CASE No - Inter-Parliamentary Union

- 20 - CL/183/SR.1
rather than entirely dictated by donors. No provision had been proposed in the regular budget
of the IPU corresponding to the expectation of donor funding. Some allocation should be
made in the regular budget for new programmes to prevent violence against women and
promote children’s rights. He requested clarification on the allocation for developing and
applying best practices in human resources management, which appeared to be rather high.
Mr. R. del Picchia (France), speaking on behalf of the Executive Committee of the IPU,
said that the Members seemed to share the views of the Executive Committee.
The Secretary General said that the Members’ comments had been noted, and he
thanked those who had made suggestions for the further improvement of the budget. The
Secretariat would try to respond to those suggestions. There seemed to be a general desire to
reduce allocations for travel. The budget mentioned the possibility of conducting some training
with video conferencing. The other suggestions made by Members would also be considered.
The Indian delegation had made reference to the interrelation between voluntary funding and
the core budget, and a balance must be struck between what the IPU Members wanted to
achieve and what donors were willing to support. Donor priority issues tended to be placed
outside the core budget. Issues such as violence against women received full funding from
outside the core budget. Longer term activities could not be entirely dependent on the wishes
of voluntary donors and must therefore be included in the core budget.
An objective had been set in the 2009 budget for best practices in human resources
management, under which there was a statement of available funds for human resources,
which the IPU was trying to use as resourcefully as possible. Efforts were being made to
improve staff capacities through training. The representative of the African Group had referred
to the need for innovative means to reduce the cost of participation for countries and
parliaments that did not have the means necessary to pay their assessed contributions. Three
years previously an agreement had been adopted by the members, under which lower levels of
assessment of some Members were recouped by increased contributions from those who had
the means. That agreement was being implemented gradually over a period of six years, and it
was hoped that in three years’ time, when it had been implemented fully, all parliaments
would be able to afford their membership of the IPU.
The Governing Council adopted the draft programme and budget for 2009.
Item 9 of the Agenda
CONSOLIDATION OF THE REFORM OF THE INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION
(CL/183/9-P.1 and P.2)
The Secretary General introduced a document on IPU activities undertaken in respect
of development (CL/183/9-P.1). Efforts were being made to link together HIV/AIDS
programmes and international development assistance and development cooperation
initiatives, and to build a programme on climate change and environmental sustainability, as
well as to build on the initiatives launched at the 118 th Assembly to promote MDGs 4 and 5,
and to bring those together into a more coherent programme of activities. Some funding had
been achieved in the form of voluntary contributions, in addition to that set aside in the core
budget, and further voluntary funding was being sought.
Efforts had been made to circulate the policy paper on persons with disabilities
(CL/183/9-P.2) among several parliaments, and it had been the subject of a number of
discussions in the Executive Committee. The paper aimed to show how the United Nations