Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1694840617990.pdf (Malta)
IT-TLETTAX-IL LEĠIŻLATURA P.L.

7061 Dokument imqiegħed fuq il-Mejda tal-Kamra tad-Deputati fis-Seduta Numru 493 tas-6 ta’ Ottubru 2021 mill-Ispeaker, l-Onor.

Anġlu Farrugia.

___________________________ Raymond Scicluna Skrivan tal-Kamra REPORT FOR THE SPEAKER ON PARTICIPATION IN A CONFERENCE OF A PARLIAMENTARY NATURE ABROAD 1.

TITLE OF CONFERENCE: FIFTH WORLD CONFERENCE OF SPEAKERS OF PARLIAMENT 2.DATE: 7 - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021 3.

NAME OF MEMBER: MR SPEAKER- ANGLU FARRUGIA 4.


SUBJECTS ON THE AGENDA: A copy of the agenda of the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament is attached as Doc.

A.

5.

CONCLUSIONS OF THE MEETING: A copy of the High-Level declaration adopted at the end of the Conference is attached as Doc.

B.

Copies of the reports adopted dming the proceedings of the Conference are attached as Doc.
C, which include: • Decade of action to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; • Stepping up youth participation in politics and parliaments: From words to action; • Making gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls a reality: Best practices and parliamentary committuents • Democracy and the changing role of parliament in the twenty-first centmy; • Science, technology, and ethics: Emerging challenges and mgent solutions.
- 6 Date 7.. J- ..,.n 1 World Conference of Speakers of Parliament Parliaments for peace, people and planet 4f5WCSP Dear Madam Speaker, Dear Mr. Speaker, 26 May 2021 We are pleased to follow-up on our communication of 22 March 2021 and formally invite you to join us for the in-person segment of the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament (5WCSP) and the Summit of Women Speakers, which will take place in Vienna from 6 to 8 September 2021 .
We are pleased to share with you the overall programme of the Conference and an overview of the main panel discussions, as well as a practical information note on travel to Austria and COVID-related measures in place.

The Preparatory Committee has decided that the general debate will take place in an interactive format, following the Doha-style format of motions on highly topical issues.

All Speakers of Parliament will also be invited to submit their formal statements in writing or as pre-recorded videos.
These will be disseminated during and after the Conference, and will form part of the official records of the event.

Needless to say, the Conference will provide an invaluable opportunity for direct interaction and exchange - this is all the more timely as it comes after over a year when we have not been able to meet due to the pandemic.
The Conference will conclude with a Declaration on Parliamentary leadership for more effective multilateralism that delivers peace and sustainable development for the people and planet.

We aim to share with you a preliminary draft, based on the work of the Preparatory Committee, by late June.
As we have mentioned previously, the Speakers' Conference will be preceded by the Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament, to be held in Vienna on Monday, 6 September (the relevant documents will be circulated to the Women Speakers of Parliament separately).
On 9 September, right after the Speakers' Conference, the IPU, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) will hold the first Global Parliamentary Summit on Counter Terrorism, which we would also encourage you to attend.

Online registration for these events will open on 4 June 2021.
In order to make the necessary arrangements on the ground, in particular with regard to the COVID situation, we would be most grateful if by 15 June you could indicate your intention to attend the Conference in Vienna in person (email to postbox@ipu.org).

More information about the Conference will be shared with you as it becomes available and posted on the event webpage at https://www.ipu.org/eventlfifth-world-conference-speakers-parliament september-2021 .
We look forward to welcoming you to Vienna and to working closely with you towards an impactful World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, which will help build bridges and allow us to identify solutions to the daunting challenges of our time.
Yours sincerely, Duarte Pacheco President Inter-Parliamentary Union Wolfgang Sobotka President Austrian National Council COUNTERING MISINFORMATION AND HATE SPEECH ON AND OFFLINE REQUIRES STRONGER REGULATIONS delivered by the Honourable Dr Angelo Farrugia, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Parliament of Malta at the High Level Segment for Speakers of Parliament of the 1401 h IPU Assembly September 2021 1 Colleagues, Honourable Members, Social media has facilitated the sharing of information and greatly enhanced civic engagement and connectivity.
At the same time, social media is vulnerable to abuse by malicious actors who misuse online platforms to spread misinformation and hateful and divisive content.

In Consumers of social media are increasingly using these platforms as their primary source of getting news.

This inevitably means that social media platforms are practically becoming the most popular type of news media.

As a result, their level of responsibility over the content which they distribute should increase accordingly.
fact, dominant social media companies hold considerable power over the flow of information and access to ideas online, given the vast quantities of content published on their platforms.

The way in which social media companies have dealt with content issues on their platforms, especially around hate speech, has been of particular concern to many stakeholders.
This is because the misuse of these platforms can have economic, psychological, and political impacts, both online and offline, and can lead to discrimination and even violence.

For example, amidst the COVID-19 crisis, it has become apparent that widespread fake news on the pandemic can seriously threaten public health.

Fake news is not a new concept.

Its dissemination thrives on incomplete information models in society.
If enough users share the same misinformation, it validates itself by the sheer numerical surplus, including when the gatekeepers of information, like journalists or politicians, validate it.

Moreover, if there is a deficit of correct information, due to a lack of successful transmission between the government, experts and the media, then misinformation will thrive even further.
The correct information fails to trickle down and instead, will be manipulated in the process especially in the absence of fact-checking mediums, or the consumer's inability to comprehend the consequences of that particular misinformation.

Solving this modern problem requires the creation of regulatory reforms that align the utility of social media platforms with the welfare of citizens, while safeguarding the right to free speech.
A key question in this regard is whether the big corporations that control social media can be trusted to self-adjudicate while performing state-like functions to reasonably restrict speech.

I argue that while these companies should take some responsibility over the content that is 2 published on their platforms, the state needs to set up strategies to help them address fake news and hate speech by filtering certain types of content.
This is a big challenge, because under international standards ·on freedom of expression, it is very difficult to identify whether a specific message is unlawful hate speech, and whether it should be legitimately prohibited or censored.

Any restriction on freedom of expression, whatever the objective it seeks to achieve, raises a series of legal questions.

A practical approach seems to be another system, focusing on voluntary commitments of codes of conduct and good practice.
Evidence suggests that digital literacy campaigns fare best in combating online dis information.

When a problem is effectively managed through self-regulation, the need for state regulation could be delayed, or decreased.

However, the European Commission is planning to propose binding EU legislation on issues such as paid political advertising, algorithmic transparency and electoral integrity.

Will these reforms be enough?


Only time will tell, but there needs to be a continuous analysis of the effectiveness of these regulations on countering misinformation and hate speech to be able to determine the best practice.
3 DIPARTIMENT TAL·INFORMAZZJONI DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION MALTA Press Release PR211630 07.09.2021 PRESS RELEASE BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPEAKER The Speaker of the House of Representatives addresses the fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament through a pre-recorded video message Speaker of the House of Representatives Anglu Farrugia will participate in the second part of the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament through a pre-recorded video message.
This conference is the world's largest gathering of the highest level of parliamentary representation and is taking place in Vienna, Austria between 7 a11d 8 September 2021.

This conference takes place every five years and its objective is to reinforce the parliamentary dimension of global governance.

Organized jointly by the IPU and the Austrian Parliament, in cooperation with the United Nations, this in-person segment of the conference follows a virtual session that was held in August 2020.
Over 1 I 0 speakers of parliament from around the world are expected to visit Vienna for the first physical large-scale inter-parliamentary meeting since the beginning of the COVID pandemic.

The two-day conference takes place under the umbrella theme of 'Parliamentary leadership for more effective multilateralism that delivers peace and sustainable development for the people and the planet'.
The speakers of parliament will focus on priorities that require urgent international parliamentary action including the global response to the pandemic and the post-COVID recovery, the climate emergency, countering misinformation, youth participation in politics, and gender equality.

Speaker Anglu Farrugia, in his video recording, will address the subject of countering misinformation and hate speech.
Social media has facilitated sharing of information and greatly enhanced civic engagement and connectivity.

At the same time, social media is vulnerable to abuse by malicious actors who misuse online platforms to spread misinformation and hateful and divisive content.

In his address, Speaker Farrugia will also call on the authorities to set up digital literacy campaigns since these are the best tool to fight misinformation and hate speech in society.
Attachments: none Page: 1 ofl 3, CASTILLE PLACE, VAI.LETTA VLT 2000 Tel +(356) 22001700 press.releases@gov.mt www.doi.gov.mt Some of the speakers that addressed the 51 h World Conference of Speakers of Parliament - Live Rec ently uplo aded Watc Small order of monks l iving hidden lives in South Ca ... 1 NEWS· 158K views· 2 weeks ago •• J World Conference of Speakers of Parliament Parliaments for peace, people and planet #5WCSP Fifth World Conference of v Speakers of Parliament (Day 1 ... 11m1 53 watching now #SWCSP It Live Recently uploaded Wat< ·1 week ago • • Parliaments for peace, people and planet World Conference of Speakers of Parliament fSWCSP ® Fifth World Conference of v Speakers of Parliament (Day 1 ... B 54 watching now #SWCSP ------------------------~===- Some of the speakers that addressed the 51h World Conference of Speakers of Parliament V. Matvienko Fifth World Conference of v Speakers of Parliament (Day 1 ... 52 watching now #SWCSP • Recently uploaded World Conference of Speakers of Parliament .f5WCSP • Parliaments for peace, people and planet ® World Conference of Speakers of Parliament :fi:5WCSP Parliaments for peace, people and planet Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament Parliamentary leadership for more effective multilateralism that delivers peace and sustainable development for the people and the planet Vienna, 6-8 September 2021 Draft programme Monday, 6 September 09:00- 12:00 13th Summit of Women Speakers' part 1 (Hall D) 12:00- 13:30 Luncheon 13:30-16:00 13th Summit of Women Speakers part 2 (Hall D) 16:30-18:00 Final meeting of the Preparatory Committee'' Tuesday, 7 September 09:30- 10:30 10:30-12:30 Inaugural session of the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament (Hall A) Start of the Interactive General Debate (Hall A) First motion: Achieving sustainable development requires more attention on human well-being and environmental preservation than on economic growth Panel discussion (Hall D) Panel 1: Towards a new global social compact for gender equality 12:30-14:30
 Lunch break 14:30-16:00 Continuation of the Interactive General Debate (Hall A) Second motion: The global response to the COVID-19 pandemic challenges multilateral ism's ability to deliver for the people Panel discussion (Hall D) Panel 2: Mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on democracy Reserved exclusively for women Speakers of Parliament Closed meeting -2- 16:30- 18:00 Continuation of the Interactive General Debate (Half A) Third motion: Countering misinformation and hate speech on and offline requires stronger regulations Panel discussion (Half D) Panel 3: The post-pandemic recovery: Transforming the economy to combat climate change and promote sustainable development 18:30 Official reception offered by the Host Parliament Wednesday, 8 September 09:30- 11:00 Continuation of the Interactive General Debate (Hall A) Fourth motion: Repealing laws that discriminate against women and girls is the only path towards achieving gender equality Panel discussion (Hall D) Panel 4: Parliaments' openness, transparency and accessibility versus security: How to strike a balance?
Goint event organized by the IPU and UNODC) 11:30-13:00 Continuation of the Interactive General Debate (Hall A) Fifth motion: Emergency measures imposed by the government must always be subject to parliamentary approval and regular review 13:00-14:30 14:30- 16:30 Panel discussion (Hall D) Panel 5: Parliaments and global governance: The unfinished agenda Side event organized by the IPU and International Atomic Energy Agency (luncheon reception, by invitation) Closing session Reports from the panel discussions (Hall A) Adoption of the High-level Declaration .....
., ilr1 ... 31 ~l'J(l World Conference of Speakers of Parliament Parliaments for peace, people and planet 4f5WCSP . '

HIGH-LEVEL DECLARATION on parliamentary leadership for more effective multilatera/ism that delivers peace and sustainable development for the people and the planet 1.

2.

3.

In August 2020, we, the Speakers of Parliament, convened for the virtual segment of the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament.
The world was five months into a global pandemic, with over 20 million recorded cases of COVID-19 infection and at least 750,000 deaths attributed to the virus.

The virtual segment resu lted in a commitment to strengthen international cooperation, solidarity and multilateral action, not only to lead the world out of cris is, but also to transform it for the better and to improve resilience.
By the start of September 2021, the pandemic had resulted in close to 220 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection and over 4.5 million deaths, coupled with extensive disruptions to essential health systems in several regions, underscoring the urgent need for a well-coordinated, multisectoral approach to the health emergency, ensuring surge capacity at all levels in all countries.
Our declaration in August 2020 underscored the critical importance of multilateralism and international solidarity in addressing the daunting socio economic challenges of our time.

As some countries fina lly start to emerge from the pandemic, this declaration rings truer than ever before.
The very fact that we have been able to meet in person in Vienna is testimony to the significant progress that has been made through our collective efforts , in particular in terms of developing and delivering life-saving vaccines for all to ensure that no one is left behind.
This Conference has granted many of us the first opportunity in over 18 months to meet in-person to share our experiences and lessons learned from the pandemic and to look forward with renewed hope to a positive recovery, founded on our shared endeavour to build back- and build forward -better.
The recovery must take account of the particular impact that the pandemic has had on women and girls, young and elderly people, persons with disabilities, marginalized and vulnerable populations, refugees, and communities affected by conflict.

The recovery efforts must uphold the rule of law, democratic principles and universal human rights.

The recovery must be inclusive, sustainable and green and must incorporate innovative solutions to the climate crisis.
We must work together as one human family in facing epidemics and other crises, overcoming differences of all kinds and seeking to foster a culture of tolerance, coexistence and acceptance of the other.

A renewed commitment by all parliamentarians worldwide to meaningful and effective multilateralism is critical to such a recovery.

-2- 4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

We recognize that women have made a significant contribution on the front line of the response to the CO VI D-19 pandemic.
And yet, the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women and girls, with lockdowns leaving them more vulnerable to domestic violence and increasing the burden of caring for children and the elderly.

