HEADQUARTERS PRESS CONFERENCE BY PARLIAMENTARIANS FOR GLOBAL ACTION

HEADQUARTERS PRESS CONFERENCE BY PARLIAMENTARIANS FOR GLOBAL ACTION

Enhancing parliamentary support for peace operations was the focus of three recent regional seminars of the Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), according to members of that organization who briefed correspondents this afternoon at a Headquarters press conference.

It would also be the subject of an all-day meeting in Conference Room Six, which would include 10 parliamentarians as well as United Nations officials and Security Council members, after which the parliamentary members would be available for interviews by the press. 

PGA was a network of individual parliamentarians from 113 countries committed to examining critical international issues related to good governance, peace, democracy, international law and sustainable development, according to Kenneth Dzirasah, PGA President and member of Parliament of Ghana.  The seminars, which took place earlier this year in Ghana, Egypt and India, were organized by the PGA with the support of the Department for International Development of the British Government, he said.  Members of parliaments of a total 22 countries across the globe participated in the three seminars, at the end of which separate declarations were issued.

Peter Penfold, of the United Kingdom Development department, was also present at today's briefing, along with Amin Mobarak, an Egyptian member of Parliament, and Shazia Rafi, the PGA Secretary-General.  Mr. Penfold said that the seminars followed on initiatives started by Secretary-General Kofi Annan through activities related to recommendations in the Brahimi report on peace operations.  Those initiatives recognized the important role that parliaments and parliamentarians could play in peace operations and peace-building. 

Experience had shown, he said, that conflicts were more easily resolvable and less likely to erupt where democracies were strengthened.  Therefore it made sense to use democratic tools such as national parliaments for peacekeeping.  In addition, it was national parliaments that were required to vote for resources for peace operations.

Among topics discussed at all the seminars, said Mr. Dzirasah, was the history of United Nations peace operations, the development of the Secretary-General's reform process and conflict-prevention mechanisms.  In their declarations, the seminars identified the need to improve information-sharing between the United Nations and national parliaments to allow parliamentarians to contribute more effectively to peace operations.  Also, participants urged the United Nations to involve parliamentarians in every peace-building operation, to bring the Organization closer to the elected representatives of the people.

The February seminar in Cairo, Egypt, which covered the North, Central and East African region, was addressed by United Nations officials from Middle East observer missions, Mr. Mobarak said, as well as from the Organization of African Unity and the Egyptian Government.  Participants highlighted the role that parliaments could play in early warning and conflict prevention.  They also

discussed legislative models of conflict prevention, which existed on the international level but were under-utilized.  The Taba conflict with Israel, for example, was resolved through such arbitration mechanisms.

Also this afternoon, the March seminar held in New Delhi, India, was described by Ms. Rafi from information supplied by Margaret Alva, member of Parliament of India.  That seminar included participants from the South Asian region as well as countries outside the region.  An additional focus at the seminar was on the protection of women and children in conflict, and the role of women in peace-building, in which PGA was particularly interested.  The situations in Cambodia, East Timor and Afghanistan were among those discussed as case studies for conflict prevention in the region.

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