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Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)63. Mr. Rogier Huizenga, Human Rights Programme Officer at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) -made a presentation on the role of IPU in promoting parliaments’ contribution to conflictprevention. To begin, he briefly explained IPU’s approach to crisis prevention and recovery which isbuilt on three major pillars: the concept of human security; strong and representative parliaments;a conductive national environment for the rule of law.64. Mr. Huizenga then mentioned IPU’s initiatives which focus on:-Parliamentary capacity-building and assistance on topics related to human rights, human traffickingand parliamentary oversight of the security sector;-The protection of human rights of parliamentarians;-Post-conflict reconciliation;-The empowerment of women in post-conflict countries;-Parliamentary oversight of state policies on foreign aid;-Standard-setting regarding parliamentary democracy (through the publication of various studies,guidelines, handbooks, self-assessment tools for parliaments on issues such as free and fairelections, good practices of parliamentary democracy, the role and responsibility of the opposition,etc.).Mr. Huizenga highlighted the areas in which IPU has been particularly successful, namely:-Bi-partisan constituency visits;-The development of a draft code of conduct for parliamentarians;-The development of parliamentary strategic plans;-Good offices mechanism;-The implementation of human rights action plans;-The release of parliamentarians from arbitrary detention.65. Mr. Huizenga ended his presentation by enumerating the current challenges facing West Africa interms of promoting parliaments’ contribution to conflict prevention:-Post-conflict situations often present unstable environments; long-term planning versus short-termflexibility;-Ensuring institutional support from parliament and from committed parliamentarians across partylines;-Mistrust between parliamentarians and civil society;-Multitude of international support initiatives and limited parliamentary absorb capacity;-Sustainability of parliamentary projects; the absence of an exit strategy;-Balancing the need for capacity-building with respect for human rights;-Pressure to obtain quick and tangible results in areas which require a long-term investment andwhich cannot be measured easily;-Lack of feedback on long-term impact of activities;-Reaching the right balance between genuine party needs and individual parliamentarians’ freedomof action.28
From left to right: Dr. Rasheed Draman (PC), Mr. Simon Asoba (FES), Mr. Okey Uzoechina (DCAF), Mr.Rogier Huizenga (IPU), Professor Kabeer Garba (ECOWAS Parliament), Mr. Kossi Agokla (UNREC)The Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA)66. Hon. John Corrie, Honorary Life President of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly - reviewedAWEPA’s parliamentary support work regarding crisis prevention and recovery issues in West Africa.Hon. Corrie began his presentation by underscoring AWEPA’s commitment to strengthening the roleof parliaments in promoting peace, reconciliation and good governance. AWEPA has supportedconflict resolution parliamentary efforts in states emerging from conflict such as South Africa,Southern Sudan, Republic of Congo and Mozambique; fragile states such as Somalia; and regionsw<strong>here</strong> one or more of the states have experienced or are emerging from a conflict situation such asthe Great Lakes region (Burundi, DRC, Rwanda) and the Horn of Africa.67. Hon. Corrie gave three examples of success stories of AWEPA’s work in crisis prevention andrecovery related issues with Parliaments in Africa. In Mozambique, AWEPA implemented an extensive training programme for civic educators,published the “Election Process Bulletins” and contributed to the development of legislation onchild protection and human trafficking. In Burundi, AWEPA was successful in supporting the peace process/accord by increasinginformation sharing between the Burundian Parliament and local elected representatives, andhad been supporting capacity building for staff parliamentarians since 1996. In Southern Sudan, AWEPA supported and contributed to the production of the verbatim reportof the Parliamentary proceedings, the drafting of bills on the establishment of a Youth Councilsin South Sudan, and the job description of all available posts in the Legislative Assembly.68. To conclude, Hon. Corrie made the following recommendations to better support parliamentsdealing with crisis prevention issues in West Africa:Ownership of crisis prevention / resolution projects.Non-partisan and even handed treatment of political parties and actors.29
Page 1: Regional SeminarREPORTTowards Stren
Page 4 and 5: EXECUTIVE SUMMARYOn the basis of UN
Page 6 and 7: INTRODUCTION1. On the basis of UNDP
Page 8 and 9: OPENING CEREMONY9. The opening cere
Page 10 and 11: Building inclusive, responsive and
Page 12 and 13: Parliaments should adopt a region-w
Page 14 and 15: SESSION 2: Parliamentary Performanc
Page 17 and 18: SESSION 3: Parliaments as Peace-Bui
Page 19 and 20: 36. General reflections on the foll
Page 21 and 22: Sierra Leone for example, a reprodu
Page 23 and 24: a) Effective parliamentary oversigh
Page 25 and 26: 51. Mr. Asoba identified 4 major ch
Page 27: consultations and campaigns for pea
Page 31 and 32: Strengthening the mechanisms of reg
Page 33 and 34: 3) Successful interventions in the
Page 35 and 36: 19) Encourage parliamentarians to e
Page 37 and 38: SESSION 9: Closing session: partner
Page 39 and 40: CONCLUSION85. Strengthening parliam
Page 41 and 42: 11:00 - 11:15 Coffee breakSession 3
Page 43 and 44: Annex 2: Participants ListMembers o
Page 45 and 46: International and Regional Organiza

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