The Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (CUNPA) is a global network of more than 300 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and 1,500 current and former parliamentarians from around 150 countries devoted to establishing a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly. [1]
The Campaign's objectives: [1]
The Campaign's Secretariat is led by Democracy Without Borders. [2] The work of the Campaign is guided by an informal Steering Committee, which helps to define the Campaign's goals, policies and strategies. The Steering Committee consists of the NGOs Democracy Without Borders, Society for Threatened Peoples International, World Federalist Movement-IGP, Democracia Global, and The Workable World Trust. [3]
The Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly has built coalitions and established national and regional networks all over the world for example in Israel, [4] Germany, [5] Argentina, [6] Sweden, [7] Canada [8] and Spain, [9] among others. Multiple Global Weeks of Action for a World Parliament have also been held, with supporting activities taking place across the world. [10]
The policy of the Campaign is based on the "Appeal for the Establishment of a Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations" which was presented at launch events in over ten countries during April and May 2007. [11] 552 persons were initial signatories to the petition, among them parliamentarians and individuals such as Nobel Prize laureates, Right Livelihood Award laureates, civil society leaders, three former prime ministers, several former foreign ministers and Boutros Boutros-Ghali (former UN Secretary General). [12] At a meeting in November 2007, the Campaign reiterated its policy as formulated in the appeal.
Although the CUNPA's early literature seemed to emphasize indirect election of the UNPA as a necessary first step, in November 2007, the organization noted that some countries could choose direct election of delegates in the first stage of the body's existence. [13] Similarly, early CUNPA statements stressed the UNPA's oversight role over the UN and its bodies, but the November 2007 statement clarified that the UNPA could also have a role overseeing the Bretton Woods institutions. In a statement on the financial crisis issued in April 2008 this position was confirmed and outlined in more detail. [14]
In 2016, the Campaign received strong support from the Pan-African Parliament, [15] and in 2017 the Campaign's chairman, Andreas Bummel, was invited to give a statement to the Parliament. [16]
As of 2018, the campaign claimed the support of 1535 former and current members of parliament around the world, [17] as well as the support of some other academic and public figures. Support has also come from some national political parties, [18] inter-governmental organisations, [16] governmental bodies, [19] [20] and non-governmental organisations. [21] [22] The Campaign has also been discussed in motions at the German, [23] Icelandic, [24] Canadian, [25] Mercosur [26] and European [27] parliaments, among others. Support for the Campaign has been diverse in nature, coming from both ends of the political spectrum. [28]
Kofi Atta Annan was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder and chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation, as well as chairman of The Elders, an international organisation founded by Nelson Mandela.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other initiatives include advancing gender parity among legislatures, empowering youth participation in politics, and sustainable development.
Democratic globalization is a social movement towards an institutional system of global democracy. One of its proponents is the British political thinker David Held. In the last decade, Held published a dozen books regarding the spread of democracy from territorially defined nation states to a system of global governance that encapsulates the entire world. For some, democratic mundialisation is a variant of democratic globalisation stressing the need for the direct election of world leaders and members of global institutions by citizens worldwide; for others, it is just another name for democratic globalisation.
Since the late 1990s there have been many calls for reforms of the United Nations (UN). However, there is little clarity or consensus about what reform might mean in practice. Both those who want the UN to play a greater role in world affairs and those who want its role confined to humanitarian work or otherwise reduced use the term "UN reform" to refer to their ideas. The range of opinion extends from those who want to eliminate the UN entirely, to those who want to make it into a full-fledged world government. Secretaries-General have presented numerous ways to implement these new reforms. There have been reform efforts since the creation of the UN and closely associated with each of the Secretaries-General.
Kevin Eugene Deveaux is a Canadian lawyer and an international expert on parliaments and political parties who worked for the United Nations as the senior global adviser on parliaments and their development from 2008-2012. He served as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the constituency of Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. He was first elected in 1998 and was re-elected in 1999, 2003 and 2006. He has also worked for a number of other development organizations in promoting good governance, transparent and accountable parliaments and effective political parties.
In regards to the United Nations, the Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly is a "global network of parliamentarians, non governmental organizations, and scholars" that advocates for representatives, not only states, to have "a direct and influential role in global policy."
