SUMMARY RECORDS of the PROCEEDINGS of the 127Th IPU ASSEMBLY
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SUMMARY RECORDS OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE 127th IPU ASSEMBLY Québec City (Canada) 21-26 October 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 3 Inaugural ceremony · Speech by Mr. Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate of Canada ..................................... 4 · Speech by Ms. Chris Charlton, Member of the Parliament of Canada ................................. 4 · Message of the United Nations Secretary-General, delivered by Mr. Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Public Information ...................................................................................................... 4 · Speech by Mr. Abdelwahad Radi, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union ..................... 5 · Speech by Mr. David Lloyd Johnston, Governor General of Canada ………………............. 6 Special address · Mr. John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada ……………………………………… ... 7 Organization of the work of the Assembly · Election of the President and Vice-Presidents of the 127th Assembly .................................... 7 · Consideration of requests for the inclusion of an emergency item in the Assembly agenda ……………………………………………………………………….… 11 · Final Assembly Agenda .................................................................................................... 12 Plenary debate on the emergency item: The institutional and security situation in Mali .................................................................................................................. 13 Special debate on Citizenship, identity and linguistic and cultural diversity in a globalized world .......................................................................................................... 15 IPU Committee on United Nations Affairs · Adoption of the Agenda ......................................................................................................... 44 · Session I: Roundtable discussion: Multilateralism and the role of parliamentary diplomacy . 44 · Session II: Special Session on Observing United Nations Day (24 October) ……………… .. 53 · Session III: Panel discussion on Rio+20 in perspective: What hope for sustainable development?................................................................................................. 63 · Session IV: UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Five Years On ……………. 66 th Inter-Parliamentary Union – 127 Assembly Summary Records of the proceedings Page · Special Gender Partnership Session on Gender-sensitive Parliaments ........... ………. 69 Consideration of reports from the break-out groups and presentation of the Plan of Action for Gender-sensitive Parliaments ............................................... ………. 81 Panel discussions on the subject items chosen for debate during the 128th Assembly (Quito, 22-27 March 2013) · Enforcing the responsibility to protect: The role of parliament in safeguarding civilians' lives First Standing Committee on Peace and International Security………………………..…………. 84 · Fair trade and innovative financing mechanisms for sustainable development Second Standing Committee on Sustainable Development, Finance and Trade ……………….. 95 · The use of media, including social media, to enhance citizen engagement and democracy Third Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights .................................... ..…… 105 Other Panel sessions · Panel session: Creating opportunities for youth in today’s global economy .. ……... 116 · Panel session: Building peace after conflict ...................................................... …….. 123 · Panel session: Parliamentary immunity: Benefit or burden? ………………………….. 130 · Panel session: Peak Oil: What prospects for energy security? ........................ …….. 141 Adoption of resolutions, outcome documents and reports · Emergency item : The institutional and security situation in Mali ………………………….…… 147 · The Québec City Declaration .................................................................................... ….…. 147 · Plan of Action for Gender-sensitive Parliaments ......................................................... ….…. 148 · Report of the IPU Committee on United Nations Affairs .............................................. ….…. 148 Closure of the Assembly ........................................................................................... …….. 148 Annexes Annex I The institutional and security situation in Mali Text of the resolution …………………………………………………………………… 150 Annex II Québec City Declaration on Citizenship, identity and linguistic and cultural diversity in a globalized world Text of the Declaration …………………………………………………………………. 152 Annex III Plan of Action for Gender-sensitive Parliaments ……………………………… 157 Annex IV Report of the IPU Committee on United Nations Affairs …………………… 166 Annex V List of participants ................................................................................ ……... 170 2 Inter-Parliamentary Union – 127th Assembly Summary Records of the proceedings INTRODUCTION The 127th IPU Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union took place at the Québec City Convention Centre, Québec City, Canada, from 21 to 26 october 2012. Attendance at the Assembly was as follows: Members: Afghanistan, Algeria, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lesotho, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Associate Members: Parliament of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Inter-Parliamentary Committee of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), Latin American Parliament and the Transitional Arab Parliament. Observers: (i) United Nations system: United Nations (UN), International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Bank, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO); (ii) League of Arab States; (iii) African Parliamentary Union (APU), Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union (AIPU), Association of Senates, Shoora and Equivalent Councils in Africa and the Arab World (ASSECAA), Confederation of Parliaments of the Americas (COPA), Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States (IPA CIS), Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO), Inter-Parliamentary Union of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IPU-IGAD), Maghreb Consultative Council, Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC), Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-speaking Countries (TURKPA), Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and the Russian Federation, Parliamentary Union of the Organization of the Islamic Conference Member States (PUOICM), Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF); (iv) Socialist International; (v) The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Human Rights Watch, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child health (PMNCH), Penal Reform International and World Scout Parliamentary Union (WSPU). Of the 1,256 participants who attended the Assembly, 624 were members of parliament. The parliamentarians included 42 Speakers, 35 Deputy Speakers and 175 women parliamentarians (28 per cent). 3 th Inter-Parliamentary Union – 127 Assembly Summary Records of the proceedings INAUGURAL CEREMONY Sunday, 21 October 2012 The inaugural ceremony of the 127th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union was opened at 6.30 p.m., with an aboriginal blessing by Grand Chief Konrad Sioui, Huron-Wendat Nation Council Grand Chief. Mr. NOEL A. KINSELLA, Speaker of the Senate of Canada, said that that was the fourth time the Parliament of Canada was hosting an IPU Assembly, with 2012 also marking the 100th anniversary of Canada’s formal affiliation to the Organization. The IPU stood out as a key organization in assisting parliaments and parliamentarians