UN Parliament discussed at event at Argentine Council on Foreign Relations

The establishment of a world parliament was discussed at the Argentine Council on International Relations, CARI, last week. The speakers of the meeting were Andreas Bummel, global coordinator of the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly

During the event

Image: CARI Young Group

who participated from Germany via teleconference, and - present at CARI - professor Fernando Iglesias, formerly a member of parliament and co-chair of the campaign, as well as former Argentina ambassador Raúl Ricardes. The panel was moderated by Luis Masi from CARI's Young Group and a member of the NGO Democracia Global. With over 40 participants the auditorium in the city of Buenos Aires was filled.

Mr. Bummel introduced the debate by outlining the history of the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly and the most important arguments for the creation of a parliamentary body at the UN as a response to the global democratic deficit. He noted that the world is entering the third democratic transformation in history. The first transformation occured when democracy first emerged in Greek city-states around 400 B.C. The second introduced the principle of democratic representation in large territorial states in the course of the American and French revolutions. Now, in the process of globalization, the next step would be to expand democracy to the global scale. Mr. Bummel argued that the creation of a global legislative body representing the world's citizens was an indispensable step for this.

Mr. Iglesias gave an overview of the apparent contradictions between globalization and the democratic process, noting that democracy was lagging behind and needed to advance to the global scale. Offering a perspective of global political integration, he highlighted the federalist concept introduced by the United States Constitution and the concept of subsidiarity as used today in all national political systems, but not globally. He ended his presentation by stressing that "global problems need global institutional solutions."

Ambassador Raul Ricardes began his presentation with a brief review of the political history of integration processes, noting that regional integration was made possible by decolonization processes. He then focused on the United Nations and its decision-making processes, stressing the importance of the veto right of the permanent members of the Security Council since this was the precondition for collective action supported by the great powers. As an example for a failed attempt Mr. Ricardes referred to the League of Nations and its Council. He concluded with an analysis of the proposal for a UN Parliamentary Assembly, noting that the body would have to be a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly since it was "very hard, if not impossible" to achieve Charter reform. Mr. Ricardes closed his presentation by wondering how decisions of a parliamentary assembly could be enforced, paving the way for a heated discussion between the speakers and questions from the audience.

The event was organized by CARI's Young Group on the occasion of the third Global Week of Action for a World Parliament that was celebrated from 15-25 October. CARI in Argentina is considered one of the most prestigous think tanks on international affairs in Latin-America.

UN Parliament should monitor implementation of Sustainable Development Goals

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

 

Global Commission recommends a parliamentary body to overcome UN's democratic deficit

Report of the Commission on Global Security, Justice & Governance presented in The Hague

As part of a revitalization of the United Nations, the report of the Commission on Global Security, Justice & Governance that was presented in the Peace Palace in The Hague today recommends the establishment of a "UN Parliamentary Network." According to the report titled "Confronting the Crisis of Global Governance," such a new parliamentary body would constitute a "pragmatic approach toward strengthening UN-citizen relations and overcoming the world body’s democratic deficit."

The document explains that the parliamentary network could be established by the UN General Assembly according to Article 22 of the UN's Charter. "It would bring together parliamentarians elected from their national legislatures, to discuss and advise on issues in UN governance that concern citizens worldwide," the report says. The establishment of this body is understood as "a vital step that can be taken in the immediate term" that is complementary to long-term efforts towards "the creation of a standing, formally constituted UN second chamber." The Commission points out that the parliamentary network would focus "on UN governance itself, and on facilitating more accountable and inclusive decision-making at the global level."

The report and the Commission's key findings were presented by its Co-Chairs, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Nigerian Foreign Minister and UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari. According to Secretary Albright, the world requires "more capable tools of global governance, with different kinds of public, private, and mixed institutions designed for twenty-first-century challenges."

Recommendations highlighted during the presentation include the creation of a ""next-generation UN conflict mediation and peace operations capacity," strengthening the responsibility to "Prevent, Protect, and Rebuild," innovating climate governance, improving G20-UN-Bretton Woods institutional coordination, the expansion of the UN Security Council and a restraint in the use of the veto, or a strengthening of the International Court of Justice.

