Summary Records of the Proceedings of the 141st IPU Assembly Belgrade, Serbia 13-17 October 2019 Table of contents Page(s) Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 4 Inaugural ceremony of the 141st Assembly • Speech by Ms. Maja Gojković, Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia .................. 5 • Message by Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations and Speech by Ms. Tatiana Valovaya, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva ................................................ 5 • Speech by Ms. Gabriela Cuevas Barron, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union .... 6 • Speech by Mr. Aleksander Vučić, President of the Republic of Serbia ............................ 6 Organization of the work of the Assembly • Election of the President and Vice-Presidents of the 141st Assembly .............................. 8 • Establishment of a quorum ............................................................................................... 11 • Consideration of requests for the inclusion of an emergency item in the Assembly agenda ............................................................................................................. 18 • Final agenda ..................................................................................................................... 21 General Debate on the theme Strengthening international law: Parliamentary roles and mechanisms, and the contribution of regional cooperation • Opening remarks by Ms. Maja Gojković, Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia ........................................................................................................................... 7 • Opening remarks by Ms. Gabriela Cuevas Barron, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union ............................................................................................... 7 • Keynote address by Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, Member of The Elders ................................ 8 • Statements by Ms. S. Kihika (Kenya), President of the Bureau of Women Parliamentarians, and Mr. M. Bouva (Suriname), President of the Board of the Forum of Young Parliamentarians .................................................................................... 9 • High-level segment of the General Debate (Speakers of Parliament) ............................. 9 • Statements by Members and Permanent Observers ....................................................... 37 • Statements by Young Parliamentarians ........................................................................... 64 • Keynote address by Mr. Gilles Carbonnier, Vice-President of the International Committee of the Red Cross ............................................................................................ 30 • Special segment to mark the 130th anniversary of the IPU .............................................. 31 • Keynote address by Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE ................ 57 • 2019 Future Policy Awards Ceremony: Impactful Policies Empowering Youth ............... 57 Emergency item entitled Addressing climate change • Plenary debate .................................................................................................................. 22 • Adoption of the resolution ................................................................................................. 24 Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights • Adoption of the agenda .................................................................................................... 68 • Approval of the summary record of the Committee's session held on the occasion of the 140th IPU Assembly in Doha (April 2019) ................................................................... 68 Inter-Parliamentary Union – 141st Assembly Summary Records of the Proceedings Page(s) • Preparation of a resolution entitled Achieving universal health coverage by 2030: The role of parliaments in ensuring the right to health ............................................................ 68 (a) Presentation of the draft resolution and explanatory memorandum prepared by the co-Rapporteurs .............................................................................................. 68 (b) Debate on the draft resolution ................................................................................... 69 (c) Drafting and adoption of the draft resolution in plenary ............................................ 74 (d) Appointment of a rapporteur to the 141st IPU Assembly .......................................... 75 • Preparations for future Assemblies (a) Subject of the next resolution to be prepared by the Committee .............................. 76 (b) Committee agenda at the 142nd IPU Assembly ........................................................ 77 • Any other business ........................................................................................................... 78 Standing Committee on Peace and International Security • Adoption of the agenda .................................................................................................... 79 • Approval of the summary record of the Committee's session held on the occasion of the 140th IPU Assembly in Doha (April 2019) ................................................................... 79 • Elections to the Bureau of the Standing Committee ......................................................... 79 • Follow-up of the 2014 resolution Towards a nuclear-weapon-free world: The contribution of parliaments ........................................................................................ 79 • Panel discussion on the theme of Criminalization of money laundering .......................... 85 • Expert hearing on the theme Parliamentary strategies to strengthen peace and security against threats and conflicts resulting from climate-related disasters and their consequences ................................................................................................... 90 • Any other business ........................................................................................................... 96 Standing Committee on Sustainable Development, Finance and Trade • Adoption of the agenda .................................................................................................... 97 • Approval of the summary record of the Committee's session held on the occasion of the 140th IPU Assembly in Doha (April 2019) ................................................................... 97 • Debate on the theme of Mainstreaming digitalization and the circular economy to achieve the SDGs, particularly responsible consumption and production ................... 97 • Parliamentary contribution to the 2019 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 25) ......... 105 • Follow-up to the IPU resolution Towards risk-resilient development: Taking into consideration demographic trends and natural constraints ........................... 108 • Elections to the Bureau .................................................................................................... 107 Standing Committee on United Nations Affairs • Adoption of the agenda .................................................................................................... 113 • Approval of the summary record of the Committee's session held on the occasion of the 140th IPU Assembly in Doha (April 2019) ......................................................................... 113 • Panel discussion: Respect for international law in keeping with the UN Charter and other relevant resolutions ................................................................................................. 113 • Panel discussion: The 2019 IPU survey on the relationship between parliaments and the United Nations ............................................................................................................ 119 • Overview of major UN-related activities for 2020 ............................................................. 123 • Elections to the Bureau .................................................................................................... 123 Forum of Women Parliamentarians • Election of the President of the 30th session of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians ................................................................................................. 124 • Welcome remarks ............................................................................................................. 124 • Adoption of the agenda .................................................................................................... 124 • Activities to advance gender equality (a) Report of the Bureau of Women Parliamentarians ................................................... 124 (b) Report of the Gender Partnership Group .................................................................. 125 (c) Update on recent IPU activities for the promotion of gender equality ...................... 125 • Contribution to the work of the 141st Assembly from a gender perspective ..................... 125 • Panel discussion: Eliminating discrimination in law .......................................................... 126 • Elections to the Bureau of Women Parliamentarians ....................................................... 133 2 Inter-Parliamentary Union – 141st Assembly Summary Records of the Proceedings Page(s) • Report of the discussion