper published ahead of the High Level Political Forum in July

According to Together 2030, an international coalition of more than 700 civil society organizations, over three years into the implementation of the United Nations' Agenda 2030, "stakeholder engagement remains limited" and "focused efforts to leave no one behind remain insufficient, in terms of policy design, implementation and review."

This is one of the conclusions of a position paper that the Together 2030 coalition published this week ahead of the United Nations High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) that will be held in New York from July 9 to 18 under the theme of "Empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality." The paper includes a set of recommendations on each of the six Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are under review this year.

The civil society initiative suggests that "in order to ensure that empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality is achieved in a way that also promotes development and protects the environment, it is important to regard the SDGs as global public goods for which costs as well as figures on interlinkages should be published."

On SDG 16 which calls for effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels, among other things, one of five recommendations included in the paper concerns the involvement of parliamentarians in the HLPF and the UN more generally.

According to Together 2030, "National Governments and their Parliaments should be requested to endorse the call for a proposed UN Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) so that citizens of the world can have a direct and legitimate voice at the UN."

The Secretary-General of the international campaign for a UNPA, Andreas Bummel, welcomed the recommendation, adding that a UNPA may also provide new and innovative means of involving civil society organizations and other stakeholders in the UN’s work.

"Through its hearings, studies, debates, committees and other oversight functions, a UNPA would leverage its convening capacity to broaden engagement of various stakeholders. It would bring greater awareness, scrutiny and attention to efforts to fulfill the SDGs," a campaign statement said.

Top image: Session of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development on 17 July 2018 in New York, UN Photo 769646/Rick Bajornas

Read more

25.09.2015: Campaign statement on the occasion of the UN’s Sustainable Development Summit

Creation of a UN Parliamentary Assembly discussed at visit in Japan

Argentine legislator Fernando Iglesias proposes a UN Parliamentary Assembly in speech, further talks in Tokyo

The Argentine legislator and Co-President of the World Federalist Movement (WFM), Fernando Iglesias, held the keynote speech at the annual congress of WFM-Japan in Tokyo on May 30th. Mr. Iglesias, who is also a Co-Chair of the Parliamentary Group for a UN Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA), proposed the establishment of a UNPA as a concrete step to counteract the world organization’s democratic deficit.

During meetings in Tokyo Mr. Iglesias suggested that the Japanese Parliamentary Committee for World Federation should consider adopting a resolution in favour of a UNPA to support international efforts. According to the Committee’s Chair, legislator Seishirō Etō, the body’s membership includes more than 100 parliamentarians and its aim is to achieve world federation through the construction and improvement of democratic global governance.

Masaharu Nakagawa, a member of the Japanese House of Representatives, emphasized the importance of achieving democratic governance worldwide and to explore measures necessary to establish a Parliamentary Assembly within the framework of the United Nations. Mr. Iglesias pointed out that once a resolution was passed within the Committee, it could be moved forward by relevant parliamentary committees to subsequently have a resolution adopted by the Japanese National Diet.

According to Tadashi Inuzuka, a former Senator in the House of Councillors of the Diet, Japan’s parliament is the only one that has passed parliamentary resolutions in support of a world federation. Pushing towards a UNPA would be in line with this vision.

The Chairperson of the Japan Commission on Global Governance, Mr. Sukehiro Hasegawa, suggested that Article 109 of the UN Charter could be activated to start the process of reviewing the UN Charter and restructure the United Nations to include a Parliamentary Assembly. He advocated not only the creation of a UNPA but also the incorporation of the G20 into the United Nations system. He argued that it would not only give legitimacy to the G20, but it would also empower the UN to achieve better global governance.

Fernando Iglesias recalled that the "Parliamentarian 20" forum, the so-called P20, will be held in Osaka in the coming months and suggested formalizing the P20 forum within the structure of the G20 so that they can adopt resolutions that are considered by the leaders at the G20 summit.

Ambassador Kansuke Nagaoka, Deputy Director-General in the Japanese foreign ministry who supervises the Committee, said that he would evaluate what could be done from the government’s perspective.

Amre Moussa: Parlamentarische Versam­mlung kann zur Unterstützung der UNO und des Multi­lateralismus beitragen

Sicherheitsrat "unfähig, seine Pflicht zu erfüllen"

Der ehemalige hochrangige ägyptische Diplomat und Präsidentschaftskandidat Amre Moussa schloss sich einer Forderung nach der Einrichtung einer Parlamentarischen Versammlung der Vereinten Nationen, kurz UNPA, an. Laut einer von der internationalen Kampagne für eine UNPA in Berlin veröffentlichten Erklärung sagte Moussa, dass eine UNPA "ein wichtiger Vorschlag" sei, den er "gerne unterstützt".