The international Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly, an informal network of parliamentarians and civil society organizations, applauded the Commission's support for the creation of a UN Parliamentary Network. "Seventy years after the UN's establishment it is high time for a formal UN body that allows elected representatives to be involved in the world organization's affairs," said the campaign's coordinator, Andreas Bummel.

Download the full report and summaries here

Top image: Launch of the report at the Peace Palace, globalsecurityjusticegovernance.org

United Nations Association of Sweden supports a UN Parliamentary Assembly

Decision adopted at Svenska FN-förbundet's congress in Göteborg

Aleksander Gabelic

Image: Jesper Prytz

At its national congress from June 13-14, the United Nations Association of Sweden, UNA-Sweden, decided to express support for the "proposal that a democratic UN Parliament should be established and gradually developed." The decision refers to the call of the international Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly, UNPA. UNA-Sweden is an umbrella organization supported by some 130 national civil society organizations. It enjoys the support of 7,000 individual members organized in over 100 local chapters.

After the congress in Göteborg, the chairman of UNA-Sweden, Aleksander Gabelic, a former member of the Swedish Parliament, commented that "UNA Sweden wants to see a stronger role for global civil society and NGOs within the UN system. Therefore we also support the establishment and gradual development of a democratic UN Parliament."

The Swedish coordinator of the international campaign for a UNPA, Petter Ölmunger, welcomed the decision as a "very important step in the efforts to widen and strengthen the support for a World Parliament within Swedish civil society." Mr Ölmunger, who is also an active member of UNA-Sweden, further stated that "the United Nations should be a role model for democracy in the world. Only in this way the organization can become as legitimate and effective as we urgently need it to be, facing the great global challenges of our time. I was very happy to see that UNA-Sweden and its congress shares this conviction."

Petter Ölmunger

Image: Jesper Prytz

At its congress in Buenos Aires in 2006, the World Federation of United Nations Associations, WFUNA, adopted a resolution calling for the establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly.

Rising support in Sweden

In the course of this year, the number of Swedish Members of Parliament who endorse the proposal of a UN Parliamentary Assembly has increased to now 38. Mr Ölmunger pointed out that this constitutes more than 10 percent of the total 349 members of the Riksdagen. Furthemore, four Swedish Members of the European Parliament and three ministers in the current Swedish government are among the supporters.

On October 20, 2015, the UNPA Campaign and the Swedish network for Global democracy will arrange two seminars in Stockholm that will discuss the need of a World Parliament to handle global climate change and the environmental crisis. One of the seminars will take place in the premises of the Swedish parliament and will be hosted by Members of Parliament from five different parties.

More information

Website of the Swedish network Global demokrati

Top image: Congress of Svenska FN-förbundet in Göteborg, facebook.com/FNBlekinge

Former lawmakers from across Europe support a UN Parliamentary Assembly

At a meeting in the European Parliament in Brussels former lawmakers from across Europe adopted a declaration on "the challenges of democracy in the age of globalization."

Delegates from 15 countries who represented the members of the European Association of Former Parliamentarians of the member states of the Council of Europe (FP-AP) proposed, among other things,

that States support the creation of a Parliamentary Assembly of the United Nations e.g. supervising the major financial institutions, IMF and World Bank, so as to promote progress of world governance along a democratic track. There must be a clear and transparent monitoring of the role played by the WTO.

The meeting was held on 13 November 2014.

Website of the FP-AP

Parliament of Iceland to discuss support for a UN Parliamentary Assembly

Draft resolution introduced in the Alþingi

The Parliament of Iceland is going to deal with the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly. A resolution supporting the efforts for such a new UN body of elected delegates was introduced last week by the former minister of the interior, Ögmundur Jónasson.

Ögmundur Jónasson

 

If adopted, the Icelandic government would be called on to present the proposal to the United Nations and its Secretary-General.

According to Mr. Jónasson, "it is in the interest of all nations, small and large alike, to make the UN function more democratically. States, especially large and powerful states, may resist this, but the people irrespective of statehood, want their voice to be heard. That is why I believe that in the years to come there will be increased popular support for a creation of a Parliamentary Assembly at the UN. My proposal in the Parliament of Iceland is a contribution to the struggle to democratize the UN."

