On 5 June, PGA held its 2^nd meeting of the UN Advisory Committee in 2017, hosted by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN with Opening remarks by H.E. Ambassador Hahn, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea. This meeting saw the participation of 10 Board Member-Parliamentarians of PGA from Argentina, Austria, Costa Rica, DR Congo, El Salvador, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Senegal and Sweden. The Chair of the UN Committee, H.E. Ambassador Wenaweser, Permanent Representative of Liechtenstein to the UN moderated the meeting, which provided a unique opportunity for frank dialogue among Ambassadors and the PGA Board Members from all regions of the world.  

The meeting explored the need for cooperation among national parliaments and government officials in the framework of the UN Agenda, to strengthen the work of the UN and implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  PGA’s Secretary-General, Dr. David Donat Cattin, presented the seven Campaigns of PGA on

• the fight against impunity and the universality and effectiveness of the Rome Statute of the ICC system (with special references to the role that Parliamentarians played to support the “withdrawal of the withdrawals” from the Rome Statute by The Gambia and South Africa)
• the abolition of the death penalty,
• non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identify,
• ending child, forced and early marriage,
• universalization and implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention,
• universalization and implementation of the Arms’ Trade Treaty, and
• preventing and countering violent extremism and atrocities (campaign in development).

In respect of the latter, PGA’s Secretary General announced that the Annual Parliamentary Forum, to be held in Milan, Italy, at the end of November, will be devoted to this crucial topic.

As the meeting took place on the first day of the opening of the UN Oceans Conference, PGA Treasurer Ms. Petra Bayr, MP (Austria) and PGA International Council Chair Ms. Margareta Cederfelt, MP (Sweden) shared the work-plan of PGA in this new area for the Organization, including a side-event that PGA organized on the same date at UN Headquarters on the role of parliamentarians in fighting Illegal, Unregulated, Unreported fishing and related human rights abuses. Established by the PGA Board meeting held in Dakar in December 2016, the PGA Oceans Campaign aims at bringing more transparency and sustainability to the fishing industry by implementing laws that are fighting oceanic crimes and related human rights abuses, such as human trafficking and forced labor.

The Permanent Representatives in attendance addressed the interlinkage of all SGs and a holistic approach to the implementation of the SDGs, with specific reference to SDG 16.  While SDG 16 is implemented in the nature of all of PGA’s work on strengthening democracy, good governance and providing access to justice while ensuring non-discrimination, PGA also works on other SDGs within its campaigns, such as SDGs 5, 14 and 17.

The President of PGA, Ms. Stolbizer, MP (Argentina), stressed out that it is necessary for UN Ambassadors and PGA to collaborate to achieve the UN SDGs. The role of Parliamentarians is essential, and not only on the domestic level but also on the regional and international level. PGA, with 1400 members in 142 countries contributes to secure democracy and human rights worldwide.

With a keynote address by the UN Assistant Secretary General and Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), Mr. Šimonivić participants were reminded, that for sustainable developments to be reached, we need to achieve a state of sustainable peace. It is the responsibility of all States to protect their population from atrocity crimes. States are also obliged to encourage and assist other States if they are not capable of protecting their own populations from atrocities. Parliamentarians are needed to prevent and prosecute atrocity crimes and are essential to domesticate relevant international standards in their national Criminal Laws and preventative frameworks. In this respect, other participants noted that PGA has been a driving force in providing technical assistance to parliamentarians in the implementation the Rome Statute of the ICC to prevent and repress war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression. By the end of this year, a new report on the Responsibility to Protect will be presented to the UN General Assembly, with special focus on accountability. Special Advisor Simonovic and PGA will then work together on a list of specific Action Points for parliamentarians to implement the SG’s report.

The lively discussion among Ambassadors on the PGA Board of elected legislators underlined the important role of parliamentarians in putting the SDGs and other UN priorities on their national agenda. Ambassador Hahn suggested to create a regional or international peer review mechanism involving parliamentarians in the oversight of implementation of the SDGs. He stressed the importance of cooperation on this between governments, parliamentarians and civil society. The President of PGA, Dip. Stolbizer, emphasized PGA’s commitment towards the SDGs.

For any questions on the work of the PGA UN Committee, as well as PGA’s engagement on the Responsibility to Protect, and PGA’s Oceans Campaign, please contact the PGA Senior Program Officer Ms. Leyla Nikjou at leyla.nikjou@pgaction.org