Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments Adopts DeclarationThe three-day Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments concluded Friday afternoon at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York with the adoption of a declaration entitled "The Parliamentary Vision for International Cooperation at the Dawn of the Third Millennium."In the declaration, the participants pledged to pursue together the ideals enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and work together to address the main challenges facing the world community: the achievement of international peace and security, democracy, respect for human rights, sustainable development and the ensuring social progress. The participants reaffirmed the principles of the Universal Declaration on Democracy adopted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and pledged to work towards the establishment of a culture of democracy. The participants agreed that the principle according to which no one is above the law and all are equal before it must also hold true for relations between sovereign states, which are equal in terms of rights and whose peoples have the right to self-determination and to choose their political system freely and democratically. They reiterated their commitment to general and complete disarmament under effective international control, in particular nuclear disarmament and elimination of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and biological weapons, and of "smart" weapons and anti-personnel mines. They promised to work to create national and international conditions conducive to social development, social integration, the eradication of poverty and the reduction of unemployment. They noted that there is a need to ensure that the opportunities and benefits of globalization are shared more widely and that the right to development is respected. They reaffirmed their adherence to the purposes and principles set out in the U.N. Charter and in the international instruments adopted since the funding of the world body. The participants called upon all parliaments and their world organization -- the Inter-Parliamentary Union -- to provide a parliamentary dimension to international cooperation. |
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