The international appeal for a UN Parliamentary Assembly so far has been endorsed by more than 1,400 former and sitting members of parliament from over 100 countries, among others. The most recent supporter whose signature was received today is Dimitris Papadimoulis, a Vice-President of the European Parliament. Four years ago, the European Parliament adopted a supportive resolution.

The Icelandic Parliament has not yet determined when the draft bill will be debated.

Top image: by Mark Turner, Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Bipartisan Support for a UN Parliamentary Assembly Emerges in the United States

Over the past several months, the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly has gained momentum among former members of the United States Congress. Recent endorsers include former members of the House of Representatives Patricia Schroeder, Donald M. Fraser, John B. Anderson, and William Frenzel. In addition, former Senators Adlai Stevenson and Paul Findley are endorsing the Campaign.

The new endorsers join Benjamin Cardin, current U.S. Senator from Maryland. Senator Cardin is the first sitting U.S. parliamentarian to endorse the establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly. To date, over 700 sitting members of parliament from more than 100 countries are on record as supporters in addition to another 700 former parliamentarians.

Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder, the second youngest woman to serve in United States Congress, had this to say about a UN Parliamentary Assembly:

Without a global parliament, a democratic deficit exists in the way that the world's citizens are involved in global matters. Through elected representatives, a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly would resonate with the global population, providing it with a voice for presenting sensitive issues, to include addressing human rights violations, tackling corruption in governments and international administrations, and promoting democratic rights at all levels.

Congresswoman Schroeder’s endorsement for the Campaign is no surprise as she is a signatory of Paul Kurtz’s Neo-Humanist Manifesto, which likewise called for “[t]ransnational institutions will need to adopt a body of laws which will apply worldwide” and would “allow a maximum of decentralized local and regional governance.” The Campaign is very pleased to secure her support.

The above endorsements split the “political aisle” in the United States.  The endorsers served as as parliamentarians from both the Republican and Democratic political parties.  This reflects the Campaign’s non-partisan appealand its ability to transcend the otherwise divisive nature of politics. It also represents great optimism for the future of the Campaign and the establishment of a UNPA.

The Campaign is working with Citizens for Global Solutions to increase awareness of its message in the United States.  Support was recently on display in cities such as San Francisco, Cambridge, Cincinnati and others across the country during last month’s 2nd Annual Global Week of Action. CGS produced a very useful guide for supporters, which is still available here.  Photographs from supporters in the United States and around the world can be found here at Flickr.

Rwandan NGO calls for a UN Parliamentary Assembly as "a means to prevent genocide"

Events in Kigali / 20th commemoration of the Rwandan genocide of 1994

On the occasion of the 20th commemoration of the genocide in Rwanda, a newly established Rwandan civil society organization, Citizen Development Network, CDN, has called for the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly as "a means to prevent genocide."

The organization's president, Christophe Hategekimana, stated at an event in Kigali that "Though steps have been

CDN's president Christophe Hategekimana

Image: CDN

made to learn from the lessons of the Rwandan Genocide, to combat impunity and to change the international mindset from a question of sovereignty to responsibility, a decisive way to ensure that the UN keeps its promise of Never Again is for the voices of the world’s people to be heard through the creation of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly. Citizens should not only have the right to be democratically represented in all their nations, but also globally, at the UN."

CDN was publicly launched on 26 October at an event held at the National University of Rwanda that was followed by a visit to the Genocide Memorial Site of Gisozi in Kigali and to households of genocide orphans. In addition, in support of the second Global Week of Action for a World Parliament that was celebrated internationally from 17 to 26 October, CDN's activists gathered in front of the National Parliament in Kigali and displayed letters calling for a "World Parliament Now!"

"As a voice representing the people at the UN instead of the government executives, members of a UN Parliamentary Assembly could serve an important role as watchdogs for early-warning signals," Mr. Hategekimana explained. "In the event that genocide does occur a UN Parliamentary Assembly could help to galvanize world public opinion and help to pressure the international community to honor its responsibility to protect. Had a World Parliament existed in 1994 it could have been the driving force to mobilize support for intervention in Rwanda."

