Annan congratulates legislators' group on opening 'House of Parliaments'

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today congratulated the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) on the opening of its new House of Parliaments in Geneva.

"It is said that all politics is local - and, in a sense, that is true. But in this day and age, all politics is also global, and the work of parliamentary representatives must reflect this reality," the Secretary-General said in a message delivered in Geneva on his behalf by Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Director-General of the UN office there.

"Whether you are from the North or the South, the East or the West, your work at the local level both affects, and is affected by, developments at the global level - in ways that our forebears could not have imagined," he added.

Noting that the UN postal authority has already issued a stamp with a depiction of the group's new headquarters, Mr. Annan said: "Through letters posted to men and women everywhere, the image of this beautiful House has already been carried to all quarters of the globe. I hope that the work done in and through this House will be felt all around the world as well."