On 13 June 2016, PGA held its second UN Committee Meeting of 2016, hosted by H.E. Ambassador Gillian Bird, Perm. Rep. of Australia to the UN at the Permanent Mission of Australia to the UN.

The meeting provided an opportunity for Permanent Representatives to the UN, as part of the PGA UN Committee, and Ambassadors invited to join the PGA UN Committee to discuss the role of Parliamentarians in supporting and implementing the UN Agenda at the national level with Members of the PGA Board, Members of Parliament from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Costa Rica, Estonia, European Union, Ghana, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sweden, Ukraine, Uruguay, United States, and the UNODA. The meeting further provided for an opportunity to inform participants on PGA’s Strategic Plan for 2016-2018 and the objectives of the 3 PGA Programs.

H.E. Amb. Bird, opened the meeting by emphasizing Australia’s strong support for PGA, its programs, and successful campaigns against the death penalty; as well as her mission’s commitment to the issue of gender equality, which she was pleased to see in practice within PGA leadership.

In her welcoming remarks, Ms. Petra Bayr, MP (Austria) PGA Board Treasurer, noted the fact that every country is dealing with political backlash from the wars on terrorism and drugs. To this end, she suggested the creation of an alliance of the willing.

Following Ms. Bayr’s remarks, Ms. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Member of Parliament of Ghana and Member of the PGA Board, presented a brief update on the work of PGA’s Gender, Equality and Population Program, underlining the importance to work toward making gender equality a reality within parliaments.

In her update on the work of PGA’s International Law & Human Rights Program Ms. Barbara Lochbihler, MEP, Member of the PGA Board and Co-Convenor of the PGA ILHR Program,  noted the negative trends that have been increasing in many regions, and the need to concentrate on ICC enforcement in Africa. She also highlighted the need to focus on ensuring that domestic human rights laws are reflective of international laws.

Dip. Margarita Stolbizer of Argentina and Member of the PGA Board, provided the update on PGA’s International Peace and Security Program, during which she announced Australia and Argentina are beginning to work on the implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).  Dip. Stolbizer underscored the purpose of PGA, to work towards a world based on peace and international development, before introducing PGA’s new work on the implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) in national parliaments.

PGA Secretary-General, Dr. David Donat Cattin then opened the floor to an interactive discussion regarding the opportunities and challenges of national implementation of and support for the UN Agenda. H.E. Ambassador Sarah Mendelson, the United States Representative on the Economic and Social Council, began the discussion by stating the necessity of civil society involvement in making the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) a reality. She noted a growing challenge in the involvement of civil society organizations (CSOs) not only at the UN but in general in international organizations. It is important to note that all the work at the UN could not be done without the support of CSOs, as well as members of parliament who are representing civil society as elected representatives.

The discussion shifted to human trafficking as H.E. Amb. Mendelson highlighted it as a key area in which parliamentarians have an important role to play to drive progress. Ms. Lochbihler, MEP, informed participants about the European Union policy for stronger demands on labor conditions and human trafficking in combination with trade relationships, which will be published in the near future.  H.E. Ambassador Jan Kickert, Perm. Rep. of Austria to the UN and Member of the PGA UN Committee, added his concerns and voiced strong interest in engaging PGA and its UN Committee on the issue of human trafficking and modern-day slavery. In agreement, Dr. Donat Cattin remarked that the goal of combatting human trafficking is extremely realistic, especially in terms of large-scale human movement – as is the case with women and refugee trafficking.  He further highlighted the work PGA is already doing in combatting enslavement as an international crime under the Campaign for the Rome Statute of the ICC.

Ms. Owusu-Ekuful, MP, emphasized that it is both an international and national issue that the voice of civil society has been lost; and reminded the attendees that on issues such as human trafficking the legislation exists, but implementation is lacking. She followed with suggestions on how parliamentarians can bridge the gap with civil society – which included stronger parliamentarians and increasing the capacity of individual parliamentarians in all interactions, with the goal of having civil society view parliamentarians as allies.

H.E. Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko Perm. Rep. of Ukraine to the UN and Member of the PGA UN Committee, made the observation that the world is becoming increasingly divided on many human rights issues, as exemplified by the 20^th anniversary (June 13) of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, whose treaty is still not in force. Regarding the ICC in Ukraine, H.E. Amb. Yelchenko extended his appreciation towards the work PGA has done in mobilizing Ukraine’s own parliamentarians.

Remarking on the ICC in Africa, H.E. Amb. Christian Wenaweser Perm. Rep. of Liechtenstein to the UN and Chair of the PGA UN Committee, stated the importance for the ICC to open investigations outside the African continent, while noting that Africa is the largest represented region within the ICC with many state-referred cases. Within the last decade, the topic of head-of-state immunity has been one of international law’s greatest achievements. In line with a balanced discussion, H.E. Amb. Wenaweser welcomed Rome Statute ratification by Malaysia as a landmark for international law in the region. Mr. Kula Segaran, MP (Malaysia) and Member of the PGA Board, announced that the Malaysian cabinet has already endorsed the idea of ICC membership and changes in the political environment have made Rome Statute accession imminent.

In her closing remarks, Ms. Bayr, MP, underscored the necessity for all levels – international, national, and civil society – to cooperate in order to implement laws as reality. The challenge, specifically, is domestic implementation of international decisions and legislation. In doing this, it is important to understand these issues affect every region and every level of economic country development.

H.E. Ambassador Ioannis Vrailas, Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to the UN added that parliamentarians are the bridge between the increasingly globalized civil society and high-level officials; Ms. Margareta Cederfelt, Member of Parliament of Sweden and Member of the PGA Board noted that PGA is an especially useful forum in its ability to bring MPs together to address the common interest of human rights; and Hon. Syed Naveed Qamar, Member of Parliament of Pakistan and Member of the PGA Board, closed the meeting by stating the importance of having an ongoing, cross-cutting debate about how to improve cooperation and implementation on legislation after it has been made.

For any questions on the work of the PGA UN Committee and PGA’s involvement in the Strengthening of the Working Methods of the UN please contact the PGA Specialist on Rule of Law and UN Strengthening Ms. Leyla Nikjou at leyla.nikjou@pgaction.org