Women have also been more likely to lose employment or income as a result of the socio-economic downturn.

Women and girls in conflict situations remain particularly vulnerable.
All these situations have stressed the importance of putting gender equality and the empowerment of women at the heart of the COVID-19 response and recovery.

We must build forward in a more gender-inclusive way and create a new global social compact for gender equality enabling the full and effective participation of women in all spheres of society.
From this perspective, women must be part of the strategy and leadership of the COVID-19 recovery process, and the first step to achieving this is to ensure their equal and meaningful representation in parliaments, governments, private companies and other decision-making bodies.
We also acknowledge that social distancing and lockdown measures during the pandemic have had a devastating impact on youth, limiting their access to education and reducing their employment prospects, which has resulted in isolation and a surge in mental health issues.

At the same time, young adults have undertaken vital front-line roles as healthcare, public utility and retail workers, as well as supporting their communities during the pandemic.
We recognize these critical roles and pledge to harness the positive energy and innovativeness of young adults by making every effort to increase youth representation in our parliaments, including by joining the IPU Campaign I Say Yes to Youth in Parliament, which is promoting several transformative actions.

We also commit to promote initiatives aimed at educating and training young people in modern information technologies, thus preparing them for the jobs of the future.
The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a multifaceted crisis that has undermined progress in the achievement of the sustainable development goals, made States more fragile and eroded international cooperation, resulting in worldwide increases in poverty, hunger, inequality and violence.

Parliaments must rise to the challenge by, first and foremost, protecting the norms and principles of peace, development, democracy, human rights and respect for the rule of law.
We must also tap into the many benefits of inter-parliamentary dialogue and cooperation in order to build bridges for better understanding, so as to lay the foundation for a more peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world where all people can live in freedom and dignity.

The global economic recovery must, therefore, be inclusive, with commitments to fight poverty and lessen inequality, reduce unemployment, and improve access to education and essential services.
This should nurture renewed efforts to address the root causes of conflicts and build more peaceful, just and inclusive societies.

As the United Nations has recognized, Parliaments have a key role to play in identifying bold and transformative actions to make the attainment of the SDGs a reality.

With less than a decade to go, we commit ourselves once again to accelerating our efforts to fully implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in our work as parliamentarians.
A sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will depend to a large extent on international cooperation and solidarity.

Accordingly, we reiterate our support for the World Health Organization, in particular in terms of its work on research, rapid response and better pandemic preparedness through enhanced cooperation among nations.

We call for strengthened international cooperation on vaccine research and development, production and distribution, and improving accessibility and affordability.
In this regard, vaccines must be distributed rapidly, fairly and equitably, as well as universally.

No one will be safe from COVID-19 until everyone is safe.

Innovative measures, such as voluntary licensing and exchange of know-how and technology must be taken to enhance equitable access to affordable vaccines and to scale up global vaccine production and distribution in the long term.
We commend the collaboration among countries, along with health organizations and manufacturers, including through the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator and the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) programme.

However, much remains to be done to ensure unimpeded and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries.

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10.

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- 3- 9.

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11.

We urge collaboration on continued research and innovation into the treatment and elimination of COVID-19 and coronaviruses more generally, including the debilitating long-term impacts of post-COVID-19 syndrome (also known as "long COVID").

Moreover, we call for close co operation to prepare the world for future pandemics.
In this regard, it is important to work towards the establishment of a global health charter, to be agreed upon by world leaders, which guarantees health security for the world's population, without exception, and to confront epidemics and disasters of a global nature with common universal principles and values, and in a manner that guarantees respect for human health rights.

The recovery of the global economy following the COVID-19 pandemic remains uncertain and unequal.
Many countries will face huge budgetary deficits in the coming years and parliaments must be ready to address such challenges.

We believe that a fair, open, inclusive, transparent and non-discriminatory rules-based multilateral trading system, with the World Trade Organization at its core, remains a pivotal foundation for the global economy.
We call for increased coordination on macro-economic policy, continued efforts to strengthen sustainable global trade and oppose protectionism and unilateralism, and robust measures to revitalize the global economy- including in terms of developing a fairer global tax system.

A key component of the economic recovery will be the advancement of the digital economy.

We, therefore, call for more efforts to address the digital gap and ensure fair access to technology, internet connectivity and knowledge.
Parliaments should help facilitate the development of core digital infrastructure and enhance digital skills among their populations.

The COVID-19 pandemic must not overshadow the urgency of climate action.

In order to genuinely build a better future and long-term resilience, we must achieve a green, inclusive and innovation-based growth and sustainable recovery.
We remain convinced of the compelling need to tackle climate change and reiterate the critical importance of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the actions and targets set out in the Paris Agreement.

We welcome increased support for the Paris Agreement, in particular the return of the United States earlier this year as a party state to the Agreement.
We express our strong support for an ambitious and collaborative outcome from the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26) in Glasgow in November 2021, and stand ready to make a robust parliamentary contribution to this process.

12.
12.

We also express our deep concern about the negative impacts of the climate crisis on human health and security, such as increased food insecurity, water stress and resource scarcity arising from increasingly frequent and ever more severe weather events, all of which in turn fuel conflicts and tensions and force more people around the world to leave their homes.
We stress the need for preventive strategies to mitigate climate risks and enhance resilience, especially for the most vulnerable and marginalized people.

We recognize the importance of preserving biodiversity and express our support for COP15to the Convention on Biological Diversity, due to be held in Kunming, China in October 2021, under the theme of Ecological Civilization Building a Shared Future for all Life on Earth.

13.
13.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also resulted in increasing threats to our democratic principles and institutions.

In addressing the pandemic, the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government have had to take challenging decisions, notably curtailing freedom of movement, which has sometimes led to disillusionment and citizens losing trust in the political processes and in their representatives.
Left unchecked, this dissonance, which is often fed by misinformation and extremist ideology, can create serious security threats to our institutions and to the physical safely of our legislators and staff.

Governments should take people-centred measures, in full respect of human rights, in order to restore public trust that was eroded during the pandemic.
Parliaments should serve as the centre of democratic accountability and transparency, including for COVID-19 responses, by systematically integrating public engagement into their work.

This will enhance their legitimacy and the quality of parliamentary processes.

14.

Parliaments have remained open for business despite restrictions on their ability to meet in person.
This has led to unprecedented innovation, bringing information and communications technologies (ICT) from the back office into the very heart of parliamentary chambers, allowing remote working, remote sittings and even remote voting in many countries.
We encourage -4- parliaments to continue to innovate and expand the use of digital technologies in order to be appropriately prepared for future emergencies, enhance access to parliaments, and ultimately increase their accountability, transparency and openness to the public.

15.
15.

While information and communications technologies have allowed the world to remain as interconnected as possible, and have contributed to enhancing prosperity, development and security at all levels, our increased use of technology carries considerable risks, exposing us to cyber-attacks and cybercrime.
The internet, and in particular social media, is fertile ground for misinformation, manipulation and the dissemination of false news and disinformation, discrimination, harassment, hate speech and violence.

Increased mass surveillance, undue dependence on and unregulated use of algorithms and artificial intelligence, and digital privacy are also pressing concerns.

16.

All stakeholders need to observe principles, rules and norms for responsible behaviour in the ICT environment.
We call on the global community to come together and establish a multilateral framework for regulating the use of digital technologies and imposing greater accountability on big tech corporations.
More generally, we must work for a global consensual approach to the management of these challenges, including data security and privacy, the consequences of the use of artificial intelligence, and the ethical aspect of scientific and technological innovation, in strict compliance with our human rights obligations.

17.

We strongly believe that a global community with a shared future for humankind has interwoven mutual interests and aspirations.
Common challenges can only be overcome through global responses, coordination and collaboration between all our nations.

We, therefore, reaffirm the key role of multilateralism, with the United Nations at its core.

We also firmly support the IPU's efforts to engage and mobilize parliaments and parliamentarians around major international global processes and global commitments, thereby further strengthening the parliamentary dimension of global governance.
We must continue to review, revitalize and renew multilateralism, so as to ensure that the voices of parliamentarians are heard at the United Nations and other international fora.

18.

We commend the Austrian Parliament and the IPU, our global organization of national parliaments, for bringing us together for this parliamentary summit at such a historic time.

We pledge to take this Declaration back to our countries and our parliaments, and to work diligently in following up on its key recommendations.
We look forward to coming together again under the auspices of the IPU and in cooperation with the United Nations so as to share our experiences and report back on progress achieved.
Reservations expressed: To paragraph 4 (gender equality) and paragraph 12 (climate change): by Turkey To lhe concepts of "people-centered measures" (paragraph 13) and "global community with a shared future for humankind' (paragraph 17): by Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland 0 V1 \JJrt World Conference of Speakers of Parliament Parliaments for peace, people and planet 4f5WCSP ~ ~ .. JHPUlll( Ul \l'\IHI .\ Revised version 26 May 2021 Conference Report Making gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls a reality: Best practices and parliamentary commitments The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 as a comprehensive and visionary agenda for achieving gender equality, the empowerment of women and the realization of human rights for women and girls.
The vision of Beijing was reaffirmed in 2015, when States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The year 2020 was a year of taking stock of achievements in and challenges for women's human rights and gender equality by reviewing the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing +25); the twenty years of implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 (2002) on women, peace and security; and the five-year milestone of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Goal 5 on gender equality and women's empowerment.
It was also in 2020 that the COVID-19 pandemic broke out endangering hard-won gains in the advancement gender equality.

The present report reviews key achievements, persisting and emerging challenges, as well as good practices witnessed in recent years in advancing gender equality.

It focuses on the key areas of equality of men and women in law, gender balanced political participation, and the elimination of violence against women and girls.
In its conclusion the report identifies a series of actions recommended to parliaments and their men and women members to accelerate progress in advancing gender equality, in fu lfilling the human rights of and empowering women and girls.

Where are we with elimination of discrimination against women in law?
The Sustainable Development Agenda specifically recognizes the importance of promoting gender equality and women's empowerment as a key driver of change towards a more equitable, prosperous and inclusive world.

Reflecting this commitment, SDG 5 specifically focuses on promoting gender equality.

The fi rst target under SDG 5 calls on States to end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
The 2030 Agenda reflects prior commitments that were included in the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Convention) and the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action that call on Member States to remove discriminatory laws against women.

Equal rights for women and men are not only the right thing to do but are also good from an economic perspective as reforms and policies that empower women boost economic growth.
1 1 World Bank, Women, Business and the Law 2020 (Washington, 2020): https:/ /openknowledqe.

worldba nk.

org/hand le/1 0986/32639 .

- 2- Yet, on average, women have just three-fourths of the legal rights afforded to men 2 Discriminatory laws affect more than 2.5 billion women and girls around the world.

Today, there remain 75 countries wherein women and men do not have equal rights to manage and inherit property.
Less than half of the countries around the world have mandated equal pay for work of equal value.

Only 44 countries in the world have paid parental leave and 88 countries still restrict the jobs that women can hold.

The ages of retirement remain unequal for women and men in about one third of countries globally.

Moreover, 108 countries still do not have legal provisions that prohibit gender-based discrimination in the access to finance.
3 On a more positive note, the World Bank's Women, Business and the Law 2021 index4 presents a narrower gender gap in development outcomes, higher female labour force participation, lower employment vulnerability and greater representation of women in parliaments.

Since 2019, 27 countries representing all regions have enacted reforms that increased gender equality in 45 instances.

Most of these reforms affected women's pay and parenthood.
Good practices of recent years • • • • • In 2020, on the basis indicators such as access to mobility, workplace and employment policies, just compensation, marriage rights and domestic violence, parenthood, entrepreneurship, assets and pensions, it was established that three-quarters of the world's legislation was gender -responsive.
Even though research shows that fathers only tend to take paternity leave when it is highly compensated and specifically granted to them, 5 paternity leave was one of the most prevalent reforms in 2020 due to the growing recognition that gender equality in the home was necessary to achieve gender equality in the workplace.
Ten economies (Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Sweden) achieved equal legal standing for men and women across all the indicators measured.

Most legal reforms since 2019 have been carried out in countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Looking at the last 50 years, record gains in the gender-responsiveness of laws have been achieved in Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the OECD countries.

Emerging and persisting challenges The COVID-19 crisis has put additional pressure on women who are more likely than men to work in the health sector (70% of the health workforce) and to occupy unstable, informal jobs that provide no social security or health coverage, while coping with increased care responsibilities.
Women also make up the majority of caregivers in the home and workers in grocery stores and pharmacies.

The pandemic and some of the measures to contain it put women's lives and safety at risk.

Living in confinement and under economic stress increases the risks of sexual exploitation and violence against women.

Women are underrepresented in added-value jobs and managerial positions.
The economic downturn disproportionately affects women as workers who are more likely than men to have lower-paid and less secure jobs.

Women's limited access to property, inheritance and financial services further undermines their autonomy, well-being and economic opportunities.

In addition, women's essential contribution to society as carers is most often not remunerated, and they continue to undertake most household chores.
The unequal share of responsibilities within families and the lack of State contribution and financed infrastructure to care for children and the elderly are key obstacles to red ressing these existing imbalances.

Ibid., p. 1.

3 World Bank, Women, Business and the Law 2021 (Washington, 2021): https://openknowledqe.

worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/1 0986/35094/978 1464816529. pdf.

Ibid.
Ibid.

4 5 Berit Brandth & Elin Kvande, "Workplace support of fathers' parental leave in Norway", Community Work & Family, 22:1 (2019), 43-57; Leena Marynissen et al., "Fathers' Parental Leave Uptake in Belgium and Sweden: Self-Evident or Subject to Employment Characteristics?

", Social Sciences, 8:11 (2019), 312; Ankita Patnaik, "Reserving Time for Daddy: The Consequences of Fathers ' Quotas".

Journal of labor economics 37.4 (2019): 1009-1059.