Democracy Without Borders, or DWB is an international nongovernmental organization established in 2017 with national chapters across the world and a legal seat in Berlin that promotes "global democracy, global governance and global citizenship". The organization advocates "an integrated approach to democracy promotion that spans across all levels, from the local to the global and includes the dimensions of representation and participation." The organization originates in what is now its German chapter which prior to March 2017 operated as Committee for a Democratic UN and was created in 2003.
Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) is a non-profit, non-partisan international network of committed legislators, that informs and mobilizes parliamentarians in all regions of the world to advocate for human rights and the rule of law, democracy, human security, non-discrimination, gender equality, and climate justice. PGA Membership is open to individual legislators from elected parliaments. Currently, it consists of approximately 1,200 members in 139 parliaments. PGA was established in 1978 in Washington, D.C., by a group of concerned parliamentarians from around the world to take collective, coordinated and cohesive actions on global problems, which could not be successfully addressed by any one government or parliament acting alone. Founded during the Cold War era, an early focus and priority of the organization was the mobilization of parliamentarians worldwide in support of nuclear disarmament. The vision of PGA is "to contribute to the creation of a Rules-Based International Order for a more equitable, safe, and democratic world".
Andreas Bummel is co-founder and Executive Director of Democracy Without Borders and of the international campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly.He is also co-convenor of the "We The Peoples" campaign for inclusive global governance launched in 2019 which endorses a World Citizens' Initiative, among other things.
In 2007 the United Nations General Assembly resolved to observe 15 September as the International Day of Democracy—with the purpose of promoting and upholding the principles of democracy—and invited all member states and organizations to commemorate the day in an appropriate manner that contributes to raising public awareness.
…while democracies share common features, there is no single model of democracy and that democracy does not belong to any country or region... …democracy is a universal value based on the freely-expressed will of people to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems, and their full participation in all aspects of life.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou is a politician regarding environmental matters, a specialized attorney in International, Environmental and Sustainable Development Law, and the recipient of the Green Star Award awarded by UNEP, OCHA, and Green Cross International for her leadership in prevention, preparedness and response to environmental emergencies.
The World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy, Ltd. is an organization that advocates for a democratic world government of a world federalist system. They seek to realize these goals by expanding international organizations and moving towards a unified system of governance.
Maina Kiai is a Kenyan lawyer and human rights activist who formerly served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association from May 1, 2011, to April 30, 2017. Since 2018, he has headed Human Rights Watch's Alliances and Partnerships program.
Svitlana Petrivna Zalishchuk is a politician, public leader, journalist, human rights campaigner and former member of Ukrainian Parliament.
Anita M. Vandenbeld is a Canadian politician, who was elected to represent the riding of Ottawa West—Nepean for the Liberal Party of Canada in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 Canadian federal election. She was re-elected in the same riding in 2019, and re-elected in 2021.
Panhumanism is the concept of an affiliation with all humankind through some sort of legislative structure that allows all technological and economic development to be for the benefit of all people. The concept is sometimes seen as far-left, although there are also right-wing and centrist pan-human organisations, including the United Nations, some of which have even received significant opposition from the far-left over globalisation policies.
1 for 7 Billion is a civil society campaign calling for the selection and appointment process of the UN Secretary-General to be reformed. It claims the current procedure, which was developed in 1946, is “outdated” and incompatible with selecting the best candidate. 1 for 7 Billion calls for the selection process to be open to public scrutiny and be based on merit. Its goal is to improve the selection procedures ahead of the appointment of the next Secretary-General in 2016.
International Year of Volunteers was designated for 2001 by the United Nations General Assembly. The initiative aimed at increased recognition, facilitation, networking and promotion of volunteering, to highlight the achievements of the millions of volunteers worldwide who devote their time to serving others, and to encourage more people globally to engage in volunteering.
World federalism or global federalism is a political ideology advocating a democratic, federal world government. A world federation would have authority on issues of global reach, while the members of such a federation would retain authority over local and national issues. The overall sovereignty over the world population would largely reside in the federal government.
Matteo Mecacci is an Italian diplomat serving as director of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODHIR). In the past, he was a Radical Party Member of Parliament in Italy and elected in the lists of the Democratic Party, President of the International Campaign for Tibet and leading advocate for the International Criminal Court, the abolition of the death penalty, religious freedom and other prominent human rights campaigns.