In seiner Stellungnahme wies der ehemalige Außenminister Ägyptens und ehemalige Generalsekretär der Arabischen Liga darauf hin, dass "der UN-Sicherheitsrat weitgehend unfähig ist, seiner Pflicht zur Wahrung des internationalen Friedens und der internationalen Sicherheit nachzukommen". Darüber hinaus äußerte er Bedenken über den zunehmenden nationalistischen Populismus und seine Auswirkungen auf die Weltpolitik. "Der Aufstieg der extremen Rechten in einigen Ländern und der Mangel an diplomatischen Fähigkeiten untergräbt die internationale Zusammenarbeit", erklärte Moussa.

"In dieser Situation kann eine Parlamentarische Versammlung der Vereinten Nationen helfen, Bürger und Parlamente zur Unterstützung der Vereinten Nationen zu mobilisieren und den Multilateralismus und das internationale System zu stärken", sagte der ehemalige Diplomat.

Moussa war von 1991 bis 2001 Außenminister Ägyptens und anschließend von 2001 bis 2011 sechster Generalsekretär der Arabischen Liga. Im Februar 2011 nahm er an den Protesten in Kairo teil, um Präsident Hosni Mubarak zu stürzen. Als unabhängiger Kandidat erhielt er im ersten Wahlgang der Präsidentschaftswahl 2012 rund 11 Prozent der Stimmen.

Der Aufruf zu einer UNPA wird von zahlreichen Politikern, ehemaligen UN-Beamten, angesehenen Wissenschaftlern, Kulturinnovatoren und Vertretern zivilgesellschaftlicher Organisationen unterstützt, darunter über 1.500 aktuelle und ehemalige Parlamentsmitglieder aus über 120 Ländern.

Vor kurzem gab eine Gruppe von gewählten Vertretern eine Erklärung heraus, "dass der bevorstehende 75. Jahrestag der Vereinten Nationen im Jahr 2020 als Gelegenheit genutzt werden muss, Bilanz zu ziehen und weitreichende Reformen einzuleiten, einschließlich der Einrichtung einer Parlamentarischen Versammlung der Vereinten Nationen".

Bild oben: Amre Moussa beim World Economic Forum in 2007, Quelle: WEF/Flickr

Stephen Masele

Angesichts des bevorstehenden 75-jährigen Bestehens der UNO im Jahr 2020 ist es wichtig, die Arbeit und das Design der Weltorganisation zu überprüfen. So wie das Panafrikanische Parlament den Bürgern des Kontinents eine Stimme gibt, sollte eine Parlamentarische Versammlung der Vereinten Nationen "Wir, die Völker" dieses Planeten eine Stimme geben. Ich bin überzeugt, dass diese Innovation der UNO und der Global Governance zugute kommen wird.

Campaign congratulates Malta's new President, George Vella

The Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, in short UNPA, congratulated Malta's new President, George Vella, on assuming office on 4th April this year. A medical doctor by profession, Dr. Vella served twice as foreign minister, from 1996 to 1998 and from 2013 to 2017. He is a member of the Maltese Labour Party and was a member of parliament for almost three decades. As the sole nominee he was elected by the Maltese parliament as 10th President, succeeding Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.

In November last year, Dr. Vella joined the new Parliamentary Group for a UNPA in his capacity as a former member of parliament. Recently, he endorsed a statement published in The Guardian warning that “the United Nations, the multilateral order and democracy are under attack.” The document urged the world's governments to take steps towards the creation of a UNPA in order to address the UN’s democratic deficit.

Speaking as Maltese foreign minister at a summit of the Commonwealth in 2013 in Sri Lanka, Dr. Vella called on Commonwealth foreign ministers to endorse the campaign for a UNPA. He stated that the 54-member block "could influence the 194-member UN and push through the establishment of an assembly which would strengthen representation and parliamentary diplomacy."

“We wholeheartedly congratulate Dr. Vella on his election,” said Andreas Bummel, the Secretary-General of the Campaign for a UNPA which is endorsed by over 1,500 current and former members of parliament from across the world. 

Top image: Department of Information of Malta by Clifton Fenech

Natalie Samarasinghe

The United Nations matters to all people, everywhere. If we are to manage global catastrophic risks - from climate change to nuclear weapons - we desperately need an effective UN that is open and accountable to the people it serves. A UN Parliamentary Assembly would be a positive step in this direction. It would send a strong message about the need to involve stakeholders in the work of the UN, and help to boost the organisation’s legitimacy and efficacy. The UN was created for “we the peoples”. It is only right that people around the world are able to engage meaningfully with its work.