- 3- Are we anywhere close to achieving equal participation of men and women in parliament?
The IPU report Women in parliament: 1995-2020 published in March 2020, revealed that a quarter of a century after the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing , expectations regarding women's participation in politics have grown in ambition, and that ach ieving a critical mass of 30 per cent of seats held by women in national parliaments was no longer the objective.
A shift in the paradigm towards gender parity emerged as the biggest achievement of the past 25 years.6 But despite progress in the global proportion of women in parliament, in 2021 only three countries have at least 50 per cent of women in their lower or single chambers, and only in one country (Rwanda) women hold over 60 per cent of parliamentary seats.

The global average of women in parliament stands now at 25.5 per cent up from a mere 11.3 per cent in 1995.
IPU data as of 1 January 2021 indicate that there are 23 parliaments in the world that have 40 per cent or more women representatives in their lower or single chambers.

However, in a majority of countries women hold less than 25 per cent of seats.

Regionally, the Americas have the highest average of women representatives in parliament.

In 2021, women in the Americas make up 32.4 per cent of members of parliament, a 1.1 per cent increase from 2020.

Europe trails close behind with 30.4 per cent.


Sub-Saharan Africa is currently at 25 per cent regionally, followed by Asia (20.4%) and the Pacific (20.9%).

The proportion of women in parliament in the MENA region is the lowest among all regions at 17.8 per cent, all chambers combined.

At the level of sub-regions, Europe's Nordic countries continue to lead the way, with an average of 44.5 per cent women in parliament.
On the lowest end, the Pacific Island States are at 6.4 per cent of parliamentary seats held by women.

IPU research shows that gender electoral quotas have been a key determinant of progress in women's participation in parliament.

Quotas acted as a shield against backslid ing during the pandemic in 2020.

In 25 out of the 57 countries that held elections in 2020, a gender quota was applied in some form.
Parliaments with legislated gender quotas elected 11 .8 per cent more women to single and lower chambers and 7.4 per cent more women to upper chambers.

Other key factors that help accelerate progress include policies to promote women's recruitment by political parties, strong women's movements, awareness-raising efforts and a more gender-sensitive political culture.
Women in political leadership Despite progress in female representation in parliamentary leadership roles, women are still underrepresented among Speakers of parliament.

Today, one in five Speakers of parliament is a woman.

This is a mere 0.4 per cent increase from the year before.
Comparing progress in women's participation in parliament and government, the joint IPU-UN Women map Women in Politics: 2021 showed that, as at 1 January 2021, 22 countries had women Heads of State and Government- up from 20 countries in 2020.

It also showed that the number of countries in which women held at least 50 per cent of ministerial positions dropped to 13 from 14 in 2020 .

Overall, the proportion of women ministers reached 21.9 per cent, +0.6 per cent from the previous year.
At the IPU level, placing gender equality in politics has been at the core of the political agenda for many decades but, in 130 years of existence, there have been only two women Presidents of the IPU.

On a more positive note, women have been occupying between 30 to 50 per cent of seats in the Executive Committee, Standing Committee Bureaux and other decision-making bodies of the Organization.
6 At the multilateral level, the goals were already affirmed in 1990 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which set targets for the proportion of women in leadership positions at 30 per cent by 1995 and 50 per cent by 2000.
In 2016, the IPU Member Parliaments reaffirmed the objective in the IPU resolution The freedom of women to participate in political processes fully, safely and without interference: Building partnerships between men and women to achieve this objective, adopted unanimously by the 135th IPU Assembly (Geneva, October 2016) (available at: http://archive.ipu.org/conf-e/1351item4.pdf).
In March 2021, the sixty-fifth session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women called for achieving "the goal of 50/50 gender balance at all levels of elected positions" (https://undocs.org/eniE/CN .6/2021/L.

3).

-4- Good practices of recent years • • • • • • • While in the 1990s gender quotas tended to aim at reaching a critical mass of 30 per cent of parliamentary seats held by women, many are now increasingly aiming at gender parity.
Following parliamentary elections in 2020, Mali and Niger made significant gains in women's representation, despite grave security challenges.

New or revised quota policies helped protect these gains against instability.

These countries are testament to the fact that women's role in transition processes is key to their political empowerment Egypt also reached historic highs for women in parliament thanks to a new quota law for the House of Representatives.
New Zealand made history in 2020 with more women, people of colour, LGBTQ+ and Maori elected as MPs than any time in the past While Asia recorded the slowest growth rate of any region over the past 25 years, Nepal's proportion of women MPs has exceeded 30 per cent over the last decade, a trend confirmed in elections for the upper house in 2020.
In Europe, four countries that had parliamentary renewals in 2020 exceeded 30 per cent women's representation in at least one chamber -Ireland, France, North Macedonia and Serbia.

In the Americas, women are also making history.

In Chile, a referendum in 2020 approved the establishment of a Constituent Assembly that will include gender parity.

The United States elections marked the highest levels in history of women's representation in the national legislature.
Leadership in parliament reflects this positive change.

Both chambers of the US Congress are currently presided by women.

Are we succeeding in eliminating violence against women and girls (VAWG)?

At least 144 countries have passed laws on domestic violence; 154 countries have laws on sexual harassment; and improvements in legal frameworks were conducted in more than half of the countries of the world.
However, women and girls remain subject to different and intersecting forms of violence, mostly perpetrated by men, in a variety of contexts and in diverse spheres: the family, the community, the workplace and broader society.

Gender-based violence affects women in all countries and across all socioeconomic groups, locations and education levels.
In the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, reported cases of violence against women and girls have increased across countries as a result of confined living conditions, economic stress and fear about the virus.

The risks are likely higher for women of vulnerable groups and marginalized communities, adolescent girls, women with disabilities, and women and girls in contexts of conflict, violent extremism, terrorism, displacement and migration.
Recent data shows that: • • • • • • • In 2020, 245 million women experienced sexual or physical violence from their partner.

7 More than half of the women intentionally killed worldwide were killed by their partners or family members.

This represents more than 50,000 women every year and 137 women every day.

Less than 40 per cent of the women who experienced violence sought help of any sort.
Among women who did so, most looked to family and friends and less than 10 per cent sought help by appealing to the police.

15 million adolescent girls (aged 15 to 19) worldwide have experienced forced sex (forced sexual intercourse or other sexual acts) at some point in their life.

650 million women and girls in the world today were married before age 18.

At least 200 million women and girls aged 15 to 49 underwent female genital mutilation in the 30 countries with representative data on prevalence.
In most of these countries, the majority of girls were cut before age five.

Displaced, migrant and refugee women are at particular risk of gender-based violence, including sexual abuse, transactional sex, forced marriage and trafficking.
7 UNWomen - 5- Effective change requires both a strong institutional framework and national bodies with the capacity and legitimacy to take action: long-term investment is required to implement laws and policies, comprehensive and coordinated services for women and girls, and to tackle gender inequality as the root cause of violence.
Good parliamentary practices supported by the IPU In recent years, the IPU provided support to several parliaments in their action to eliminate VAWG: • • • • • Awareness-raising and capacity building activities have triggered parliamentary action in Albania, Azerbaijan, Romania, Tajikistan, and Turkey.

In Romania, the Parliament made substantial legislative improvements to the law on preventing and combating domestic violence.
Sixty-eight Romanian senators and deputies from all political parties submitted a legislative initiative to amend the Penal Code.

The amendment eliminates the possibility for aggressors to be exempt from criminal responsibility when the victims withdraw their complaints.

In Sierra Leone, the first ever Parliamentary Caucus on female genital mutilation (FGM) was created in 2020 with IPU support.
Men and women MPs have been strengthening their ability to talk about FGM abandonment in their constituencies and to generate support for national policies in this area.

Support brought to the caucus of women MPs in Mauritania during the examination of a government bill on gender-based violence and a bill on reproductive health, helped include the prohibition of FGM in both bills.

The law on reproductive health was passed with the amendment on FGM as proposed by the caucus of women MPs.
Training for members of the parliamentary network against violence against women in Mali helped the MPs to carry out outreach missions to raise awareness among the population on ending VAWG, FGM and child marriage.

In Burkina Faso, a law on all forms of violence against women and girls was drafted with IPU support and adopted in 2015.
In 2018, the revision of the country's Criminal Code took into account the provisions of the 2015 law while penalties and sanctions for the various forms of VAWG set out in the Criminal Code and the law on VAWG were harmonized.

Emerging challenges The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated isolation, stress, disruption of economic stability as well as shortcomings related to protection and provisions of essential services and community support to survivors, and limited access to justice.
Violence against women politicians has increased during the pandemic as well.

Women politicians are more exposed to online harassment and abuse, and encounter more discriminatory obstacles in accessing online platforms and campaign funding.

Even before the pandemic, the United Nations Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, had shed light on violence against women in politics and violence facilitated by technology as emerging issues to be addressed.
The persistence of gender stereotypes and negative portrayals of women in the media are a factor contributing to violence against women and girls and gender inequality more broadly.

Rapid changes in technology and the media are creating new spaces for the perpetration of violence against women and girls.

The ILO Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No.

190), highlighted women's experiences of violence and harassment in the world of work.
It is important to advance ratification and implementation of the Convention.

The IPU study Sexism, harassment and violence against women in parliament (2016) provided evidence of the prevalence of gender-based violence in parliament as a workplace.

In 2019, the IPU issued guidelines• to support action by parliaments to eliminate sexism, harassment and violence against women.

8 IPU, Guidelines for the elimination of sexism, harassment and violence against women in parliament (2019).
-6- Special focus on violence against women in parliament Two IPU studies, published in 2016 and 2018, 9 provided evidence that sexism, harassment and violence against women in parliaments were extremely widespread and that they were present to different degrees in every region of the world.

Sexism, harassment and violence against women in parliaments are major obstacles to the full contribution of women to political processes and a prejudice to democratic institutions and to democracy itself.
The IPU encourages and supports parliaments to implement the Guidelines by: • • • • • • Adopting a policy to make it perfectly clear that sexism, harassment and VAW are totally illegal, intolerable and unacceptable; clearly stating what remedies are available to MPs and parliamentary staff.

Carrying out an exhaustive evaluation of the situation, including through surveys.

Ensuring that those who believe they are victims can have access to assistance and advice services in full confidentiality.
Putting in place a complaints and investigation mechanism wh ich is confidential, fair and responsive to victims' concerns.

Introducing and applying disciplinary sanctions against the perpetrators.

Raising awareness and running training for all persons working in parliament on respect at work and the fight against sexism, harassment and VAW.
Parliamentary commitments to making gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls a reality The year 2021 is crucial for accelerating action to fulfil women's rights both de jure and de facto, achieve equality between men and women at all levels and in all sectors, and deliver on development promises for all, both nationally and globally.

Gender equality is key to building back better and with more resilience.
Accelerated global and national action to advance gender equality, fulfil the human rights of women and girls and empower them is needed now.

With this objective, the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament needs to place gender equality high on its agenda.
The Conference can revive the commitment by parliaments and their members and spur accelerated action to: • • • • • • • 9 10 11 Reaffirm- in the spirit of multilateralism -global commitments such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, UN Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), Sustainable Development Goal 5, as well as IPU commitments on women's political empowerment10 and financial inclusion.
11 Review implementation of these commitments and accelerate action towards their fulfilment in the context of the SDG Decade of Action.

Build or enhance political will to support women's rights and gender equality, including in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and its parliamentary response.

Track de jure inequalities and repeal discrimination against women and girls in legislation.
Advance legislation that shares the burden of household care work through paid parental leave policies, equal pay policies and universal childcare policies.

Ensure gender-responsive economic recovery post-COVID-19 through strengthening social security nets especially for the informal economy where women represent a large majority.

Tackle all forms of violence against women and girls through legislation and policymaking.
IPU, Sexism, harassment and violence against women parliamentarians (Issues Brief, 2016): https://www.

i pu.

org/resou rces/publications/issue-briefs/20 16-1 0/sex ism-harassment-and-violence-against women-parliamentarians; I PU-P ACE, Sexism, harassment and violence against women in parliaments in Europe (Issues Brief, 2018): https://www.ipu.org/resources/publications/issue-briefs/2018-1 0/sexism harassment -and-violence-against -women-i n-parl iaments-in-eu rope.
IPU resolution, The freedom of women to participate in political processes fully, safely and without interference: Building partnerships between men and women to achieve this objective (135th IPU Assembly, Geneva, October 2016): http://archive.ipu.org/conf-e/135/item4.pdf.

IPU resolution, Promoting enhanced international cooperation on the SDGs, in particular on the financial inclusion of women as a driver of development (136th IPU Assembly, Dhaka, April 2017): http://archive.ipu.org/conf-e/136/item5.pdf.
-7- • • • • • • • • • • • • Ensure that all parliamentary actions in legislation, oversight and representation take into account and are responsive to the needs and interests of the most marginalized groups of woman and girls.

Adopt ambitious, well-designed and strictly enforceable legal measures such as gender electoral quotas to advance women's equal participation with men in parliament and other political decision-making positions, including if necessary, through constitutional reforms.
Encourage gender parity commitments by political parties.

Review and adopt comprehensive legislation and policies on all forms of VAWG, including child marriage and FGM, that include provisions on prevention, protection and support for the survivors, and prosecution and punishment of the perpetrators.
Ensure strong implementation of such legislation and policies, including by scrutinizing budgets, effective oversight, and by participating in monitoring and evaluation processes together with civil society organizations and governments.

Oversee government action to ensure proper enforcement of all gender-equality-related laws and policies.

Allocate sufficient resources nationally and through official development assistance to advance gender equality.
Build partnerships between men and women parliamentarians and with stakeholders from government, civil society, academia, the media and the private sector.
Condemn all forms of violence against women in politics and enforce a zero-tolerance policy towards any act of sexism, harassment and violence against women in parliament Raise awareness on zero tolerance against VAWG and contribute to transforming mentalities and challenging the unbalanced power relations between men and women, addressing stereotypes and discrimination, and building a culture of equality and respect.
Promote personal commitment by political leaders to concrete action for gender equality, the rights of all women and girls and their empowerment.

