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UN, National Parliaments must cooperate to foster Democracy - Annan

Secretary-General Kofi Annan is advocating closer cooperation between the United Nations and national parliaments in ensuring the rule of democracy and the consequent furtherance of world peace.

"We help nascent democracies to conduct elections and promote transparent, accountable governance," he told the 114th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Nairobi, Kenya, in a message delivered yesterday by Amir Dossal, Executive Director of the UN Fund for International Partnerships.

"We work with countries emerging from a violent past to build democratic institutions and strengthen civil society. In the developing world, we assist one of every three parliaments. We do this because the state of democracy in our world is everybody's business."

Democracy, he said, "enables internal disputes to be resolved through political means, reducing the appeal of violent extremism."

Mr. Annan noted the important reforms that have taken place at the UN since the last IPU meeting, including the establishment of an enhanced Human Rights Council, the creation of a Peacebuilding Commission to assist countries emerging from conflict and the launch of a UN Democracy Fund, to reinforce the work of the UN system in democracy-building.

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