The 3rd World Conference of Speakers of Parliament closed with the adoption of a declaration on the need to secure global democratic accountability. Over 130 Speakers of Parliament gave their assent to a text that affirmed how accountability and representation lie at the heart of democracy. Full text of the Declaration adopted by the Conference [...]
Archive for July, 2010
Declaration adopted by the Conference
Posted in Democracy, Millenium Development Goals, Session summaries, United Nations on July 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
From the Secretary General’s diary – Wednesday
Posted in Secretary General's diary on July 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
For three days, the UN Assembly Hall has been much like a parliament. A plenary debate, rich in political content, mixed with lots of discussions and networking in the corridors and in separate meeting rooms. Those who attended the panel discussions came back with the impression of having sat in parliamentary committees: no speeches, lots [...]
Photo gallery: Speakers of parliament – Wednesday
Posted in Photos on July 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Summary of the panel: Strengthening trust between parliament and the people
Posted in Democracy, Session summaries on July 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Report presented by Josep Dallères Codina, Speaker of the General Council, Andorra In old and new democracies alike, public trust is often low in parliaments, political parties and indeed the entire political system. Money is often at the heart of the problem. A lack of transparency in political funding casts doubt over the integrity of [...]
Bern Initiative for Global Parliamentary Action on Maternal and Child Health
Posted in Millenium Development Goals, Session summaries, Women/Gender on July 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Report delivered by Erika Forster-Vannini, Speaker, Council of States, Switzerland The women Speakers of parliament concluded their Sixth meeting held on 16 and 17 July in the Swiss Parliament by adopting the Bern Initiative for Global Parliamentary Action on Maternal and Child Health, an eight-point plan for action to: Advocate the development or strengthening of [...]
Summary of the panel: “Countdown to 2015″ on the role of parliaments in the Millenium Development Goals
Posted in Millenium Development Goals, Session summaries on July 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
There is palpable progress on the MDGs – enough to justify a more upbeat mood than in the past. The numbers do not tell the whole story. Case after case shows that the MDGs are perfectly doable if there is enough political will and if governments exercise true leadership. By increasing social investments by just [...]
Donald Oliver: Speaker pro tempore, Senate, Canada
Posted in Americas, Democracy, Quotes on July 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Of course, much of what I am raising reflects a hopeful analysis of the potential of ICTs for the work of Parliaments. We are still at a relatively early stage in their adoption, and a number of challenges must be overcome for ICTs to fully flourish as a tool for strengthening democracy. Investment in public [...]
Anouchka van Miltenburg: Vice-President of the House of Representatives, Netherlands
Posted in Democracy, Europe, Quotes on July 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Whereas more people than ever live in democracies, more people than ever are deeply disappointed by the problem-solving ability of democracy and politics. The gap between voters and their representatives is much smaller these days than a few decades ago, which is due to the media in particular. Yet, many of our citizens are turning away [...]
Video: Majalli Whbee, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, Israel
Posted in Asia-Pacific, Video on July 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Interview in English
Panel discussion: Trust in parliament
Posted in Democracy, Session summaries on July 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Excerpts from the panel discussion: Keynote speakers It’s not enough to have perfect institutions. Parliament is a delegation of power of people. Democracy is based on trust between those who have power and those who delegated their power. (Josep Dallerès Codina, Speaker of the General Council, Andorra) How can we have a better relation with the [...]
Video: Ali Larijani, Speaker of Parliament, Islamic Republic of Iran
Posted in Asia-Pacific, Video on July 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Interview in Farsi and French
From the Secretary General’s diary – Tuesday
Posted in Secretary General's diary on July 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Why are we limited to five minutes asks a Speaker in the morning’s session? Why are we not given more time? Part of the answer is in the sheer number of Speakers who take part in the summit. We get a taste of that throughout the day. It is simply impossible to keep within time [...]
Photo gallery: Speakers of parliament – Tuesday
Posted in Photos on July 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Veronica Nataniel Macamo Dlhovo: Speaker of the Assembly, Mozambique
Posted in Africa, Democracy, Quotes on July 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Democratic accountability should be an antidote for the world crisis, for it promotes the construction of a more liberated society, where the human being is the epicenter of our attention and where all of us are called upon to reverse the crisis of values before the superiority of the economic and financial power.
Fehmida Mirza: Speaker of the National Assembly, Pakistan
Posted in Asia-Pacific, Quotes on July 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The structure of the world economy has changed considerably since the Bretton Woods Conference [in 1944]. Today, the developing countries and economies in transition account for half of the world’s output. Yet these changes are not reflected in the decision-making structure of the financial institutions. The governance and legitimacy of their decisions have become questionable.
Fernando La Sama de Araújo: President of the National Assembly, Timor-Leste
Posted in Asia-Pacific, Quotes on July 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Today, the resources available to take poorer countries out of misery are more abundant than ever before. However, history shows that these resources have been more for the benefit of developed countries that managed to take advantage of the social and economic liberalization process. Timor-Leste is striving to put an end to this logic. We [...]
Max Vuyisile Sisulu: Speaker of the National Assembly, South Africa
Posted in Africa, Democracy, Quotes on July 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The time for paying lip service to the need for global democratic accountability is past. Parliaments can no longer be mere chambers of debate and time worn speeches without bringing about change. We can not call for this change from the sidelines, but must take up the challenge and become activists for change within our [...]
Jorge Pizarro: President, Senate, Chile
Posted in Americas, Democracy, Quotes on July 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
In Latin America, authoritative polls show that only 48% of citizens believe that democracy is the best form of government. This phenomenon… is now reaching critical levels which political leaders need to confront. We need to ensure the legimitacy and representativity of parliaments, which are today called into question by restricted electoral systems and low [...]
Panel discussion: Millennium Development Goals
Posted in Millenium Development Goals, Quotes, Session summaries on July 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Excerpts from the panel discussion: There has been incredible progress towards implementing the MDGs. More than I had expected when I was at the Millennium Summit. Meeting the MDGs by 2015 is doable when governments act together and use aid wisely. (Eveline Herfkens: Founder of the UN Millennium Campaign and Special Advisor to UNDP) The effects of the [...]
Ene Ergma: Speaker, Riigikogu, Estonia
Posted in Democracy, Europe, Quotes on July 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Internet has given politicians a channel to transmit directly unmediated information. As a result, citizens have been given the opportunity to participate in different stages of the decision-shaping process, allowing influence on the outcome… Virtual politics and social communication are still insufficient to replace traditional communication based on face-to-face social networking. Despite fast development and [...]