Ensure that parliamentary institutions are gender-sensitive, that is, that they are able to respond to the needs and interests of both men and women in their structures, methods and work, and that they promote women's leadership.
'II [, n v· World Conference of Speakers of Parliament Parliaments for peace, people and planet #5WCSP Rl tJl'IIIU Ul \l '' I JCI-\ 26 May 2021 Conference Report Science, technology, and ethics: Emerging challenges and urgent solutions Basic science, applied research, innovation and advanced technology are all essential to the progress of humankind.
They are linked by a virtuous circle: basic science and fundamental research foster our understanding of the world around us and, by doing so, they generate applied research, innovation and technology; these, in turn, directly improve people's quality of life and provide more and more powerful research tools.
For example, science, particularly research into infectious diseases, is at the forefront of international efforts to fight CO VI D-19, and it is now more important than ever that we count on science for the well-being of humanity.
Parliaments, as the representatives of the people, must be able to identify and understand in depth the potential impact of science and technology on society, determining how it can be translated into concrete initiatives for the benefit of the people, and accompanying their implementation with appropriate legislation and political action.
Parliaments and policymakers play a key role in ensuring the development of humanity through scientific progress, while protecting their citizens' human rights from the misuse of technological advances.

Currently, these complex tasks are further complicated by phenomena that in the recent past have acquired more and more significance.
These include, inter alia: • • • The extremely rapid evolution of scientific knowledge and technology in a globalized society, making it extremely difficult for the parliamentary world to follow constantly changing scenarios and to take effective legislative and political action to shape them.
The temptation, which is more and more common , to use scientific and technological knowledge in a way that privileges economic interests rather than the interests of human beings, including their right to live a decent life.

The need for society to establish an ethical dimension to scientific research and to the relevant technological applications.
This need has historical precedent but has acquired even more importance today following recent developments in fields such as artificial intelligence and genetics.

Moreover, globalization calls for a more coordinated approach among parliaments for solutions to global problems related to the use of science and technology.
Sharing knowledge and best practice, including in the parliamentary world, is necessary if society wants to be successful in dealing with extremely complex and challenging issues such as the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the fight against viral epidemics like the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.
This health crisis has shown the importance of global cooperation in science and medicine, and in particular the importance of putting humanity and human well-being at the centre of the work of the scientific community.

Only in this way can the world of science- which is global in its nature, and must always be inspired by ethics- help solve major societal problems and bring people together.

A lack of solidarity and unethical approaches demonstrated by individual States must be rejected.
-2- Speakers of parliament have a key role in further developing and consolidating the effort initiated a few years ago by the IPU to increase awareness in parliaments of the importance of science and technology for the sustainable development of society, and the importance of integrating them more regularly into parliamentary action.
Speakers of parliament can encourage the members of their parliaments to engage in a challenging cultural change: transforming science and technology into permanent elements of policymaking.

Speakers can also directly contribute to this change by reflecting on the most important global issues related to science and technology and by proposing those which should be prioritized by parliaments.
The role of science has been gaining more importance in the IPU, with its governing bodies recently approving the establishment of an IPU parliamentary body dedicated to science, technology and ethics, to serve as the global parliamentary focal point on these issues.

This working group will be the instrument through which the IPU can start tackling the reflections outlined in this report.
Topics to reflect upon are manifold, and some, such as those related to climate change and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, are already being extensively addressed elsewhere by the parliamentary community.

This report has therefore identified five science- and technology-related topics with a high impact on society for the Speakers of parliament to reflect on and possibly bring to the attention of their parliaments.

1.
1.

Ethics and limits of scientific research Scientific research and related technologies can have a strong impact on the development of society and on the welfare of citizens.

Intellectual freedom and freedom of research are essential for science to progress.

Research is driven by the need to understand the world around us, its inner workings and its deep nature.
This process, which implies the constant investigation of unexplored paths, often leads to discoveries and, in some cases, to disruptive innovation.

The need for exploration and the will to know cannot be limited.

However, when scientific research operates at the frontier of knowledge or even sets new frontiers, questions may arise as to whether it goes beyond ethical limits.

In particular, this is the case for advanced research in biology, genetics and several other medical domains.
This kind of research, and the technological progress it drives, can undoubtedly have beneficial impacts for humanity.

However, they can also result in situations that go beyond the levels presently accepted by society.

For instance, researchers have developed techniques that allow human DNA to be modified.

Such techniques open many doors and raise hopes of the possibility of "repairing" the DNA of patients affected by serious diseases, giving them the possibility to live a normal life.
However, these kinds of techniques can also be applied in controversial cases, such as the use by a scientist in 2018 of the gene-editing tool CRISPR to modify the genome of twin babies in order to make them resistant to HIV.

New fast-developing technologies based on artificial intelligence, electronics, robotics, and implant techniques can now "repair" parts of the human body.
Some of them are so advanced that they can directly interface with the human brain, change the biology of the body, and make the "replacing parts" more solid, more resistant and higher performing than the replaced parts in a healthy body.

The temptation may arise to integrate such technologies in a healthy body, thus reaching a sort of "augmented humanity", a concept that evidently poses a lot of ethical questions.

What is the role of parliaments in addressing these issues?
Scientists and bioethicists agree that a more ethical approach to research can limit the risks related to potential misuse of derived technologies, and that it is crucial to find the right balance between pursuing research for the benefit of society and respecting socially acceptable ethical boundaries.

However, establishing boundary conditions and rules and monitoring their proper application cannot be left exclusively in the hands of the scientific community.
Parliaments, as the institutions that represent the peoples of the planet, and hence all human beings, must therefore take the lead by taking well-informed decisions through regular consultation and hearings with independent and non-partisan scientific and technical experts.

They must develop legislation which, whilst leaving the necessary space for freedom and autonomy of scientific research, establishes adequate ethical limits in the sole interest of humanity.
- 3- An ethical approach to research cannot be fully achieved by adding up national legislations.

Science is a universal discipline and the knowledge it produces, together with the technology it generates, spreads beyond borders.

Speakers of parliament should not only encourage their parliaments to work on science and ethics, but also promote inter-parliamentary collaboration on these topics, including through and with the IPU.

2.
2.

Science, technology and ethics in preventing conflicts and dealing with crises Scientific progress and advanced technologies are sometimes perceived as direct or contributory causes of conflict, in particular insofar as they are the bases of powerfu l weapons and other modern military applications such as satellite observation, spying, military intelligence, electronic warfare systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, and so on.
It is extremely difficult to establish ethical boundaries to the use of scientific and technological progress in applications that may be regarded as defensive or offensive instruments, depending on the point of view of the parties involved.

However, a key factor to determine the nature of the application is the advantage a country (or a group of countries) may draw from the results of specific research programmes.
Military research programmes are secret by nature, as secrecy is the main way to gain advantage in terms of knowledge and know-how that can strengthen countries that invest heavily in these programmes.

The lack of competitive military advantage would make it much less worthwhile to invest large amounts of money in these applications.
Secrecy is extraneous to the principles and the foundations of scientific research, in particu lar basic scientific research, where results are made available to the whole scientific community for validation, thus eliminating any competitive advantage.

Speakers of parliament may wish to promote in their parliaments the culture to support, with suitable legislation and programmes, basic scientific research and inter-parliamentary collaboration on these initiatives.
In this way, the knowledge and technology resulting from research programmes can be used to lower the risk of conflict.

Science and technology, if used in the right way, can also be powerful tools to directly prevent conflicts and deal with existing crises.

Conflicts and crises are often generated by political interests.

Among the justifications for such political interests are deficiencies in people's quality of life (e.g .
access to water or decent food; housing problems; access to electricity or sanitation; access to education).

Science and technology may help reduce or even eliminate such deficiencies, and hence address some of the drivers of conflict and crisis.
Properly harnessing science and technology to deal with crises requires a two-step action plan: • • an honest, and as objective as possible, identification of the drivers of the crisis and of the technology required to eliminate or mitigate those drivers the commitment of the parties involved to take concrete action.

Parliaments can promote a cultural change which will lead to science and technology being seen as powerful tools capable of transforming elements of conflict into reasons for co-existence.
This includes the positive role science can have in intercultural dialogue and peaceful cooperation.

The success of inter-governmental scientific organizations like CERN 1 or SESAME2 could motivate other sectors including the parliamentary sector- to adopt the scientific "coopetition" model of collaborating without excluding competition.

This requires that all parties identify a common goal, and work towards it, being openly collaborative.
In the case of parliaments, the common goal would be to avoid conflict in areas of political tension, and the collaboration would include intercultural dialogue and transboundary projects for the benefit of the local population.

CERN (European Laboratory for Particle Physics) is an international scientific research institution and inter governmental organization located in Geneva, Switzerland (https://home.cern ).
2 SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) is an international scientific research institution and inter-governmental organization located in Amman , Jordan (https://www.sesame.orq.jo).

Its convention is largely based on that of CERN.

-4- 3.
-4- 3.

Ethical use of the internet to prevent human rights violations and social disruption As one of science and technology's greatest achievements, the internet has brought great changes and benefits to the lives of people all around the world.

The internet allows knowledge and information from all over the world to form a collective intelligence in cyberspace, which further creates new value.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many of us to stay home, from where we have had to continue our work, education, and interaction via the internet for quite some time.

While the pandemic has clearly had an unfortunate impact on our lives, it has also provided us with the opportunity to learn new ways to use the internet and its potential to solve many of the social issues that surround us.
If access to the labour market and to education continues to become easier through the internet, this social change would promote the empowerment of those who have not been able to access such opportunities despite their ability and motivation.
On the other hand, as services based on computers and the internet continue to develop at a rapid pace and become more intricate, the following serious issues have resulted: • • • human rights violations, including the surveillance of citizens' behaviour by collecting and using personal data without consent abuse of the anonymity of the internet to defame individuals social disruption by spreading inaccurate or false information.
These problems represent potential risks to individual privacy, human rights, and social stability.

Parliaments are encouraged to continue creating effective legislation and initiatives to ensure that the internet is utilized in accordance with the concepts of freedom and ethics, thus maximizing the benefits and minimizing the risks inherent in this powerful and extremely useful tool.
Since the impact of the internet spreads across national borders, parliaments are also encouraged to exchange their knowledge through the IPU and other forms of parliamentary cooperation, to ensure that the legislation and initiatives mentioned above are harmonized across countries.

4.

Artificial intelligence: Boundary conditions for ethical development Artificial intelligence (AI), one of the main fields of research in computer science, has made spectacular advancements in recent years.
Giving machines the capability to "learn" and to develop a human-like "intelligence" leads to a universe of possible applications that will certainly improve people's well-being.

AI and machine learning already provide innovative solutions to important societal problems and are likely to become more and more present in our lives.

Their fields of application range from human health to security, commerce, transportation, and more.
It is therefore not difficult to imagine that, in the near future, autonomous vehicles could become the standard mode of transportation.

However, despite these promising expectations, AI also poses a number of sensitive ethical questions, ranging from the concern that intelligent machines could become sorts of humanoids, which could perhaps one day challenge humans, to the consequences that may derive from decisions that humans could delegate to machines.
The following examples are just three of the any number of potential scenarios.

• • • The decisions taken by an autonomous vehicle just before an imminent road accident that cannot be avoided.

The developments that arise during war when important decisions are made by AI entities.

Discriminatory actions taken against persons of a specific gender or specific physical features due to AI output made on the basis of incomplete or biased programming.
Leveraging the power of artificial intelligence is key to dealing with some of the major challenges facing humanity, but only an appropriate and ethical development and implementation of AI technologies can avoid risks such as these.

- 5- Specifically, it is important to secure adequate testing opportunities in a diverse and inclusive environment during the development and implementation of AI as well as to ensure that unethical decisions resulting from incomplete or biased programming are eliminated.
Parliaments are being required to intervene on these complex and delicate matters, and their intervention should be effective, global and rapid.

Our globalized world requires that the legislation needed for an ethical implementation of AI be homogeneous across parliaments and based on common ethical principles.

Furthermore, this legislation is needed now, as innovation in this field progresses incredibly fast and society cannot afford for it to develop further without regulation.
This becomes critical when we think that, currently, 100 per cent of AI is in the hands of the private sector: big companies have the know-how, train young people, and own the market.

Nothing is in the hands of parliaments, which should therefore take back control and ensure that the process of developing AI is not run entirely by private companies, and that the public sector can monitor its development and possibly limit it, if required, for the benefit of the people.
Parliaments need to act swiftly to formulate legislation that oversees an ethical implementation of AI technologies, and at the same time exchange knowledge on AI and its ethical implications with other parliaments and parliamentary assemblies (such as the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, which discussed AI at its 2019 spring session), in order to reach an adequate level of legislative homogeneity.

Parliaments should also take action to increase the benefits of AI for the peoples they represent.
Parliaments are encouraged to address important questions such as the following: • • • • What strategies can be implemented to harness AI development for positive and inclusive societal change?

Are AI solutions and equitable access to their benefits scalable?

How can policymakers encourage progress on safe and reliable AI systems?

How can other key actors contribute to this?

5.


The Fourth Industrial Revolution: How to make it inclusive Thanks to very rapid and impressive progress in information technology, in recent years society has witnessed a global industrial revolution, known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution (or Industry 4.0).

This industrial revolution affects many areas of global importance, such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, medicine, robotics, big data, and the internet of things.
Artificial intelligence and robotics are gradually replacing humans in many activities, and it is possible that, in the near future, many industrial sectors will be managed by only a few people, seconded by "intelligent" machines.

This major ongoing societal change is undoubtedly favoured by the availability of new and more powerful technologies.

However, it is predominantly driven by competitive economic imperatives.
The resulting business and social models will significantly change people's everyday lives; the impact is not yet fully understood by society at large.

