Parliaments - given their representative, legislative and oversight roles - are well
positioned to play an important and positive role in situations of crisis and conflict.
However, in many such situations, even legitimate and representative parliaments appear
to play only a limited role, be it as a forum for addressing rising social tensions,
as a partner or the central actor in peace negotiations, or as a venue for dialogue
and reconciliation.
All too often, international conflict prevention and reconciliation
assistance serves to undermine the development of democratic governance, when parliaments
are excluded from dialogue, peace-building, settlement negotiation and reconstruction
processes. In many cases, significant resources are devoted to elections, while parliamentary
development support is meager. The dichotomy between the expectations created from
election processes and the powers and capacity of the resulting representative institution
risk destabilizing fragile peace processes.
In many countries emerging from violent conflict, international development
interventions and resources have also overwhelmingly focused on executive and civil
society actors, undermining the power and authority of the legislature to oversee government
action and act as an outlet for a society's diverse views. These trends can have disquieting
implications for the long-term confidence of the public in the outcome of democracy
and representative governance.
Concerned by the trends described above, UNDP's
Democratic Governance Group - in partnership with the Inter-Parliamentary
Union (IPU) -
began to examine the entry points for supporting parliaments prior to, during and
following conflict. The initiative began with a series of country-level case studies,
the purpose of which has been to (i) document and explain the roles that parliaments
can and should play in the context of crisis and conflict; and (ii) document the
obstacles that prevent parliaments from playing positive roles in conflict prevention,
resolution and recovery; and (iii) produce core findings and recommendations that
can guide both local stakeholders and the international community in their efforts
to enhance parliaments' roles in preventing and resolving conflict, with a view to
achieving enduring peace and fostering democratic governance.
Almost 30 case studies and five regional papers have been prepared
as part of this initiative, together with a series of regional roundtable meetings
and a global study group meeting convened in Geneva in
July 2005.
In March 2006, UNDP - in partnership with the IPU and the Belgian
Chamber of Representatives - will convene a Global Conference on Strengthening the Role of Parliaments
in Crisis Prevention and Recovery. The purpose of this conference is to discuss the role of parliaments
in conflict and post-conflict situations and to put forward key findings and recommendations
on how that role may be better supported by the international community.
A Project
Issues Paper is available, which includes an update on the initiative's process
and progress to date.
