Report

The parliamentary delegation of the Canadian Branch, which attended a meeting of the Policy Committee of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF), held in Pré-Saint-Didier (Valle d’Aosta, Italy) from February 28 to March 3, 2007, has the honour to present its report. Composed of Vivian Barbot, MP and rapporteur to the Committee, the delegation was accompanied by Jean Michel Roy, Executive Secretary of the Branch.

The following branches were represented: Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Central Africa, Chad, France, French Community of Belgium/Wallonie-Brussels, Jura, Lebanon, Macedonia, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Ontario, Quebec, Romania, Switzerland, Togo and Valle D'Aosta.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Before the start of the proceedings, the President of the Valle d’Aosta Council and President of the Branch, Ego Perron, welcomed the participants, recalling that Valle D’Aosta is the only autonomous region of Italy.

The following reports were then presented.

International and regional human rights conventions

Ms. Barbot presented the report on behalf of the Canadian Branch.  The report includes a list of the main conventions and other treaties relating to human rights and their ratification status by countries belonging to the Francophonie.  The President of the Committee invited each branch to follow up with their respective government to promote the ratification of these conventions and treaties.

In addition, a recommendation was adopted to the effect that one or more experts from the Délégation à la paix, à la démocratie et aux droits de l’Homme (DPDDH) or other organizations should address the Committee at the next meeting.  The DPDDH, which is part of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, was established to follow up on ratification and national reports.  These experts would be invited to speak to the Committee on such issues as standard-setting instruments on human rights and their incorporation into the domestic laws of Francophone states and governments, United Nations human rights initiatives and their impact on the Francophonie (e.g. the newly formed Human Rights Council), the role of parliamentarians in promoting human rights, and raising public awareness locally, regionally or nationally.

Follow-up on the ten-year strategic framework

The Quebec Branch presented this report. In the introduction, the rapporteur recalled that at the Summit in Ouagadougou, in 2004, the Francophonie adopted a ten-year strategic framework setting out the Organization’s broad priorities. The report presents and comments in general terms on the budget and program for 2006-2009 adopted by the Conseil permanent de la Francophonie in December 2006.

Follow-up on the application of the Bamako Declaration

The French Community of Belgium/Wallonie-Brussels Branch presented this follow-up report on the declaration adopted in Bamako on November 3, 2000, at the Symposium international sur le bilan des pratiques de la démocratie, des droits et des libertés dans l’espace francophone, attended by ministers and heads of delegation of States and Governments of countries using French as a common language.  This report pertains primarily to the ongoing observation and evaluation process of practices relating to democracy, rights and liberties (l’Observatoire) and the early warning mechanism for situations with a great potential for conflict.

The report ends with a comparative analysis of the answers obtained from a questionnaire on the operation of parliaments, to which the Canadian Branch responded.  This questionnaire pertained specifically to the financial and administrative management of parliaments, parliamentary prerogatives, transparency, training and information.

Political situations in the Francophonie

The Burkina Faso Branch presented this report.  It pertained to the suspended branches of the APF (Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast and Mauritania);  the branches under APF supervision following the lifting of a suspension (Haiti and the Central African Republic) and alerts regarding certain political situations (Guinea and Lebanon).  As to the situation in Central Africa, the report also provided an overview of the crisis in Darfur and the situation in Chad.

With respect to Haiti, the rapporteur mentioned the high-level APF parliamentary delegation that travelled to Port-au-Prince in early September 2006, led by APF President Bernard Patry.

After the presentation of the reports, the following topic was discussed:

Migration policies

The Central African branch was designated as rapporteur on this issue.

Friday, March 2, 2007

On Friday, March 2, 2007, the Commission continued its consideration of the following report:

Political situations in the Francophonie

The following resolutions on the current situations in a number of countries were adopted:

Ivory Coast:  resolution calling for free, open and transparent elections to be held by October 31, 2007.

Guinea:  resolution calling upon Guinean authorities to negotiate a peaceful and lasting way to resolve crises while respecting human rights.

Lebanon:  resolution to resume political dialogue.

Mauritania:  resolution to complete the transition process.

Central African Republic – Chad – Darfur:  resolution to begin a regional political dialogue.

Democratic Republic of Congo:  resolution supporting the consolidation of democratic institutions.

In addition to adopting these resolutions, the Committee adopted a message applauding the appointment of Lasana Kouyaté as head of the Guinean government. The Committee sees this appointment as recognition of the Francophonie’s role in resolving crises and of Kouyaté’s work to restore order in his country.

The Executive Secretary General of the APF also presented a report on his mission to Mauritania from February 6 to 10, 2007, as part of a broader OIF mission designed to evaluate the needs of the local parliament.  This mission, authorized by the APF Bureau, identified the needs of the Mauritian parliament as regards the parliamentary public service and its training;  information and training of parliamentarians;  revision of the rules of procedure of its two assemblies, establishment of a parliamentary information system;  and the rehabilitation of the parliamentary precincts.

With respect to Darfur, the meeting held in Cannes on February 15, 2007, pertaining to the regional aspects of the crisis in Darfur was mentioned; it was attended by the presidents of Sudan, Chad, the Central African Republic, Egypt, Gabon and Congo.  Chaired by the President of Ghana and President of the African Union, this meeting was held on the initiative of the President of France.

As to Haiti, it was noted that three Committee members will attend a parliamentary information and discussion seminar to be held in Port‑au‑Prince from March 8 to 10, 2007.  The topic will be democracy and good governance.  The Committee members who will attend have been invited to report on the seminar at the next meeting.

Finally, the Committee addressed the last item on the agenda:

Date, location and topics for the next meeting

The Committee’s next meeting will be held on July 4, 2007, in conjunction with the proceedings of the XXXIIIth ession of the APF, in Libreville, Gabon.  The Committee’s next intersession meeting will be held in 2008 in Bujumbura, Burundi.

Respectfully submitted,