International Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly
Encyclopedia
United Nations Parliamentary Assembly
A United Nations Parliamentary Assembly is a proposed addition to the United Nations System that would allow for participation of member nations' legislators and, eventually, direct election of United Nations parliament members by citizens worldwide...
.
Campaign objectives
The Campaign's objectives:- To make the UNPA proposal visible in political debates and the media
- To facilitate the creation of national and local networks of individuals, non-governmental organizations and parliamentarians advocating a UNPA in their sphere of influence
- To establish a global multi-stakeholder coalition which unites parliamentary and civil society efforts for a U.N. Parliamentary Assembly
- To facilitate contacts and debates with potentially like-minded parliaments and governments
Steering Committee
The Campaign's Secretariat is led by the Committee for a Democratic UN. The work of the Campaign is guided by an informal Steering Committee, which helps to define the Campaign's goals, policies and strategies. The Steering Committee consists of the NGOs Committee for a Democratic UNCommittee for a Democratic UN
The Committee for a Democratic UN, or KDUN , is a nongovernmental organization based in Berlin and founded in 2003 that advocates the "democratization and strengthening of the United Nations and other international organizations" .-Goal:KDUN's mandate includes the goal "to facilitate a cosmopolitan...
, Society for Threatened Peoples International
Society for Threatened Peoples
Society for Threatened Peoples is an international NGO and human rights organization based in Göttingen, Germany. It seeks to create awareness of and protect minority peoples around the world who are threatened by oppressive governments. The group states on its website that it "campaigns against...
, World Federalist Movement-IGP
World Federalist Movement
The World Federalist Movement is a global citizens movement with member and associate organizations around the world. The WFM International Secretariat is based in New York City across from the United Nations headquarters...
, 2020*Vision Ltd. and since October 2010 also Democracia Global.
Regional and National Networks
The Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly has built coalitions and established national and regional networks all over the world as for example in New Zealand, in the Dominican Republic, in Nigeria, in Norway, in Libya, in Germany, in Uganda, in Nepal, in Mexico, in Bulgaria, in Argentina, in France, in India, in the United States, in China, in Kenya, in Switzerland, in Canada, in Great Britain, in Tanzania, in Spain, in South Africa and in Italy.Funding
Current major funding is provided by the Ford FoundationFord Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
, the Committee for a Democratic UN
Committee for a Democratic UN
The Committee for a Democratic UN, or KDUN , is a nongovernmental organization based in Berlin and founded in 2003 that advocates the "democratization and strengthening of the United Nations and other international organizations" .-Goal:KDUN's mandate includes the goal "to facilitate a cosmopolitan...
and Stiftung Apfelbaum, but the primary contributions to the CEUNPA's work come from the campaign participants that carry out the work necessary to realize a UNPA.
History
The policy of the Campaign is based on the "Appeal for the Establishment of a Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations" which was presented at launch events in over ten countries during April and May 2007. 552 persons were initial signatories to the petition, among them parliamentarians and individuals such as Nobel Prize laureates, Right Livelihood AwardRight Livelihood Award
The Right Livelihood Award, also referred to as the "Alternative Nobel Prize", is a prestigious international award to honour those "working on practical and exemplary solutions to the most urgent challenges facing the world today". The prize was established in 1980 by Jakob von Uexkull, and is...
laureates, civil society leaders, three former prime ministers, several former foreign ministers and Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Boutros Boutros-Ghali is an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1992 to December 1996...
(former UN Secretary General ). At a meeting in November 2007 the Campaign reiterated its policy as formulated in the appeal.
Although the CEUNPA's early literature seemed to emphasize indirect election of the UNPA as a necessary first step, in November 2007, the organization noted that some countries could choose direct election of delegates in the first stage of the body's existence. Similarly, early CEUNPA statements stressed the UNPA's oversight role over the UN and its bodies, but the November 2007 statement clarified that the UNPA could also have a role overseeing the Bretton Woods institutions. In a statement on the financial crisis issued in April 2008 this position was confirmed and outlined in more detail.
As to September 2010 the appeal has been signed by around 3,670 people.
External links
- Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly.
- Appeal for the Establishment of a Parliamentary Assembly at the UN.
See also
- United Nations Parliamentary AssemblyUnited Nations Parliamentary AssemblyA United Nations Parliamentary Assembly is a proposed addition to the United Nations System that would allow for participation of member nations' legislators and, eventually, direct election of United Nations parliament members by citizens worldwide...
- Committee for a Democratic UNCommittee for a Democratic UNThe Committee for a Democratic UN, or KDUN , is a nongovernmental organization based in Berlin and founded in 2003 that advocates the "democratization and strengthening of the United Nations and other international organizations" .-Goal:KDUN's mandate includes the goal "to facilitate a cosmopolitan...
- Reform of the United NationsReform of the United NationsSince the late 1990s there have been many calls for reform of the United Nations . However, there is little clarity or consensus about what reform might mean in practice. Both those who want the UN to play a greater role in world affairs and those who want its role confined to humanitarian work or...
- Cosmopolitan democracyCosmopolitan democracyCosmopolitan democracy is a political theory which explores the application of norms and values of democracy at different levels, from global to local. It is about what global governance of the people, by the people, to the people can mean...