Overview

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.