Replacing workers' existing jobs in many sectors with computational and robotic systems will certainly generate economic gains for industry but will very likely also cause massive disruption in employment, with a major social impact if corrective actions are not taken in time.
Furthermore, the creation of new jobs may not be sufficient to balance out this disruption in employment and its impact on society, if not adequately managed.

It would be a societal disaster to have an excess of unemployed people with the wrong skills, and a critical shortage of people with the required new skills, in particular in computer science and artificial intelligence.
Governing the innovation brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its impact on society requires a so-called "triple-helix" approach, entailing collaboration and joint planning and implementation actions from the academic, industrial and political sectors.
Parliaments have a major role to play in making this "triple-helix" approach a success- securing not only economic benefits for industry, but also benefits for their constituents, and putting in place social protection for those workers who lose their jobs and need to retrain.

Legislation and policy should be introduced to fill the gap between the skills youth are learning in the academic sector and the skills required in industry.

Parliaments have the vision to bridge this gap.


To enhance the utilitarian role of science and technology in our digital age, parliaments are encouraged to engage more actively in embracing science and technology in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, in particular by fostering education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) for young people.
Despite - 6- much research showing that there are no differences in ability between men and women in these fields, the percentage of women who major or specialize in STEM subjects remains low.

Achieving gender equality in this area is extremely important for securing diverse human resources as well as ensuring ethics in research and development.
Therefore, particularly in countries where women are underrepresented in these fields, policies that promote the elimination of gender bias in each phase of education, research, and employment are needed to help increase the number of women working actively in these fields.

Parliaments are therefore encouraged to engage in constructive dialogue with the academic and industrial worlds, to devise strategies which will translate into effective legislative action.
Legislation should favour the deployment of all the innovative potential of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, while ensuring that the price is not paid by the population, in particular the most vulnerable.

Parliaments should strive for a certain level of homogeneity among the national legislations brought in to govern the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as a disparate approach would likely disadvantage developing countries.
1 World Conference of Speakers of Parliament Parliaments for peace, people and planet 4f5WCSP Mt-l'll11 H. 01 \l"\ I KIA Revised version 26 May 2021 Conference Report Stepping up youth participation in politics and parliaments: From words to action The demographic dividend of youth Young people under the age of 30 make up around half of the world population .1 Around a quarter of the world population is between the ages of 15 and 30.2 Decision-making must be responsive, inclusive and representative.
This democratic process requ ires strong participation of all people, especially youth.

This is not only true because they account for a high proportion of the world population , but also because how they relate to politics largely determines the health of our democracies today and in the future.

Excluding young people in their formative years can lead to their disillusionment and lack of trust in our institutions, which weakens those institutions' legitimacy.
The second category of young people, aged 15 to 30, is made up of 1.8 billion individuals.

Th is group is as diverse as the world they live in.

These young people have shared needs, such as accessible quality education to prepare for the jobs of tomorrow; availabil ity of decent work; equality among boys and girls and men and women; and a planet that is healthy, clean and sustainable.
With the bulk of their lives ahead of them, young men and women have the highest stake in today's actions- or inactions- and have a right to be included in decision-making on these and all other issues that affect them.

As IPU young MPs have often repeated, "No decisions about us, w ithout us!".
At a time when the global community is trying to tackle unprecedented challenges caused by COVID-19, the political participation of youth is not only a right that must be fulfil led, but it is also the smartest investment that can be made to an inclusive, effective and sustainable collective response.
Harnessing the perspectives, new ideas and energy of young people is indispensable in the broader efforts to address key issues which affect people of all ages, such as the pandemic, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), peace and security, the right to education, to health and to social protection, gender equality, equal socio-economic and political opportunities, and fighting climate change.

Youth are an innovative force that have much to contribute to these collective efforts.
Ensuring full engagement of young men and women in the democratic process at all levels, and starting such engagement as early as possible through democracy education, are priority objectives that should be high on the politica l agenda.
Parliaments must exchange good practices and successful experiences in political, democratic and parliamentary education programmes that increase the interest of youth in the political process in general and in parliamentary work in particular, as well as their involvement and their training in good practices.

United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, World Population Prospects 2019: Highlights (STIESAISER.A/423, New York, 201 9): https ://population.
un .org/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2019 Highlights .pdf.

ibid.

- 2- The political empowerment of young people brings new perspectives to politics and how it is done.

Political institutions must be agile to respond to a fast-changing world facing new challenges and threats to humankind.

They must constantly change and adapt with the times so that they reflect the societies that nourish them.
As "natives" of the modern era and in the vanguard of new approaches and technologies, youth are best placed to drive the renewal of political institutions, including parliaments, so that they are more representative, responsive and effective, no matter the environment.

Efforts should be made to foster an effective and meaningful youth contribution to all stages of the policy- and law-making cycle: from design to implementation and evaluation.
Young people make a direct contribution whose impact on decision-making within their own communities is significant.

Consequently, they can effectively engage in political decision-making processes at the national, regional and international levels.

Young people will be more affected by decisions taken on longer-term issues like climate change, environmental sustainability and political instability.
Without youth's active participation , the laws and policies passed by parliament and government may be detrimental to their interests , both today and in the future.

3 As such, enhancing youth participation can contribute to, and is needed for, better policymaking.

Youth-responsive policymaking is also required in key areas affected by the recent COVID-19 pandemic, such as education, health and employment.
Their inclusion in decisions is critical as the world endeavours to emerge from the pandemic and embark on a recovery process that can build back better in a more inclusive, fair, resilient and sustainable way.

Current state of youth participation in parliament and politics Despite the world having more young people today than ever before, youth are severely underrepresented in politics and parliaments.
According to IPU data, only 2.6 per cent of parliamentarians are under 30.4 Disproportionate underrepresentation continues even when looking at percentages of parliamentarians under 40 and 45 years of age (see figure below).

IPU research has also revealed that 37 per cent of the world's single and lower chambers of parliament -and almost three-quarters of upper chambers- have no MPs aged under 30.
Sixty-nine per cent of parliaments also impose a "waiting period" between when young people can vote and when they can be eligible for office.

Young women are doubly disadvantaged.

In all age ranges, men continue to outnumber women in parliaments.

However, one encouraging sign is that the proportion of men and women MPs is more balanced the younger the age cohort.

This suggests that increased youth participation may be a vehicle for achieving real gender parity in politics.
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- 3- In the five years since the IPU began collecting data on youth participation in parliaments, global trends have been inching in positive directions.

In 2021, the percentage of young MPs under 30 years of age grew to 2.6 per cent from 1.6 per cent in 2014.

The proportion of young MPs under 40 years of age grew to 17.5 per cent from 12.9 per cent.

Yet, despite incremental progress, the world is nowhere near an equitable level of youth participation.
Barriers facing youth There are many barriers impeding young men and women from running for political office or being politically active.

Although these may vary from country to country, a number of common challenges can be highlighted: • • • • • • • Young people face legal barriers in many countries, with 69 per cent of countries having a minimum age to hold office that is higher than the voting age.
Globally, young people must wait on average 3.5 years after they are eligible to vote before they can take office in lower chambers.

In upper chambers, this waiting period is even longer, at 10.4 years.

In many contexts there are also financial impediments for young people to run for office.

Nominations to parties and election campaigns can be expensive.
Young prospective candidates often do not have the financial means either to qualify for elections or to competitively run against better resourced candidates.

Negative norms that portray formal politics as being for senior individuals are a persistent obstacle.

Around the world, there is often a mentality that young people are "not yet ready" for the responsibility of holding office.

Politics is also typically regarded as a space for politically experienced persons.
As a result, young people are systematically marginalized because of their age, limited opportunities and perceived lack of experience.

There is a perception that youth are inexperienced in politics, suggesting that they should wait for their turn to run for political office.

This stems from the belief that a certain level of knowledge, experience and maturity is required to successfully meet the many demands placed upon parliamentarians.
This can cause resentment among young people and discourage their interest in political engagement.

Many young people face life-cycle challenges to running for office as they pursue higher education, undergo training or begin a career, and may be unable to take the risks associated with running for a post that is far from guaranteed.

Other young people may be starting families and caring for young children, which can be difficult to juggle w ith standing for office.
There is also the perception that young politicians lack the name recogn ition and the access to crucial networks that are needed to gain attention, be nominated by political parties and become viable candidates.

Disengagement with formal politics leads many young people to feel that "formal" politics is simply beyond them.

Some do not know where to start or do not wish to join a party or a political institution (parliament) that they feel disillusioned with.
Young women aspirants to political office face additional barriers manifested in gender and age bias and gender-based discrimination and violence.

5 IPU action Responding to this situation, in 2010 the IPU adopted the resolution Youth participation in the democratic process at the 122nd IPU Assembly in Thailand.6 It called on parliaments, governments and political parties to take comprehensive legal and policy action to enhance youth participation in politics.
In 2020, the IPU celebrated the tenth anniversary of its resolution on youth in the democratic process.

The resolution went beyond calling for increased youth consultation in political processes by also calling for increased direct youth representation in decision-making.

For more on this topic see: IPU, Sexism.

harassment and violence against women in parliaments in Europe (20 18).

IPU resolution, Youth participation in the democratic process (122nd IPU Assembly, 2010).
-4- It proposed concrete measures, such as the introduction of youth quotas, alig nment of the minimum age of eligibility for parliament with the voting age, enhancement of youth in political parties and political education to stimulate active citizenship.

The resolution also laid the foundations for the establishment of the IPU Forum of Young Parliamentarians, which was subsequently created in 2013 and serves as a statutory body of the IPU committed to youth empowerment.
The IPU took further action in 2016, when it held a general debate entitled Rejuvenating democracy, giving voice to youth at the 134th IPU Assembly in Zambia.

IPU Member Parliaments high lighted the indispensable role of young people as key agents to re-energize parliaments and pol itical institutions so that they adapt to the modern world.
7 In addition to echoing proposed measures to enhance participation of youth in parliaments, Member Parliaments also underlined the role of youth in upgrading the functioning of parliaments through new technologies.

Member Parliaments also called for change within the IPU's functioning itself so that young MPs were better represented in country delegations and took on more senior roles within the Organization's political structures.
In 2018, the IPU adopted changes to its Statutes to enhance the number and role of young MPs at IPU Assemblies.

To attain a target of having young MPs make up a minimum of 25 per cent of parliamentary delegates at Assemblies, a set of incentives were instituted to encourage greater inclusion of young men and women MPs.

The President of the Forum of Young Parliamentarians now holds an ex officio seat on the IPU Executive Committee as well as all the Standing Committees' Bureaux.
Addressing the particular situation of young women, in partnership with the Un ited Nations Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth, in 2021 the IPU launched a Call to Action on women's political participation and leadership.

The Call to Action identified three priorities for increasing young women's political participation: nurturing political aspirations; supporting young women candidates; and empowering young women in office and investing in their leadership.
The IPU has also acted to identify youth needs and solutions to ensure a youth-responsive recovery to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At its 2021 Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians , the IPU brought together hundreds of young MPs to coordinate actions on protecting and fulfilling fundamenta l youth rights and stepping up youth empowerment across recovery efforts, including with political participation, education, health and the economy.
The IPU has engaged in many other initiatives to empower youth, including research on youth participation in parliaments, facilitating participation of young MPs at international events and organ izing capacity-building trainings.
The IPU in action .,/ Creation of the Forum of Young .,/ Participation of young MPs at Parliamentarians international events .,/ Global and regional conferences of .,/ Youth enhancements to the IPU young parliamentarians Statutes .,/ Research and data collection on youth .,/ Technical assistance and capacity participation in parliaments building Stepping it up: Launching the next chapter to empower youth The Declaration adopted by the IPU's Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in 2015 stated that: "Participation in political life and public decision-making is an entitlement and is crucial to development.
When people are left voiceless or excluded, their well-being is undermined, and democracy is left wanting."

The Speakers of parliament pledged to do their "utmost to make politics genuinely open to young people and to facilitate their election to parliament in greater numbers".

IPU outcome document of the General Debate, Rejuvenating democracy, giving voice to youth (2016).

- 5- Six years later, young men and women continue to be left behind in political life and public decision making.
It has now been just over ten years since the IPU adopted its resolution Youth participation in the democratic process.

The year 2021 marks an occasion to celebrate the progress made since 2010, but also to trigger a new decade of action for renewed political will and commitment to fully implement the resolution.

This is all the more important in this time of pandemic in order to prevent backsliding on the youth agenda.
To step up to the challenge, in 2021 the IPU launched a new campaign called "I SAY YES to youth participation in parliament!"

The campaign is an exciting step to translate words to action.

It calls on MPs of all ages- and with a special focus on Speakers of parliament- to "SAY YES" and become changemakers in parliament by taking at least one of the following six pledges for youth participation .
I Speakers of parliament can pledge their support on https://www.ipu.org/i-say-yes The Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament and the "I SAY YES" campaign are opportunities to walk the talk and take bold steps to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on youth, and contribute to a youth-responsive, effective and sustainable recovery which goes hand in hand with the efforts for greater youth participation in institutions of political representation, particularly parliament.
The Conference will provide a platform for parliamentary leaders, both collectively and individually, to affirm their commitment to empower youth and to consolidate support for action.
Informed by the IPU's research and deliberations, members of parliament are encouraged to initiate and support concrete measures to push youth participation to the next level, including to: • Implement by 2035, the global targets for youth participation in national parliaments set by the IPU Forum of Young Parliamentarians based on youth proportions in the global population: • • • 15 per cent of young parliamentarians under 30 35 per cent of young parliamentarians under 40 45 per cent of young parliamentarians under 45 Acknowledging the specific challenges that young women face in entering politics and parliament, each target provides for gender parity of 50 per cent young women and 50 per cent young men.
A first step is to "SAY YES" to youth in parliament by pledging support to the new IPU campaign and taking transformative action for youth participation.

• • Governments and parliaments should pursue institutional reforms to correct the democracy deficit of youth representation.