Key former UN officials who witnessed the failure of the UN during the Rwandan Genocide such as former Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali and former UNAMIR commander Roméo Dallaire, have also supported the international appeal for a UN Parliamentary Assembly.

Top image: CDN activists gathering in front of the National Parliament, CDN

Call for a World Parliament reinforced at second Global Week of Action

Citizens in over forty locations around the world celebrate second Global Week of Action for a World Parliament

Between 17 and 26 October, the call for the establishment of a democratically elected global parliament took center stage again at events and actions around the world held on the occasion of the second Global Week of Action for a World Parliament. The week of action’s announcement declares that people across

the world feel to be voiceless in global decision-making. It says that “world’s citizens have little influence on decisions taken at institutions such as the UN, the IMF, the WTO, the World Bank, the G20 or the G8.” Further it states that the governments represented in these bodies are “often being influenced heavily by the lobbyists of global corporations.” An elected world parliament, by contrast, “would be an instrument to find and implement solutions that are democratic, accountable and serve the best interest of humanity.”

To underpin this message, citizens came together in over forty locations around the world and displayed banners with the week's slogan “World Parliament Now!”. Panel discussions on the subject were held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Berlin, Germany, Rajkot, India, Verona, Italy, Kigali, Rwanda, and Gothenburg, Sweden. At the event in Berlin, the global coordinator of the international campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly, Andreas Bummel, said that it was high time to recognize that “global governance isn't working”. “It is not working because it is not delivering the results quickly enough that ensure a decent life for every human being and for a transition to a sustainable global civilization. At the same time, the system is deeply undemocratic. Both of these problems are interlinked,” he stated.

“It has been a successful action week with significant events and powerful photos from around the world. Step by step our message is gaining ground. And next year even more people will join us in our call for global democracy and universal peace and justice,” the week's coordinator Petter Ölmunger concluded.

More information

Global Week of Action for a World Parliament

Top image: Participants of the event in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Civil society assessment of global governance: It's inefficient and undemocratic

Global governance “isn't working,” new report says, stresses urgent need of improved democratic participation

CIVICUS, a global non-governmental organization that identifies itself as world alliance for citizen participation, has released a new assessment of national and international government organizations. In detailing the recent turmoil that has driven a wedge between governments and citizens in countries like Brazil, Turkey, and Venezuela, the group

determines in its State of Civil Society Report 2014 that people across the world are losing faith in both national and global institutions.

Of particular focus in the report was the inability of international government organizations to adequately respond to the needs of its constituents, and these organizations’ overall lack of vital democratic mechanisms that would allow greater input by citizens into the management of world governance. “Global governance isn't working. Global problems still lack global people-oriented solutions,” the report sums up and warns that “international governance institutions with limited scope for people’s participation risk becoming irrelevant.”

CIVICUS highlighted how global governance organizations, due to their lack of accountability to the global populace, are instead influenced by the whims of wealthy nations and powerful multinational corporations. In turn, this causes these institutions to de-emphasize issues that matter to the average citizen, and further fuels the notion that global governance is too disconnected from the needs of common people. The report states that a stronger mandate for democratic participation in world governing bodies would alleviate the influence of the wealthy in these institutions, and would also allow citizens a chance to bring some of their most pressing concerns to the forefront.

Right to democratic global governance

The report includes guest contributions on civil society perspectives on the state of global governance. The director of the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly, Andreas Bummel, writes in an article on the campaign's proposal that “intergovernmental bodies are largely disconnected from democratic oversight, participation and deliberation.” He stresses that “the right to democratic governance” as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is “indivisible and cannot be limited to the national level” as “agenda-setting and decision-making on important policies are shifting to the UN and its specialised institutions, as well as to international fora such as the G8 and the G20.” A UN Parliamentary Assembly, he says, would be a means to “improve global governance by adding a democratic and independent complement to existing intergovernmental bodies.”

In the report's foreword, CIVICUS Secretary-General Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah stresses that “there is an urgent need to democratise global governance, to support greater participation of citizens in decision-making and to engender an environment that enables civil society to substantively engage in these processes.”

Website of the State of Civil Society Report 2014

Top image: CIVICUS World Assembly in Montreal, September 2012. Photo credit: Tristan Brand