Annual Parliamentary Hearing at the United Nation

Organized jointly by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the
United Nations

1.  Background

The IPU’s Annual Parliamentary Hearing brings members of parliament to the United Nations Headquarters in New York for an interactive discussion with high-ranking UN officials, representatives of Member States and experts drawn from think tanks and civil society organizations.

In accordance with the provisions of the General Assembly Resolution on cooperation between the UN and the IPU (http://www.ipu.org/un-e/a-61-L6-e.pdf), the Hearing is a joint event of the two organizations, heralding a greater political commitment on the part of the United Nations to hear the views of parliaments on some of the most urgent issues of our times. Among other things, the Hearing provides an opportunity for members of parliament to meet and hear from the United Nations management team. The conclusions of the Hearing are circulated to the wider UN community as well as to all national parliaments.^[1]

2.  Programme for the Parliamentary Hearing

The main theme of the Hearing, which took place in New York on 2 and 3 December 2010, was: Towards economic recovery: rethinking development, retooling global governance. Panel sessions related to this theme addressed the following issues:

      I.        Current risks to economic recovery, and the continuing structural imbalances in the global economy

     II.        Reforming the international financial system: a critical look at key issues on the UN agenda

    III.        Rethinking sustainable development within the current global economic and environmental framework

  IV.        Providing leadership in global economic governance: empowering the UN, the role of the G20, and the need for transparency and accountability in decision-making

The full programme, with more details on the theme and the complete list of panellists, may be found online.^[2]

3.  The Canadian Delegation

The Parliamentary Hearing was attended by parliamentarians from more than 50 countries as well as several regional parliaments. Representatives of Permanent Missions to the United Nations, as well as of intergovernmental and civil society organizations, also participated. The Canadian IPU Group was represented by the following parliamentarians: from the Senate of Canada, the Honourable Donald Oliver H. Oliver, Q.C. and the Honourable Dennis Dawson, and from the House of Commons, Mr. Ed Holder, MP.

4.  The Parliamentary Hearing

Senator Oliver served as a panellist for Session I and discussed areas where parliamentarians could help prevent a recurrence of the economic crisis. His speaking points are appended to this report.

A detailed summary report (A/65/728–E/2011/72) of the Parliamentary Hearing produced by the United Nations General Assembly, Economic and Security Council, may be found online.^[3]

Respectfully submitted,