Parliaments should also make it a priority to address the double discrimination young women suffer.
Propose deliberate measures to reach the targets for youth participation in national parliaments, including by reforming constitutions and electoral laws to introduce youth quotas and removing legal barriers for young people to engage in politics by aligning the minimum age of eligibility for political office with the voting age.
-6- • • • • • • • • • • • • Support and promote the realization of the IPU young MPs' motto "If you are old enough to vote, you are not too young to run", including by joining and supporting the #NotTooYoungToRun global campaign.

Empower young parliamentarians already in office by providing them with training and mentorship programmes and positioning them to take up leadership roles in parliament.
Establish parliamentary specialized bodies, such as youth committees or forums of young parliamentarians, to mainstream youth issues in parliament's work and provide youth perspectives to issues that affect them.

Open up parliamentary processes to youth in society to ensure they contribute to parliamentary work throughout the policy- and law-making cycles: from design to monitoring and evaluation.
At the same time, encourage parliaments and their members - younger or older- to reach out to youth in their spaces, for example, on social media, in schools, universities and public spaces.

The practice of establishing constituency-level youth advisory councils for individual MPs is one way to strengthen this link.

An increasing number of parliaments are creating "youth parliaments" composed of youth representatives who debate policy and legislation, question government members and take initiatives.
The key aim of these parliaments is to give young people a chance to get a feel for the job of a member of parliament.

Parliaments should ensure that continuous support and mentoring is provided to young people who participate in youth parliaments.

Promote the use of modern technologies to more closely connect youth with parliamentary processes, including through innovations such as online petitions, virtual hearings and submissions, and online interactions and voting.
Invest in modern technologies, particularly social media, to involve young people in politics.

Unprecedented access to information and technologies is providing youth with new means to express their aspirations and concerns more freely and to connect with others to debate the problems that concern them.

Invest in and implement democracy education programmes to educate children and young people and kindle their interest in the democratic process.
Open up political parties to youth, including by creating and strengthening youth wings and giving young people leadership positions within decision-making structures in order to increase their reach to younger demographics.

Invest in youth empowerment more broadly.


This includes ensuring accessible, quality education for young men and women, including in the fields of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), and supporting youth employment, vocational training, entrepreneurship and financial services, such as youth empowerment banks and micro-financing initiatives.
Review progress made in implementing national strategies for the advancement of youth, and monitor the strategies' achievements and the obstacles encountered.

Furthermore, parliamentarians are encouraged to learn from good practices in this regard, especially those related to preventing duplication or conflict of competences between various institutions concerned with youth issues.
Lastly, they are encouraged to give more space to volunteer based institutions that represent youth and reflect their interests.

Underline the role of parliaments in increasing the funds allocated to youth programmes in the general budget, especially those related to enhancing youth participation in political life and their contribution to political decision-making, so that it becomes a budget responsive to the needs and aspirations of youth.
-7- • • • • Expand "political simulation" initiatives that train youth in political practice and promote the participation of indigenous actors by focusing media attention on such initiatives in order to emphasize their importance and encourage young people to engage in them, as well as provide more opportunities for policy actors to share their real-life experiences with youth participants.
Develop measurable standards and indicators to monitor progress made in enhancing the active participation of youth in political life at all levels and in all areas, such as influencing the political agenda to be more responsive to the needs of youth, measuring the percentage of youth representation within organizational and leadership frameworks in different political institutions and, particularly, measuring the impact of young MPs on political decision-making.
This can be done through monitoring the contributions of young MPs in parliamentary debates, and monitoring the effects of their proposals on final policy decisions, notably those that affect youth.

Create an enabling environment for increasing young women's representation in politics through nurturing young women's political aspirations, supporting young women candidates for political office and empowering them, while investing in their leadership .
Ensure a youth-responsive COVID-19-recovery by enhancing investment in accessible and resilient education systems, opportunities of decent employment and access to social security, and access to universal health coverage and dedicated youth health services.

"The time for talk is over.

The time to act is now."


Outcome document, Fifth Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians (Baku, 2018) World Conference of Speakers of Parliament Parliaments for peace, people and planet #5WCSP Revised version 26 May 2021 Conference Report Decade of action to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 1.
The adoption in 2015 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development signaled an increasingly coherent international vision of sustainable development.
Together they seek to move away from the siloed approaches and individual sector goals that characterized the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) era to a more integrated and mutually interdependent landscape.

Having created this new international framework, the next challenge is to implement these agreements in a coherent way at the national and local levels.

In September 2019, the UN Secretary-General called on all sectors of society to mobilize for a decade of action to achieve the SDGs.
The 2030 Agenda was adopted in September 2015 as the most important UN 2. declaration on the world's many economic, social and environmental challenges.

At its core lie 17 SDGs, articulated in 169 targets, designed to eradicate extreme poverty and drastically reduce other forms of deprivation and inequality while setting the planet on a sustainable course.

The SDGs constitute an integrated framework in which progress on each goal is 3. dependent on the advancement of all the other goals.
The framework applies to all countries, developed and developing alike, requiring intentional action in their own domestic jurisdictions as well as collective action through international cooperation.

The SDGs reflect a solid human rights perspective and a common vision of the future that all countries can aspire to.

The IPU participated actively in the negotiations for the SDGs through 4. parliamentary consultations followed by advocacy before the relevant UN committees and other forums.
As a result, paragraph 45 of the 2030 Agenda acknowledges specifically the role of parliaments in supporting the implementation of the goals through legislation and government oversight.

As part of the Friends of Governance for Sustainable Development group at the United Nations, the IPU helped secure a strong commitment to "effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels", which includes parliaments, as part of Goal 16.

5.
5.

Endorsed by all UN Member States, the SDGs are globally owned, and expectations from their implementation are high.

The goals will not come to fruition without strong political will, tailored strategy, and citizen action.

Parliaments and parliamentarians should be at the forefront of this effort.

Despite limited resources, the IPU is doing all it can, in partnership with its Members and the United Nations, to support the implementation of the SDGs through the world's parliaments.
- 2- IPU work on the SDGs Having embraced the 2030 Agenda and attendant SDGs from the very beginning, the IPU has 6. since worked to integrate the SDGs in its 2017-2021 Strategy, ensuring that all work is consistent with or directly supportive of the SDGs.

7.
7.

The IPU Strategy takes a two-pronged approach: it seeks to help parliaments institutionalize the SDGs as an indivisible framework; at the same time, it pursues specific actions to support those goals that are most relevant to the work of the IPU or where the IPU has a comparative advantage, such as SDG 3 on health, SDG 5 on gender equality, SDG 13 on climate change, SDG 16 on governance, and SDG 17 on means of implementation (development cooperation).
The IPU's work also focuses on some of the other key issues, such as hunger and poverty.

The action line on institutionalization aims ultimately at making parliaments "fit for purpose", that 8. is ensuring that parliaments have the right institutional, legal, technical and policymaking tools to perform their legislative, oversight and representative roles with regard to the SDGs.

This is done through self-assessment and with the help of a dedicated IPU-UNDP toolkit.
This approach has helped a number of parliaments (for example, Fiji, Georgia, Mali, Serbia) come up with a multi-year parliamentary action plan on the SDGs.

The self-assessment approach to the SDGs is consistent with the IPU's overarching democracy-building mission.

9.
9.

As the under-representation of women and youth in decision-making and economic opportunity continues to be one of the main stumbling blocks to progress on sustainable development and peace, much of the IPU's work on the SDGs today incorporates a gender and youth perspective.

This includes mainstreaming gender equality, women's rights and youth needs and interests in project work by spotlighting their specific needs and advocating for corresponding policy reforms.

1 0.
The underlying objective of the IPU's work on the SDGs is to empower parliaments so that they: have the appropriate internal structures and processes to identify and support the SDG policies that are right for their respective countries ensure that a national SDG plan domesticating the global goals is in place and that all government policies are commensurate with the country's sustainable development challenges legislate to implement the global development agenda to improve citizens' lives and protect the planet provide for adequate budgetary allocations and other means of implementation that are needed to advance the national SDG plan actively engage with all citizens, particularly the most marginalized and vulnerable, to promote the SDGs and garner feedback on the implementation of the national SDG plan.
· 11.

At the operational level, the IPU's work on the SDGs takes different forms, from the organization of national, interregional and regional events, and the publication of guidance notes and toolkits, to the adoption of SDG-related resolutions and the organization of specialized panel discussions at the IPU Assemblies.

More than 140 parliaments have been involved in the IPU's SDG activities around the world thus far.
Overall, these activities help build appreciation among members of parliament that the SDGs are aligned with the national development objectives of both developed and developing countries and not an abstract agenda detached from their everyday reality.

The activities also focus on bridging theory and practice starting with field visits to projects promoting sustainability and prosperity.

12.
12.

Since, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was not possible to hold in-person meetings, in 2020 the IPU started organizing regional webinars and virtual capacity-development activities for national parliaments.

By working on cross-cutting SDGs, such as health, focus is being maintained on key development priorities and on how these priorities help advance the SDG agenda during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also, the IPU's growing portfolio of work on climate change highlights the interlinkages between the environment and SDGs achievement, such as, for example, the contribution of green COVID-19 recovery strategies to sustainable development.

In addition, the IPU works to connect parliaments to United Nations processes designed to 13. monitor progress toward the SDGs at national and global levels, and to maintain political momentum for the 2030 Agenda.
Key among these processes is the UN High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development that meets annually at the ministerial level and every four years at the -3- Heads of State level.

The IPU organizes a dedicated parliamentary event at each HLPF and contributes to relevant UN documents and resolutions.

In addition to reviewing a number of UN reports on the SDGs and discussing challenges and future course corrections, the HLPF hosts a number of voluntary national reviews (VNRs).
Countries participating in VNRs are expected to review their own progress in consultation with parliaments, civil society organizations and other stakeholders, and to present their findings to the HLPF.

The IPU conducted a parliamentary survey globally entitled Institutionalization of the 14.

Sustainable Development Goals in the work of parliaments to gather information on and publicize how parliaments organized their SDG-related work.
The results showed that the role of parliaments in implementing the SDGs varied.

Over half of the parliaments surveyed had established mechanisms specifically dedicated to the SDGs but only in a quarter of parliaments was this work coordinated with other parliamentary bodies.

In over half of the cases, governments had reported to parliament on SDG progress.

15.
15.

Among the many IPU actions aimed at keeping the spotlight on the SDGs, the following should be highlighted: Every April session of the I PU Standing Committee on United Nations Affairs is dedicated to a review of parliamentary actions for the SDGs and to a discussion of the main theme of that year's forthcoming HLPF session.
In preparation for the VNRs for the HLPF session, the IPU notifies the relevant parliaments of the process and asks them (by way of a questionnaire) to report back on their involvement throughout the relevant period.

Some of the reports to the HLPF have been jointly presented by representatives of the government and parliament.

A parliamentary event is held at each HLPF to highlight the main points of the session and encourage further parliamentary engagement going forward.
Once every year, the IPU Standing Committee on Sustainable Development proposes a draft resolution on a theme relating to its field of action to be adopted at the IPU Assembly.

These resolutions, which are adopted by the IPU Member Parliaments, provide a framework for future parliamentary action at national, regional and international levels.

A number of SDG-related resolutions prepared by the Committee have been adopted.
The parliamentary self-assessment toolkit prepared with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), serves as a basis for the IPU in assisting national parliaments to improve their own legislative, oversight and representative capacities for the SDGs.

Parliaments as diverse as those of Chad, Fiji, Sri Lanka and Serbia have made use of this toolkit to date.
Some parliaments, such as the National Assembly of Viet Nam and the House of Representatives of Indonesia, and international parliamentary organizations, such as the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States, have translated the toolkit into local languages.

The toolkit is currently available in 131anguages and is the most translated IPU publication.
The I PU Member Parliaments prioritize regional interaction as a means to engage in SDG implementation, access the latest data and expertise, and learn from the experiences of other parliaments.

Twenty-two regional and interregional seminars organized so far by the IPU have brought together more than 1,200 parliamentarians from all regions of the world.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IPU has been organizing a series of IPU regional webinars on SDG implementation in a time of pandemic to provide parliaments with the opportunity to acquire up-to-date information, discuss common challenges as well as opportunities to advance the realization of the SDGs.

Scorecard and lessons learned The SDG scorecard prepared annually by the United Nations and associated research 16. organizations, show that although scores vary, overall, progress is slow.
Currently, every country is facing some degree of difficulty to stay on track to fully achieve all the SDGs.

While many countries are making significant progress on some SDGs, other countries are backsliding or stagnating on more than one of the SDGs.

17.
17.

Globally, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme poverty was trending down even though inequality was at a very high level, hunger was on the rise, biodiversity and basic ecosystems were losing their regenerating capacity, the global climate was changing much faster than expected, and -4- key institutions of democracy were under severe threat, resulting in growing social unrest and conflict.
There were also, however, encouraging signs of improved health and education; there was more access to electricity and less unemployment.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 crisis and its consequences will no doubt not only exacerbate the situation in the already vulnerable areas but also lead to regression in areas that were advancing.

It will increase inequalities and open new vulnerabilities.
In addition to dealing with this immediate post-COVID recovery challenge, one of the most urgent areas for action is climate change which remains at the top of the global agenda.

We therefore need to redouble our efforts, to work individually and collectively, to reach the set goal within the scheduled time frame.

A comprehensive picture of progress and setbacks globally and by country is provided in the UN Sustainable Development Goals Report 2019 (https://www.

un .
un .

org/development/desa/en/news/sustainable/sdg-progress-reports-2019.

html) and the 2019 SDG Index and Dashboards of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (https:l/www.

sdgi ndex.

org/reports/sustainable-development-report -2019/).

18.

By definition, developed countries have the advantage and some are not far from achieving most of the SDGs.

However, the headline SDG score of many developed countries may be lower when their "spillover effects" into developing countries are factored in.
These effects (for example, the impact of C02 emissions on developing countries or of lax tax laws that allow for tax evasion) end up impacting developing countries by retarding their development.

19.

