Parliaments can help poorest countries achieve good governance, UN official says

A senior United Nations official has urged a gathering of international lawmakers to strengthen parliamentary institutions in the world's poorest countries in order to provide the boost necessary to achieve good governance and to perhaps help nearly 10 per cent of the world's population secure sustainable human development.

Speaking at the 108th conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), currently underway in Santiago, Chile, Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS), emphasized that strong political support is indispensable for meeting the development challenges in the world's most poverty-stricken countries.

"The parliament, as the legislative engine, is the main force in strengthening democratic institutions and ensuring human development, Mr. Chowdhury said in an address Tuesday, stressing that in this context, the IPU plays a leading role in ensuring the role of parliaments in developing public policies in an era of globalization and multilateral issues.

Mr. Chowdhury said that cooperation between IPU and his Office could bring a parliamentary dimension to the work relating to the areas of peace and security, economic and social development, human rights, democracy and gender issues for the 615 million people - 10 per cent of the world population - who constitute the poorest and the weakest segment of the international community.

Mr. Chowdhury stressed that the Programme of Action adopted in Brussels by the 2001 Third UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDCs), highlights the objectives of good governance at national and international levels. "Parliamentary support will provide the boost necessary to achieve good governance objectives at the national level, he said, adding that success in meeting the objectives of development and poverty eradication depends on good governance in LDCs as well as good governance at the international level and on transparency in the financial, monetary and trading systems.