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World Congress of Green parties calls for a United Nations Parliamenta...

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News updates Receive news and updates regularly via email Subscribe here Selected Coverage 03/30/2012 | Global democracy alone will save us from ourselves, The Sydney Morning Herald. Read 03/24/2012 | Bob Brown's UN vision for greening the world, The Australian. Read 02/28/2012 | En grnsls ekonomi krver global motvikt, Gteborgs-Posten. Read 02/15/2012 | ACTA: Geheimdiplomatie im Zeitalter der Globalisierung, Telepolis. Read Further coverage
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World Congress of Green parties calls for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly
The third international gathering of Green parties worldwide, the Global Greens Congress, closed yesterday in Dakar, Senegal, with the adoption of various resolutions, one of which dealt with the question of global democracy. "Greens recognize that the need to strengthen democracy and participation in the system of global governance has become urgent," the resolution states. Taking note "of the fact that no parliamentary body exists within theframework of the United Nations, the World Bank group, the International Monetary Fund or the World Trade Organization", the Congress declared "its support for the creation of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) as a parliamentary body within the UN system." Representatives of over 70 Senator Bob Brown during the Global Green parties from across the Greens Congress in Dakar world met for three days in Picture: European Greens Senegal's capital and deliberated on issues such as solidarity, democracy, biodiversity, climate change, and the future of the Global Greens movement. In a statement made during a plenary session on Friday, Australian Senator Bob Brown said that the influence of global corporations at the international level was too strong. This should be counterbalanced by a "global parliament" that is dealing with genuinely global issues and that "makes sure that the basic needs of every citizen of the world" can be met. "Every citizen should have an equal say on global matters," Senator Brown suggested. "One person, one vote, one value." A week before, Senator Brown had delivered a major speech on the subject in Hobart, Tasmania. At a workshop on Saturday the issue of a global parliament was discussed in detail at the Green's World Congress. Introductions to the proposal of a UN Parliamentary Assembly were provided by Kennedy Graham, a Green parliamentarian from New Zealand, and Didier Coeurnelle, a delegate with Ecolo from Belgium. The workshop concluded that a UN Parliamentary Assembly in a first step should be composed of representatives of national parliaments "but ultimately it should become a body that is directly elected by the worlds citizens," as the final resolution states. Coeurnelle who introduced the resolution on behalf of Ecolo, the Australian Greens, the French Greens, and the Young European Greens, commented that "Parliamentary democracy is not a perfect system, but it has proven to be the best available at the municipal, regional, national and even multinational levels. It is time to promote parliamentary democracy at the world level as well." The second Global Greens Congress in May 2008 in Sao Paulo already adopted a resolution in support of a UN Parliamentary Assembly. The proposal is supported across party lines. Other international party

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World Congress of Green parties calls for a United Nations Parliamenta...

http://en.unpacampaign.org/news/616.php

networks that did endorse it include the Socialist International and the Liberal International. In December 2011, the parliament of the South American community Mercosur passed a statement and in June 2011, the European Parliament called on the EU's member states to promote the idea.
Download resolution (in English)

Further reading: 23 March 2012: Bob Brown delivers the 3rd annual Green Oration 08 May 2011: Green youth organizations in Europe endorse call for elected UN assembly
Image: Delegates vote during a plenary session, by Philippe Bossin

Tags: Australia, Belgium, France, New Zealand, Senegal The above text is published under this BY-ND Creative Commons licence. Republication is only permitted with attribution to the orignal source and following the licence guidelines. No images on the site or in articles may be re-used without permission of the copyright holder or unless specifically licensed under Creative Commons as well.

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2012 Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly Campaign Secretariat: Committee for a Democratic U.N. | Disclaimer

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