Youssou N'Dour: A UN Parliamentary Assembly needs to be established
Delegation presents the proposal to the Senegalese Prime Minister and the President of the National Assembly
The world-renowned Senegalese musician Youssou N’Dour has taken a stand for the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly. Mr N’Dour who is also a Minister of Tourism in the government of Senegalese President Macky Sall argued that “just as every town has an elected city council or just as every democratic nation has a parliament,
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| Youssou N’Dour and the campaign’s delegation in Dakar |
| Image: CEUNPA |
a UN Parliamentary Assembly that reflects the diversity of the world’s citizens and cultures needs to be established at the global level.” In a statement on the occasion of a meeting with representatives of the international Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly on Tuesday last week, he further pointed out that “such a global parliament would allow for global issues to be dealt with in a democratic and legitimate way.”
The delegation to Dakar was also received by the Senegalese Prime Minister Abdoul Mbaye and the President of the National Assembly, Moustapha Niasse. The Vice-President of the National Assembly of Senegal, Aimé Assine, who was host to the
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| The President of the National Assembly, Moustapha Niasse, with campaign representatives Mamadou Ibrahima Fall and Andreas Bummel (from right to left) |
| Image: CEUNPA |
delegation emphasized that Senegal should play a leading role in the efforts for democratizing the UN. “Building on a strong democratic tradition and a long-standing involvement at the United Nations, Senegal now needs to spearhead the initiative for the creation of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly,” Mr Assine said.
The campaign’s representative for Senegal, Mamadou Ibrahimia Fall, added that Senegal had already shown “its commitment to democracy, to African integration and to a more democratic multilateral system.” “Senegalese parliamentarians and the executive are invited to take up leadership in Africa to work towards the creation of a Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations,” he stated.
One subject of the talks in Dakar was the possibility to convene an international meeting of the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly in the Senegalese capital. “For the first time on the African continent, the National Assembly of Senegal is ready to host an international conference of the Campaign for the Establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly in 2014, gathering parliamentarians, academics and citizens from all over the world who work on this noble project”, Mr Assine summarized the outcome.
In an interview with TV station RTS, the campaign’s Secretary-General Andreas Bummel who led the delegation together with Mr Fall said that the positive stance of the Senegalese authorities was encouraging. “A leading role of Senegal in the efforts for a UN Parliamentary Assembly would be highly welcome,” Mr. Bummel stressed.
Other members of the delegation included Mathias Eberlen, the chief of staff of the co-chair of the campaign’s advisory group Jo Leinen, and the campaign’s Senegalese coordinator, Papa Meissa Dieng.
Top image: Skyline of Dakar, Source: Jeff Attaway, Flickr, Creative Commons