Equatorial Guinea: Sensitization and capacity-building

New Parliament building in Bata.

This project seeks to contribute to the modernization of the functioning of the House of Representatives of the People of Equatorial Guinea. A seminar for legislators was organized in September 2005 on the budgetary function of parliament. The seminar aimed at acquainting the participants with the detailed mechanisms of the budget process and building their capacity to ensure effective parliamentary oversight of the national budget. A training programme is due to start in early 2006 for eight persons on the recording and production of parliamentary proceedings. The objective is to ensure that parliamentary proceedings are properly documented in an official record that can be disseminated in order to contribute to the transparency and democratization of the legislative process.

Nigeria: Bringing parliament closer to the people

This project, which aims to build the capacity of the Nigerian National Assembly and six of the country's state assemblies and to ensure that legislative decisions are informed by inputs from society, continued in earnest during the last quarter of 2005, prior to its closure on 31 December 2005. A host of workshops were organized, including an orientation seminar in Bauchi, Gombe in June 2005; a workshop on the budgetary process in Jos, Plateau in July 2005; a national conference on human rights in Oshogbo, Osun in August 2005; a seminar on civil society involvement in the budget process in Abia in October 2005; a workshop on women in politics in Kebbi in November 2005; a seminar for state assemblies' service commissions in Abuja in November 2005 and a seminar on environmental law in Cross Rivers in December 2005. The workshops brought together members and key staff of the National Assembly and of the state assemblies. Additional training workshops held in October and November 2005 were targeted to the staff of specific parliamentary services, including editors, information officers, library personnel and research staff. Some senior parliamentary staff attended attachments in the South African and Kenyan parliaments in October 2005 and in the French National Assembly and the Belgian House of Representatives in November 2005. During these attachments, participants studied the functional attributes of their host counterparts, reviewing similarities and differences in the organizational structures and their respective scope of responsibilities.

Afghanistan: Preparing the future National Assembly

Recent months saw increased cooperation between the IPU and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which have worked together in preparation for the establishment of a new parliament in Afghanistan. Under a memorandum of understanding signed between the two organizations in July 2005, the IPU provided advisory support in the preparation of the draft rules of procedure for the new parliament and helped organize and participated in a training seminar in Kabul for newly trained staff on parliamentary processes and best practices, in October 2005.

The IPU also assisted in the preparation of an orientation seminar for new legislators and facilitated the participation in the seminar of two members of parliament from South Africa. Furthermore, advisory support was provided, through a consultant from the Belgian parliament, on the recording of parliamentary proceedings and the workings of a multilingual parliament.

Iraq: Creating a conducive environment for a solid and democratic legislature

Over the past months the IPU has been working closely with UNDP and the authorities of the Transitional National Assembly of Iraq with a view to developing and implementing a project of assistance for the Iraqi National Assembly, that was elected on 15 December 2005. An assessment mission is planned for February 2006 to develop such a project, which will address the immediate and longer-term needs of the Iraqi National Assembly. Priorities that have already been identified include online documentation in Arabic on parliamentary procedure and practice and the training and professional development of legislators and staff.

Pakistan: Strategic approach to parliamentary development

In November 2005 the IPU and the Parliament of Pakistan signed a memorandum of understanding with a view to implementing technical assistance inputs of a project of assistance that had been designed following an IPU mission in October 2003. Under this agreement the IPU organized two study visits for cross-party and gender-balanced delegations of members and support staff of both Houses of Parliament to the parliaments of Thailand and the Philippines in December 2005. During these visits, participants reviewed the functioning and workings of the committees and other structures involved in the law-making process. The IPU also organized a train-the-trainers programme in December 2005 in the Parliament of Australia for selected staff from the Pakistani Parliament. This programme focused on parliamentary procedures and legislative drafting. The staff will then serve as resource persons for the induction and orientation of new members of the Pakistani Parliament.