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General Assembly: 85th Plenary Meeting, 76th Session
Welcoming actions by the Inter-Parliamentary Union to continue pursuing more systematic, meaningful engagement with the United Nations, the General Assembly today encouraged both organizations to enhance their cooperation in meeting common aims across the three dimensions of sustainable development.
The 193-member organ adopted without a vote a text titled “Interaction between the United Nations, national parliaments and the Inter-Parliamentary Union”, capping off a debate on the relationship between national legislators and the United Nations, during which speakers highlighted that parliaments hold Governments accountable to multilateral commitments and deliver local perspectives to international fora. They considered an eponymous Secretary-General’s report on the matter (document A/76/780).
Among other things, the Assembly welcomed joint activities carried out by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations aimed at mobilizing parliamentary action to combat terrorism and violent extremism, and invited more cooperation between the two organizations in such areas as women’s empowerment and facilitating orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration.
By other terms of the text, it called on United Nations country teams to develop a more structured and integrated approach to working with national parliaments, and called on United Nations entities to avail themselves more systematically of the unique expertise of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and its member parliaments.
Introducing the resolution, the representative of Portugal stressed that parliaments can contribute to the work of the United Nations at the operational and political levels. While pointing to the long road ahead towards a more inclusive and transparent system of global governance, he highlighted the increasing recognition for their key role in holding Governments accountable.
Along similar lines, Abdulla Shahid (Maldives), Assembly President, stressed that global agendas cannot succeed without concrete progress at the national level where legislators play a profoundly important role. Conversely, parliaments help channel local concerns to the international community, he pointed out, adding that the insights of parliamentarians from across all political spectra will help the international community to overcome the multifarious challenges it faces.
“Parliamentarians are the key to getting the job done,” Duarte Pacheco, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in its capacity as observer, told the Assembly, drawing attention to their work in facilitating hearings, preparing independent reports, engaging with constituents and pushing Governments to deliver on their commitments. Also highlighting the international reach of the body, he said that, shortly after the conflict in Ukraine began, the Union’s members decided to create a task force, as a result of which, a high-level delegation will be in Moscow and Kyiv to promote dialogue between two countries.
The representative of the Russian Federation highlighted the Union’s contribution to parliamentary diplomacy, stressing that the body is depoliticized, mutually respectful and fosters a constructive exchange of views between parliamentarians. Mexico’s delegate pointed out that the Union enables its members to understand that multilateralism is not an ideology, but a methodology. He also stressed the urgent need to enhance women’s participation in parliaments through quantitative and qualitative improvements.
Canada’s delegate, who also spoke on behalf of Australia and New Zealand, described parliamentarians as the first line of defence against those who prefer unilateralism. “While much of what is decided here in the [Assembly] or other bodies is done by Governments, implementation of many of those critical decisions relies on parliaments,” he pointed out.
The Assembly also adopted a draft decision on the “Convening of the second and third sessions of the open-ended working group to elaborate a set of political commitments as a new global framework that will address existing gaps in through-life ammunition management”, by the terms of which it decided to convene the second five-day session in 2022 in Geneva and the third five-day session in New York.
Also adopted today was a decision concerning “Accreditation and participation of an intergovernmental organization in the 2022 United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”, as well as another on “The role of diamonds in fuelling conflict”, by the terms of which the Assembly decided to defer consideration of the item.
Also speaking today were the representatives of India, El Salvador, Belarus and Myanmar, as well as representatives of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean.
The representative of Hungary spoke in explanation of position.
The General Assembly will meet again at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 23 June, to consider the responsibility to protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
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