Secretary-General to parliamentarians: national institutions crucial to peacebuilding

National law-making bodies and other institutions are crucial to preventing war and building peace, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today in a message to mark the opening of the yearly gathering of parliamentarians at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

“Country ownership of peace-building is essential, meaning that the role of national institutions such as parliaments is crucial to success,” he said in a statement delivered by Deputy Secretary Mark Malloch-Brown to the 2006 Parliamentary Hearings organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

Pointing to the recent General Assembly resolution on cooperation between the UN and the IPU, he pledged the world body’s commitment to strengthening partnership in peacebuilding.

General Assembly President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa called attention to the emergence of a new culture in the UN, “where the need for prevention, rather than reaction, is becoming more and more vital.”

Better tools were available both identify potential conflicts and to defuse them, including an enhanced mediation role for the Secretary-General, a higher level of coordination within the UN system to tackle potential conflicts, and stronger advocacy of human rights as key to social harmony and the commitment of States to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, she said.

The important role women play in both the prevention and the resolution of conflicts has received higher recognition, she noted, adding that the General Assembly will hold an informal thematic debate on gender issues early next year.

“Given this activity at the UN, I call on you to further your efforts to mainstream women’s issues, increase their participation in the political process and their access to elected offices,” she told those present.

The establishment of a new Peacekeeping Commission “gives us an opportunity to address the issues, which have often led countries to fall back into conflict,” she added.

“In order to translate all of these endeavours into tangible results, we must continue to work closely together, in a real partnership that takes into consideration the interests and contributions of all stakeholders,” she said, voicing conviction that parliaments have a significant role to play in this partnership.

According to the IPU, the Parliamentary Hearings, organized every year during the fall session of the General Assembly, are an opportunity for members of parliaments around the world to exchange views with UN officials, national representatives and scholars.

This year’s meeting, which runs through tomorrow, will discuss the 2006 Secretary-General’s Report on Conflict Prevention, the new UN Peacebuilding Commission, anti-corruption efforts and coordination between parliamentarians and the UN, 1the IPU said.