Generally speaking, developing countries are facing greater challenges in delivering actual results, although their political commitment to the SDGs may be relatively stronger than in developed countries.
The main reasons for the slower progress of developing countries boil down to lack of resources, low implementation capacities (including data collection and analysis), weaker governance, a higher incidence of internal or external conflict and, most recently, the effects of the COVID-1 9 pandemic.

In fact, the paradox of achieving the SDGs is that the capacity to intensify SDG implementation in developing countries is significantly impacted by the very challenges that the SDGs seek to address.
There is a strong need for continued and strengthened international development cooperation, with north-south cooperation as the main channel, supplemented by south-south cooperation.

From the IPU's direct experience with the SDGs and parliaments the following key lessons can 20. be drawn: Generally, it can be said that the political will in parliaments to engage on the SDGs needs to be strengthened.
Parliaments are nevertheless much more aware of and demonstrate greater ownership of the SDGs than they did of the SDGs predecessors- the MDGs.

This is owing to the wide-ranging consultations on SDG content and the subsequent work of the IPU and other organizations to raise awareness of the goals in parliaments.
However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, this work needs to be further strengthened as the pandemic is having far-reach ing social and economic consequences, leading countries to reconsider policy priorities and investments, the risk being that resources, as well as attention , will be diverted away from SDG implementation.
Despite the challenges emerging from the pandemic, it is also an opportunity for parliaments to ensure that their countries align their recovery strategies with sustainable development objectives and advocate for greater investment in the SDGs .

This would ensure that COVID-19 recovery plans are sustainable and resilient in the long-term which would help realize the SDGs within this decade.

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to the institutionalization of the SDGs in parliaments.
Some parliaments have set up dedicated SDG committees or informal caucuses whereas others have assigned specific SDGs to existing portfolio committees.

Most parliaments have yet to consider how to go about making sure that all of the SDGs have a clear locus in their committee structure.

Overcoming siloes and working across goals is a key requirement for successful SDG mainstreaming and implementation.

The results of the IPU surveys show that the role of parliaments in implementing the SDGs varies.
While examples of good practices have emerged, it appears that SDG implementation remains a process primarily led by governments.

Work done on the VNRs confirmed th is finding: only about one third of the parliaments from countries that presented reports to the HLPF had been consulted in some way.

This suggests that a lot remains to be done to ensure parliaments are fully enabled to exercise their oversight role when it comes to SDG policies and related monitoring processes.
The lack of inclusion of parliaments in the governance frameworks for SDG implementation also diminishes the value of public involvement through their elected representatives in this regard.

-5- Regional and interregional parliamentary cooperation is very important.
Virtually all the regional seminars that the IPU has organized over the last six years have shown that the benefits of parliaments at roughly similar levels of development coming together to exchange best practices were a strengthened parliamentary dialogue and the general support they offered each other.

Climate change is one of the greatest threats to global prosperity and development.
IPU activities have shown that there is strong political will in parliaments to learn about and engage on climate change issues.

At the same time, serious deficiencies were revealed, such as lack of knowledge and capacity to coordinate activities with the government and effectively contribute to ongoing national processes to translate the Paris Agreement into national legislation and encourage action at the national and sub-national levels.
Our parliaments bear significant responsibility to monitor the progress of their respective governments in addressing climate change.

Access to quality data disaggregated by gender, minority status, age, regional area and other such categories is needed to help parliaments make informed policy decisions.

Many parliaments lack access to reliable and independent data which can help them hold their governments to account.
Decade of action In September 2019, the UN Secretary-General called on all sectors of society to mobilize for a 21. decade of action to achieve the SDGs.
He called for action on three levels: global action to secure greater leadership, more resources and smarter solutions; local action embedding the needed transitions in the policies, budgets, institutions and regulatory frameworks of governments, cities and local authorities; and people action, including action by youth, civil society, the media, the private sector, unions, academia and other stakeholders, to generate an unstoppable movement pushing for the required transformations.

22.
22.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharper focus the vulnerability of all humanity, irrespective of sovereignty, ideology or religion.

It has highlighted the uneven impact of such global threats on all economies regardless of the varying levels of development.

The COVID-19 pandemic has unavoidably led to serious setbacks in the work to attain the SDGs.

We must therefore do our outmost to minimize its adverse effects.
The global response to the COVID-19 pandemic also illustrates the strength and value of human ingenuity and resourcefulness.

The SDGs are geared towards strengthening the resilience of people, country and planet, and parliaments must assume their central role in ensuring successful SDG achievement.

23.

With 2020 marking the start of the SDG Decade of Action and the entry into effect of the Paris Agreement, parliaments must take action, now more than ever, to set the planet on a sustainable path.
Many parliaments will need further assistance to deliver on a range of challenging issues, including ending poverty, ensuring gender equality, delivering better health coverage, and taking decisive climate action.

Special emphasis will need to be paid to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the inequalities it unearths, particularly in the area of gender, health, employment and climate change.
Parliaments will need to take and support measures to re-stimulate the economy in a sustainable way, to deliver for the people while preserving the environment.

The IPU and its Member Parliaments will need to step up their efforts to rally political will and 24. promote parliamentary engagement with the 2030 Agenda, including through action plans tailored to the needs of individual countries.
Parliamentarians should encourage an open, public, free and inclusive debate in society about the importance of the SDGs across all sectors in order to enhance awareness of the challenges at stake and increase pressure for political solutions.

Focus needs to be put on practical ways to turn the goals into reality, such as finding solutions to key areas through legislation and financing so that the SDGs are reflected in national budgets.
In the spirit of multilateralism, Member Parliaments must utilize parliamentary diplomacy to push forward the 2030 Agenda in regional and sub-regional inter-parliamentary forums.

This is at the core of the IPU's mandate.

It is up to us all to make this vision a reality for the betterment of humanity.
.... World Conference of Speakers of Parliament Parliaments for peace, people and planet #5WCSP Htl'l Kll( 01 \l''T~I\ Revised version 26 May 2021 Conference Report Democracy and the changing role of parliament in the twenty-first century Introduction Parliament's fundamental role is enshrined in the constitution of almost all countries.

In practically every context, it is based on the core functions of representation, law-making , holding government to account, and the budget cycle.
These universal core functions have evolved over centuries with the historical development of parliaments.

Yet, parliament's role cannot be understood through this lens alone.

Society changes; technological evolutions generate far-reaching modifications in the world of work and the individual's place in society; the machinery of government is becoming more complex; the new challenges arising before the international community are causing new forms of international cooperation to emerge.
Today's parliaments are, in many ways, based on the model that was often codified in the nineteenth century.

However, this model is not set in stone; it has been evolving.

As the institution most responsive to the will of the people, parliament changes constantly, in both its societal functions and the ways in which it carries out its mandate.

Parliaments are increasingly taking on some roles that, historically speaking, had not been within their realm.
For example, they are interacting with the public, informing and educating, or are playing a role in the international political arena much more intensively than before.

This report identifies some of the changes in parliament's role in democracy - changes that have taken place, are underway, or may yet occur.

It is intended as a background paper to the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament.
- 2- Parliaments and democracy Democracy is still by far the preferred form of government in all continents, 1 and is the basis for good governance.

The principles of democracy, as set out in the IPU's 1997 Universal Declaration on Democracy2 were vigorously reaffirmed in 2017 by the IPU at its 137th Assembly in St. Petersburg.3 Democracy aims to protect and promote the dignity and fundamental rights of the individual, instil social justice, and foster economic and social development.
It presupposes a genuine partnership between men and women in the conduct of the affairs of society.

As a form of government, democracy is the best way of achieving these objectives; it is also the only political system that has the capacity for self-correction.
In 2006, the IPU identified five core objectives of a democratic parliament: to be representative, open and transparent, accessible, accountable and effective at the national and international levels 4 These objectives were codified almost word-for-word in 2015 in Targets 16.6 and 16.75 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which recognize that effective institutions are essential for achieving progress in all facets of sustainable development.
However, the approach to and practice of democracy sometimes appear to generate disappointment and disillusion.
Across the globe, the share of citizens who are dissatisfied with the performance of their democracies is rising- from 47.9 per cent in the mid-1990s to 57.5 per cent in 2019.s Only half of the global population surveyed believes their country is currently dem.ocratic, ranging from 78 per cent in Switzerland to 20 per cent in Venezuela 7 In the European Union, a clear majority of citizens agree that their "voice counts in the EU" (56%), yet only one third (34%) trust national parliaments 8 In the present age, "when democracies are called on to grapple with forces that often seem beyond their control, affecting their security, their economies, and the livelihoods and well-being of their citizens?
parliaments are expected to address the key reasons for public disillusion in the performance of democracy and public institutions.

The Declaration adopted at the 2015 World Conference of Speakers of Parliament reaffirmed that "Parliament is the central institution of democracy through which the will of the people is expressed".
At the same time, the Conference participants underlined their concern regarding "public scepticism and a disconnect with politics" and stressed the need to enable "the diverse components of society to participate in politics".

As the world moves into the third decade of the twenty-first century, it is imperative for parliaments to reassert themselves vis-a-vis the global societal changes that constitute a new international reality.
Parliaments are being challenged in various areas to find appropriate responses and regain public trust.

In a world that is changing faster than ever, affecting people's lives in so many ways, the role of parliaments is changing too.

Many of these challenging issues have been particularly brought to light by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many parliaments are not functioning or are operating in a very limited way, and this is affecting accountability and representation at a critical moment.
Some elections have had to be postponed, some courts have only dealt with urgent cases, individual freedoms have been curtailed in many ways 2 3 International IDEA, The Global State of Democracy 2019: Addressing the Ills, Reviving the Promise (Stockholm, 2019): https://www.idea.int/publications/cataloque/g lobal-state-of-democracy-2019 IPU, Universal Declaration on Democracy (1997): https://www.ipu.orglour-impact/stronq-parliaments/settinq standards/universal-declaration-democracy IPU resolution , Sharing ourdiversitv: The 20th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Democracy (137th Assembly , 2017).
IPU , Parliament and democracy in the twenty-first century: A guide to good practice (2006).

4 5 United Nations (2015): https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdq 16 6 R.S.

Foa and others, "The Global Satisfaction with Democracy Report 2020" (Cambridge, United Kingdom: Centre for the Future of Democracy, 2020): www.bennettinstitute.cam .ac.uk 7 Dalia Research, "Democracy Perception Index 2019: Global State of Democracy" (2019): https:/ /d al iaresearch.
com/bloq/qlobal-democracy-overview-20 19 8 European Commission, "Spring 2019 Standard Eurobarometer" (August 2019): 9 https://ec.

europa .eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/1 P 19 4969 IPU, Parliament and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century: A guide to good practice (2006): https://www.

ipu.
ipu.

org/resou rces/publi cations/handbooks/20 16-07 /pari iame nt -and-democracy-i n-twentv-first century-guide-good-practice - 3- and several governments have taken emergency measures in order to slow down the spread of the coronavirus during the pandemic.
In times like these, parliament's oversight role is becoming more important again to make sure that the measures taken against the spread of the coronavirus are being used in a proportionate and time-limited way and do not infringe fundamental rights and the rule of law.

Our citizens call for transparency and accountability and, in order to abide by these principles, it is necessary to strengthen anti-corruption and control efforts and identify the most effective mechanisms to this end.
After the pandemic, it is essential that parliaments work again to defend people's freedoms and human rights.

If democracy was already threatened by a lack of citizen trust, it will now be essential to rebuild the relationship with citizens, without playing on people's fears, giving more powers to governments or undermining democratic freedoms.

Parliaments and the people Parliaments play a major role in ensuring the full participation of everyone in public decision-making and political life.
The people give members of parliament their mandate.

Members of parliament have a duty to engage with their electorate and uphold the trust placed in them.

The gap between representatives and the represented - those who govern and those who are governed -is becoming a widely shared challenge.
One of the consequences is the decreasing voter turnout, 10 with significantly lower voter turnout of people aged 25 or under.11 When voter turnout in parliamentary elections is low, the legitimacy of parliament and its capacity to rep resent the people and decide on their behalf can be questioned.

A strong democratic parliament should seek to foster a vibrant civil society and to work closely with it in finding solutions to people's problems and needs.
A recent study shows that "higher levels of Effective Parliament and Civil Society Participation appear to effectively prevent the start of a backsliding process, make continued backsliding less probable and reduce the scope of backsliding".

12 There is a strong need for more robust efforts to bring parliament closer to the people, especially to young people and women, which is crucial to achieve a true democracy .
Parliaments need to be more open to the public, they need to explain the essential features of democracy and to promote an understanding of democratic decision-making and the legislative process .

Establishing closer links with the scientific community, academia and pioneers of resea rch and innovation can provide parliaments with knowledge and expertise in various areas, which is particularly valuable for parliaments with limited resources.
Fair and inclusive parliamentary procedures are crucial in this endeavour.

Fostering an interactive relationship with the public requires parliaments to introduce initiatives which encourage participatory democracy and bolster pluralism.

Such initiatives have to be considered in the light of new digital technologies, which are having a transformative effect on society.
Parliaments and the new technology environment New information technologies create tremendous opportunities for comm unication and collaboration between parliaments and the people.

Two thirds (66.77%) of humanity have a mobile device.

13 More than 50 per cent of the world's population is now online; 14 roughly one million more people join the 10 According to the World Bank's 2017 World Development Reporl, election turnout is declining across the world.
Over the last 25 years, the average global voter turnout rate dropped by more than 10 per cent (see in: https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2017 ).

International IDEA, Voter Turnout Trends around the World (Stockholm, 201 6): https:/ /www.

idea.

i ntlsitesldefaultlfiles/publ ications/voter -turnout -trends-around-the-world .

pdf International IDEA, The Global State of Democracy 2019: Addressing the Ills, Revi ving the Promise (Stockholm , 2019): https://www.idea.
int/publications/catalogue/qlobal-state-of-democracy-2019 11 12 13 Ash Turner, "How Many Smartphones Are in the World?"

