Parliaments can play a pivotal role in protecting and promoting human rights through their legislative and oversight functions. To strengthen such parliamentary action, the Inter-Parliamentary Union launched a two-year project aimed at enhancing the involvement of parliaments in the work of human rights treaty bodies.

Following a first regional seminar held in Ouagadougou from 1 to 3 October 2007, four other national seminars were held during 2008. The last activity to be conducted under this project will be a regional seminar in Libreville. The seminar is designed to allow participants to exchange experiences gained at the national level with a view to drawing up a regional parliamentary strategy to promote human rights through cooperation mechanisms between national and regional parliaments.

A total of 25 parliaments in francophone Africa, including Madagascar, are expected to participate in this seminar.