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Parliamentarians for Global Action

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Parliamentarians for Global Action is a non-profit and non-partisan international organization of more than 1,300 free elected legislators from 130 democratic countries [1]. It was established circa 1978 as Parliamentarians for World Order engaged in a range of action-oriented initiatives that promote democracy, peace, justice and development throughout the world. The vision of PGA is "to contribute to the creation of a Rules-Based International Order for a more equitable, safe and democratic world".[2]

The main office of PGA is located in New York City, in close proximity to the United Nations, while the seat of the PGA Foundation is in The Hague (The Netherlands), in proximity to the International Court of Justice, the Hague Academy of International Law and the International Criminal Court.

The group has world federalist leanings.

It promoted the establishment of a permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) since 1989 and the ratification of the International Criminal Court treaty [2], the Rome Statute, since 1998. PGA has been working on expanding membership of the ICC in more than 65 countries in all regions of the world. PGA members, for example, have been instrumental to the recent accessions to the Rome Statute of the ICC by Japan (2007), Suriname and the Cook Islands (2008), as well as to the ratification of Chile (2009).

The most important event of the PGA International Law and Human Rights Programme is the Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians for the ICC and Rule of Law, which met in Ottawa, Canada (2002); New York-UN Headquarters (2003); Wellington, New Zealand (2004); Tokyo, Japan (2006) and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (2008). The 6th session of the Consultative Assembly - the largest global parliamentary gathering entirely devoted to international criminal justice and the fight against impunity - will be held in the Parliament of Uganda, at the end of May 2010, a few days ahead of the Review Conference of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

In the United States, Sen. Tom Harkin is the most prominent member.

Membership criteria based on democracy

In order to qualify for full membership the Parliament must adhere to all of the following criteria:

  1. the members must be freely elected by the general population or a reasonable segment of it,
  2. the election should be open to more than one party, or to those who have no party,
  3. the Parliament must evince an actual ability to engage in free debate,
  4. the Parliament must have the right to turn back legislation proposed by the government.

Organs

  • Annual Parliamentary Forum
  • International Council that represents all the regions of the world.
  • 15-member Executive Committee
  • Secretariat

PGA and UN

PGA also works closely with the UN system through the advisory body of the United Nations Committee for PGA.

See also

References

  1. ^ Parliamentarians for Global Action
  2. ^ [1]
  • “PGA Regional Seminars on Strengthening United Nations Peace Keeping Operations – International Parliamentary Input. Informal Briefing with the Security Council, G-77, United Nations Committee for PGA and UN Officials”. May, 2002. Final Report.
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