(Bankmycell, 2019): 14 https://www.bankmycell.com/bloq/how-many-phones-are-in-the-world International Telecommunication Union, Measuring digital development: Facts and figures 2019 (Geneva , 2019): https://www.

itu.

intlen/ITU-0/Statistics/Documents/facts/F actsFiqures20 19. pdf - 4- internet every day.
15 On the other hand, this also means that almost half of the world's population is not online; in the least developed countries only 19 per cent of the population is online.

In all regions of the world the internet is accessed more by men than women.

Technology empowers people to be more informed than ever before.

They demand that their voice be heard and respected and they no longer accept their "pre-digital" era role- to be called on only to vote once every four or five years.
They do not want to wait for the next parliamentary elections to have a chance to say, once again, what they think and need.

People now ask for immediate answers and wish to take part in public decision-making.

The internet influences democracy in multiple ways.

The positive impacts include things such as enhanced access to information, new channels for freedom of expression and association, new forms of political participation, a more direct contact between the people and their representatives.
The sum of human knowledge is without precedent, and accessible within a few clicks, thus mu ltiplying the possibilities for education.

The COVID-19 pandemic that emerged with startling speed in early 2020 has served to underline the essential role of the State in protecting the health of the population, and the equally important role of parliaments in holding the government to account and ensuring that human rights are not undermined during times of crisis.
While the arrival of the pandemic created enormous challenges for the functioning of parliament, as for all institutions, parliaments were quick to react.

As of 21 April 2020, more than half of the 55 parliaments that had reported data to the IPU declared that they were able to meet, either in person in an adapted format, or remotely.
The speed with which parliaments such as Brazil, Chile, Finland, Maldives, Spain and Ukraine were able to establish remote working solutions was astonishing, and is a testament to the political will to find solutions.

It is noteworthy that many parliaments were able to move more quickly to holding remote committee meetings than plenary sittings.
However, it should also be noted that some parliaments, especially in poorer countries, are struggling to adhere to the WHO guidelines for social distancing as the adoption of virtual parliaments to facilitate the business of parliament has financial and capacity implications which may necessitate emergency external funding.
Time w ill tell whether people will expect or demand the new flexibility provided by these online practices to be incorporated into parliaments' regular working methods once the pandemic has been brought under control.

Negative influences are also easy to identify and range from facil itating the spread of misinformation, providing new vectors for hate speech, to a weakening of the quality of political debates.
In particular, social media encourage and reward opinions that are expressed loudly and strongly such as buzzwords and polemics which capture a wider audience than reasoned debate.

As a result, the ability to listen to different points of view is threatened.

Polarization grows, and the willingness to seek compromise is reduced.

This is damaging for the political process and for democracy in general.
Moreover, democracy as a concept has to be extended to include citizens' right of communication with institutions and governments.

During the pandemic, this communication was conducted mainly online.

It is now essential to put in place the necessary mechanisms to safeguard and promote th is right.

As concerns are being raised regarding modern technology, in terms of access and dissemination of information, questions dealing with surveillance, fake news and media regulation must be addressed.
At the same time, it is imperative to encourage and implement e-democracy.

This pandemic crisis provides an opportunity for parliaments, institutions and governments to modern ize their approach to technology.

Specific websites could be created in order to provide citizens with the opportunity to express their opinions and positions on issues that concern society as a whole.
Additionally, regular contact could be established with interested parties and groups, via electronic consultation, to discuss specific issues.

Parliaments are already taking initiatives in this direction, such as the Parallel Parliament and the "House of the Citizens" projects established by the House of Representatives of Cyprus.
15 Simon Kemp, "Digital2019: Global Digital Overview", (Datareportal, 2019): https://datareportal.com/reports/diqital-2019-qlobal-digital-overview - 5- Social media have changed the way people, parliaments and parliamentarians communicate, share ideas and share data.

Social networks amplify public demands, in particular those of young people.
Parliamentarians at the 2018 World e-Parliament Conference16 confirmed that social media tools are bringing parliaments and parliamentarians closer to the people, and helping them inform, engage and listen .

Yet the same tools also generate adverse effects, such as disinformation, "fake news" and abusive behaviour, which challenge parliaments to find appropriate responses.
Parliaments and public engagement The times we live in also require the establishment of permanent channels of dialogue and communication with the public.

Parliaments need to be more open to the public, they need to explain the essential features of democracy and to promote an understanding of democratic decision-making and legislative processes, using direct communication as well as via the media and other channels.
Parliaments all over the world are becoming more transparent, accessible, and visible institutions.

Many parliaments are providing the public with various tools and mechanisms supported by new technologies, such as the parallel parliament in Cyprus, the week of open parliament with a citizen session in Uganda, parliamentary open days, and youth and child parliaments in many countries.
Nurturing the culture of transparency and accountability, as well as promoting public engagement, are crucial for gaining the confidence and trust of the electorate.

However, creating real and meaningful links between the people and parliaments requires a strategic approach, with clearly defined goals that would ultimately lead to laws and policies that would be better suited to people and reinforce public trust in parliaments.
To make participatory decision-making possible and effective, different forms of public engagement17 and citizen participation can be defined.

These can be adjusted to different contexts and target groups and provided through different channels and tools.

Participative and deliberative democracy should not aim to bypass or undermine parliament and political processes but to strengthen them.
The objective of fostering an interactive relationship with the public points to the need for parliaments to introduce initiatives that encourage participatory democracy and bolster pluralism.

Such initiatives can be enhanced by the use of new digital technologies, including blockchain technology, artificial intelligence and other innovative and transformative tools.

Public engagement should be inclusive, leaving no one behind.
If any group of people is excluded, and does not have the chance to be engaged and participate, the democratic values and outcomes of such process become questionable.

Involving the public is not only about providing different tools and mechanisms for people to get engaged in parliamentary work.

It is much more about building a long-lasting relationship between parliaments and people.

It is about listening to the public and their concerns and responding to them, by undertaking parliamentary action.
A responsive parliament aims to make political processes more inclusive, accountable and participatory.

Parliaments and international politics Parliaments are, increasingly, making inroads into the international political scene, gaining sign ificant power in the area that was traditionally dominated by the executive.
Parliaments are expected to play a key role in addressing emerging complex foreign policy and international issues that impact every aspect of people's lives, as encompassed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

A survey conducted by the IPU in 2019 18 found that over half of the 89 parliaments analysed had established mechanisms within parliaments dedicated to SDG implementation.

The survey also showed that many parliaments regularly discussed the SDGs.
Others had set aside specific budgets for implementing the SDGs in general or the specific goals, such as education or health.

However, IPU , World e-Parliament Conference (2018): https://www.ipu.org/event/world-e-parliament-conference-2018 16 17 "Public engagement in the work of parliament" will be the theme of the next Global Parliamentary Report.

18 Research for the report is being carried out by the IPU and UNDP in 2020, with a view to publication in 2021.
IPU, "Institutionalization of the Sustainable Development Goals in the work of parliaments" (2019): https://www.ipu.org/file/7639/download - 6- oversight of government action and budgetary allocations for delivering on the SDGs were less systematic, although several parliaments had called their governments to account on SDG implementation .
Critical to this direction is an efficient multilateral system based on more solid and mutually agreed ru les, as the rule of law and international legality necessitate, with a strong United Nations at its core .
Parliaments need to engage and support the initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General and the UN75 - which will encourage people to participate in the biggest global dialogue -and define how enhanced international cooperation can help make the world a better place, including through the achievement of the 17 SDGs.
There is a need for IPU committees and working groups to be linked more closely to the United Nations; for stronger linkages between national parliaments and the United Nations; and for parliaments to play an active role in implementing global decisions.

The coronavirus crisis has also shown the importance of solidarity and unity between the countries of the world, and the value of cooperation between nations when responding to a global pandemic.
Conclusion From one perspective, the role of parliament is constant.

Parliament's constitutional mandates to make the law and to hold government to account make it a unique institution with a specific place in a democratic system of government.

The principles set out in the Universal Declaration on Democracy as they relate to the rule of law, human rights, gender equality - should guide the action of all parliaments.
At the same time, the role of parliament continu es to evolve in response to changes in society.

This role tends to expand; for example, in the ways in which parliaments work increasingly embody the core democratic principles set out by the IPU and the SDGs.

Unexpected events, such as the coronavirus pandemic, pose new challenges for parliaments and democracies around the world.

Parliaments in some countries are being marginalized.
It is more than ever key for parliaments to be part of the decision-making process, to provide effective oversight and to ensure that the necessary discussions do not destroy the cohesion within their societies.

After the crisis subsides, it will be crucial for parliaments to continue to strengthen democracy by reviewing or curtailing emergency measures that were introduced to address the COVID-19 health crisis.
Parliamentarians need to understand that people will expect them to address the strong economic needs resulting from the crisis, and it will be essential to develop mechanisms to listen, to integrate people's views into decision-making processes and to design and implement solutions.
In surveying some of the changes that are underway, this paper underlines the fundamental relationship between parliaments and the people, which is at the heart of a system of democratic governance, and which has to be constantly nurtured and developed.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on parliament and democracy (update, May 2021) Since this report was prepared in mid-2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to have a significant impact on parliament and democracy.
A number of key developments are outlined in this update.

These issues have been researched in the World e-Parliament Report and analysed in the IPU's Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights.

On remote working methods in parliaments Parliaments have been forced to innovate by the pandemic.

There are signs that, as challenging as this time has been, the pandemic is acting as a catalyst for new and transformational working methods, based on digital practices.
Thirty-four per cent of parliaments surveyed for the World e-Parliament Report held remote or hybrid plenary meetings in 2020; 66 per cent held remote or hybrid committee meetings.

There is broad consensus among parliaments that many of the enforced innovations will be kept, even after the pandemic subsides.

This is likely to impact not only on the functioning of parliament, but also on the relation between parliament and the people.
Remote committee sittings have the potential to enable a much wider range of org anizations and people to participate in hearings, thus broadening and deepening the evidence gathered by parliament in legislative and oversight work.

Remote plenaries may a llow parliamentarians to increase th e time spent in their constituencies, closer to th e people th at they represent, especially in regions that are far from the capital or where travel is difficult.
-7- The World e-Parliament Report notes that "Parliaments need to continue embracing this opportunity to modernize their core operations, reviewing their strategic and business continuity planning in the light of their experiences and those of others".

It recommends that parliaments consider a number of ways to build on the innovations made and realize their advantages: 1.
Permanently amend their regulations or governing legislation so that parliaments can function seamlessly, unconfined to a single physical location.

2.

Continue or expand flexible participation for members and the public, particularly in committees.

3.

Proactively maintain and adapt efficiency gains.

4.

Approach ICT more holistically through an institution-wide digital strategy mainstreamed into the wider fabric and culture of parliament.
5. Review and update business continuity plans to capture and embed lessons learned the previous year through enhanced knowledge management practices.

6.

Develop flexible work arrangements for staff and remote participation for members, determining the ICT infrastructure needed to support them.

7.

Promote inter-parliamentary collaboration to accelerate innovation, save time and money, share good practices and increase mutual support between parliaments.
On the role of parliament in response to the pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic represents a novel combination of challenges for parliaments.

As often happens during a crisis, the role of the executive branch of governments has significantly outweighed the role of parliaments.

Many parliaments delegated significant powers to the executive; shifting the balance between the branches of government was distorted towards the executive.

In some countries, a state of emergency has been declared.
In the current context, the question is how to balance the extraordinary powers that government requires to tackle the health emergency and economic crisis, on the one hand, with adequate and effective controls, on the other.

Societies need to be assured that decisions made by governments are in their best interest and aim at the containment of the negative impact and rapid recovery.

Restrictions on fundamental human rights have been made that are unprecedented in scope and nature.
It is important that any restrictions should be defined by law, specific and time-bound.

In this prolonged situation, parliament should ensure that all decisions are made in the best interest of the people.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the relationship between the State and citizens globally.
Never in our recent history have people entrusted their lives, households and future into the hands of the authorities, putting up with heavy restrictions and hoping that the decisions made by their governments are the best possible decisions for them.

Parliaments have to lead people through these times of hardship by ensuring openness, engagement and meaningful dialogue.

Having constant dialogue with society is the only way to secure legitimacy of the crisis response measures.
Citizens are addressing parliaments with petitions requesting the easing of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions or raising the need of supporting individuals and households during pandemics.

Those petitions should be granted proper political attention.

Over one year after the start of the pandemic, parliaments are beginning to define their role in the COVID-19 response from a new perspective.

The oversight powers that parliaments enjoy have become more important than ever.
It is time that parliaments assess the legality, consistency and, probably most importantly, the effectiveness, of the COVID-19 response actions of the executive.

Parliaments should analyse past actions in response to COVID-19 and contribute to planning further necessary steps in order to manoeuvre wisely through these complex issues and effectively tackle the global challenges faced on diverse fronts, including governance, economic development, healthcare, education, etc.
Parliaments have the means and the institutional potential to dig deep into the roots of the issues and carry out public inquiries in order to identify potential mistakes and guide improvements in tackling the health, economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Given the scale and breadth - 8- of the direct and indirect consequences of the pandemic on every aspect of social life and every segment of the society in any country, the entire parliamentary structure should prioritize this in their work.

Parliamentary committees are equipped with the necessary mandate and oversight and monitoring tools to supervise relevant operations of the executive in order to have a solid understanding of the consequences of the pandemic.
It is critical that these assessments are independent from those carried out by the executive in order for parliaments to make balanced policy decisions.

Parliaments should take a lead in considering appropriate short- and long-term remedies to mitigate the damages of the pandemic.

Thematic parliamentary inquiries, post-legislative scrutiny, hearings, summoning officials and other oversight mechanisms are now as critical as ever.
The impact of the virus on public health, economy and its broader effect on society will last long and parliaments now have a critical role and the opportunity to make real improvements in crisis management and in the quality of States' preparedness for any future steps and/or potential crisis situations.

Responsiveness and inclusiveness must be an important part of every crisis management strategy.
Parliaments need to communicate with people, to demonstrate that they are listening to what people have to say and are addressing issues of public concern.