(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) The Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament on Wednesday culminated with the adoption of a declaration on "Placing democracy at the service of peace and sustainable development: Building the world the people want." The conference that kicked off its three-day activities Monday was convened by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) at the UN Hq here.
The declaration reaffirms the role of parliaments in the implementation of the SDGs and of the broader post-2015 development agenda, and reaffirmed the principles of the Universal Declaration on Democracy.
It calls for greater efforts to end discrimination against women and make gender equality a reality.
Parliamentarians also pledged to do their utmost to make politics genuinely open to young people and to facilitate their election to parliament in greater numbers. "We also pledge to address youth marginalization by engaging youth in politics and facilitating their access to education and the job market," they added.
They also welcomed the new development agenda that has emerged with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focusing on poverty eradication and the promotion of economic, social and environmental development.
Moreover, the declaration applauded the inclusion of a goal calling for urgent action against climate change that also encompasses disaster risk reduction, and welcomed the broad-based goal on the means of implementation - finance, trade, technology, capacity building and systemic reforms - that must be mobilized in support of the new agenda.
On international cooperation, the conferees said they are convinced that the United Nations must remain the cornerstone of global cooperation and took this opportunity to renew their solemn pledge in support of the Organization as it celebrates its 70th anniversary and the victory of the world over fascism. They called on the UN Member States to equip their Organization for the challenges of the 21st century, and commended the many reforms that have taken place over the last decade.
After many preparatory meetings to adopt this declaration, the conference promised to establish mechanisms for tracking and monitoring progress, and called on the IPU to facilitate the achievement of this objective and ensure reporting.
"We, in our parliaments, will do our part by placing democracy at the service of peace and development for the world the people want," they concluded.
The declaration will be presented to head of states in the upcoming General Assembly by the IPU President. The conference that takes place every five years, was held this time at the UN headquarters, and was inaugurated by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, General Assembly President Sam Kutesa, the IPU President Saber Chowdhury and delegations representing more than 100 parliaments around the world.
The Kuwaiti delegation to the conference was led by National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanim along with MPs Dr. Yousef Al-Zalzalah, Saif Al-Azmi, Abdullah Al-Mayouf, and Secretary General of the National Assembly Allam Al-Kandari.
Representing Kuwait, Al-Ghanim spoke before the conference and urged the UN to continue its ethical role for enhancing values of democracy, as a culture and in practice. He also stressed how democracy is vital for consolidating concepts of co-existence and tolerance in different communities.
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