General Assembly Session 56 meeting 79

Ms. Pulido Santana (Venezuela)

Allow me to express Venezuela's great pleasure with the General Assembly's consideration of the sub-item entitled "Cooperation between the United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union", given the special importance my country attaches to both organizations and, in particular, given the ways in which the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) annually disseminates the agenda of the United Nations at the parliamentary level.

Allow me to express our satisfaction with the report of the Secretary-General in document A/55/996. In it the Secretary-General set forth a clear and forthright vision for the work of the IPU with regard to its support for, and parliamentary contribution to, the United Nations, and he also expresses the hope that cooperative ties between both organizations will be strengthened and become more formal.

We would like to express our gratitude to the delegation of India for its introduction of the draft resolutions under this item. The first deals with the possibility of granting observer status to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and the second properly deals with cooperation between the two organizations.

In the course of its 112 years of existence the Inter-Parliamentary Union has carried out fruitful work in the areas of democracy, peace, human rights and international law, to name just a few. This global organization, which counts among its members not just national parliaments but also regional parliamentary assemblies, now includes 140 countries, including our own. As a reflection of its great importance to our region, it also has five associate members, including three regional parliaments of the American continent -- namely, the Latin American Parliament, the Andean Parliament and the Central American Parliament.

In addition, that importance is taking on a renewed character at the present time of evolving international relations, when new working methods and new actors are involved to enrich and make more effective the development of international cooperation and its results. At a time when, more than ever before, we need a strengthened United Nations to be at the centre of international efforts to achieve international peace and cooperation, the contribution that organizations such as the IPU can make towards this task is undeniable.

As has been pointed out on other occasions, the culture of peace being promoted by the Secretary-General -- to which we are committed -- requires the joint involvement and effective cooperation of various entities. In that regard, the contribution that the IPU has been making to foster peace and democracy is decisive. Elected parliaments, which constitute the expression of the sovereignty of peoples, contribute in their turn to articulating the desires of those peoples with regard to international matters. By the same token, following through on intergovernmental acts is indispensable to guarantee the rights and freedoms of peoples, as well as peace and stability for them -- conditions that are indispensable to their harmonious development.

However, perhaps the most obvious and relevant contribution made thus far involves the series of contacts and political negotiations that have been taking place under the aegis of IPU conferences. Those contacts and negotiations have come to be known as parliamentary diplomacy, given the favourable impact such negotiations can have in terms of preventing and peacefully settling disputes.

On the other hand, the commitment of States to ensure respect for the norms of international law, particularly those regarding the promotion of and respect for human rights and international humanitarian rights, no doubt draw strength from the substantive backing that the IPU can continue to give the United Nations by ensuring, through national parliaments, the conformity of member countries' legislation with international treaties entered into in the context of the United Nations. At the same time, this can ensure the close attention required in instances where constitutions provide for those treaties to come into force. This is one of the ways that parliamentary diplomacy has great importance at the national level.

At a time of change, when we are seeking to strengthen the United Nations to adapt it to these changes and make it a more effective instrument to achieve its priorities, it is unthinkable to bypass the parliamentary perspective, through which we can have access to the world's opinions and political inclinations. The IPU gives that parliamentary dimension to the United Nations by bringing to it the opinions of its peoples, which is so useful and necessary to making the United Nations more democratic. Heads of State and Government recognized that need in the Millennium Declaration, and therefore decided to continue to strengthen cooperation between the two organizations.

Venezuela recognizes the importance of the role being carried out by parliamentary diplomacy in international relations, and has positively supported the efforts made at the United Nations to effectively strengthen that cooperation. It is for this reason that we are pleased with the recommendations in this regard made by the Secretary-General in his report contained in document A/55/996. It is also for that reason that we are very pleased to endorse the initiative to grant observer status to the Inter-Parliamentary Union. In this connection, we trust that this objective can be achieved at the next session of the General Assembly.

Before concluding my statement, my delegation would like to take this opportunity to state its support for the various draft resolutions put before the General Assembly under the sub-items of the agenda item entitled "Cooperation between the United Nations and regional and other organizations", given the beneficial effect such cooperation has on the revitalization and efficiency of our Organization.