By: Kebba AF Touray
The National Assembly of the Gambia on Thursday, 11 July 2024, adopted the report of the Gambia National Assembly delegation to the 148th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
Tabling the report, Hon. Kebba Jallow, a member of the delegation, told the assembly that the 148th IPU Assembly that was convened in Geneva brought together 1,479 delegates to discuss pressing global issues and strengthen parliamentary diplomacy.
He said: “The assembly focused on promoting peace, democracy, and sustainable development through legislative action”.
The IPU, he said, recognizes peace as a fundamental condition for addressing global development challenges, such as sustainable development goals, with the IPU choosing peace and international security as its strategic policy focus for 2024.
“The general debate of the 148th Assembly under the theme Parliamentary Diplomacy: “Building Bridges for Peace and Understanding”, provides an opportunity for the IPU Members and delegates to assess the role that governments can play in conflict prevention and peacebuilding, at national, regional and international levels,” he said.
He added that the delegates were invited to take a forward-looking approach based on good practices and possible solutions and to focus on what they could do to leverage parliamentary diplomacy in the service of peace and understanding.
He reported that parliamentarians debated and made resolutions to address the increasing political polarization and hate speech, cheap and easy technological advances in producing military equipment, cyber warfare, drone surveillance, and artificial intelligence, as well as increased geopolitical competition.
“Resolutions were also made to address political instability that has resulted in more intense conflicts and a rapid rise in conflict-related deaths. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute,56 States around the world were experiencing armed conflicts in 2023,” he said.
He told the plenary that members asserted that many of these conflicts violate a wide range of human rights, with parties frequently failing to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law.
He bemoaned: “Unilateral measures taken by states against other states without prior authorization by the international community continue to undermine global security, stability and people’s livelihoods, as well as the credibility of multilateral institutions”.
He highlighted that rising inequality, lack of economic opportunity, especially among young people, extremism, nationalism, and gender violence, as well as shrinking democratic space, all contribute to increased violence.
He said t the members’ input to global deliberations and UN processes is essential to inclusive decision-making that reflects the concerns and best interests of citizens.
“A strong and effective international legal framework, with the UN at its core, is essential in maintaining global peace and security. The IPU General Assembly was critical in upholding and revitalizing this system, making sure that governments respect international law, as well as ensuring the implementation of a wide range of international peace treaties, instruments and covenants,” he said.
During the debate, lawmakers expressed divergent views while some hailed the report as one that is fit for purpose, as the issue raised by the Gambian delegation is quite apt.
Other legislators expressed the view that the report is inadequate in terms of elaborating on national contentious issues, such as the need to strengthen democracy, reconciliation and accountability, as well as the commitment of the government to its international obligations.
The National Assembly finally adopted the report of the Gambia National Assembly delegation to the 148th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). The General Assembly was held from 23rd-27th March 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland.
