We, the undersigned members of parliament from around the world, welcome the UN Secretary-General’s report “Our Common Agenda” that, among other things, highlights the need for greater participation and inclusion of people, civil society, parliamentarians and other stakeholders in the work of the UN. We believe, however, that ad hoc consultations and existing mechanisms are not sufficient to satisfy this need. Moreover, we are convinced that the UN is overdue to implement institutional changes that strengthen its democratic and participatory character.
For this reason, we endorse the civil society statement for inclusive global governance and join the call on the UN and governments of Member States to advance three specific proposals, the creation of (1) the mechanism of a UN World Citizens’ Initiative, which enables people to put forward proposals on key issues of global concern; (2) a UN Parliamentary Assembly, which provides for the inclusion of elected representatives; and (3) a high-level UN Civil Society Envoy, to enable greater participation of civil society representatives.
We encourage Member States to establish a “Group of Friends for Inclusive Global Governance” that works to advance these proposals in collaboration with parliamentarians, civil society and experts.
Our planet and the 7.8 billion people who live upon it face grave challenges. We urgently require less talk and more decisive action. We call for the “Summit of the Future” proposed by the UN Secretary-General to enact these global governance innovations to help give humanity a better chance to meet the challenges of the century ahead. We call for an inclusive and transparent multi-stakeholder process in preparation of the Summit that deliberates on these and other relevant proposals.