MPs of the World talk Reconciliation at IPU Assembly

Reconciliation was chosen as the main theme of the 110th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). The gathering, in Mexico City, Mexico, on 15–23 April 2004, brought together some 1,000 parliamentarians from all corners of the world. As an input to its discussions on reconciliation, IDEA provided participants with copies of the Policy Summary of the IDEA Handbook Reconciliation After Violent Conflict (in English, French and Spanish) and a Policy Briefing Paper titled ‘Reconciliation in Times of Transition: The Role of Parliaments and Inter-Parliamentary Bodies’, written by Mark Freeman, co-author of the ‘Truth-Telling’ chapter in the IDEA Reconciliation Handbook.

Secretary-General Karen Fogg and Head of Latin America Programme Daniel Zovatto represented IDEA at the meeting. The IPU asked IDEA to serve as a resource in particular for Standing Committee III on Democracy and Human Rights, which prepared a resolution entitled 'Furthering Parliamentary Democracy in order to Protect Human Rights and Encourage Reconciliation among Peoples and Partnership among Nations', adopted during the course of the Assembly.