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The global democratic deficit and the need for a UNPA
Earlier this month, former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said, “We have a democratic challenge around the world right now, because we have a globalizing economy, but our institutions are national. Our democratic institutions are national. And that means that there is a lot of power being concentrated in the global economy, in the hands of a few … which is not under any democratic oversight.”
WFM - Canada President Warren Allmand addressed this lack of citizen representation in global decision-making in an article published December 9 by the Ottawa foreign affairs weekly, Embassy Magazine. Allmand elaborated on the contribution to democratizing global governance that would be made by establishing a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly. “At the United Nations,” said Allmand, “the democratic deficit stubbornly remains. . . . Around the world, as the Arab Spring and Occupy Movement demonstrate, demand for democracy is growing, and the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly is part of that forward surge.”
In a recent article on the Embassy website,WFMC president Warren Allmand discusses the need for a UN parliamentary assembly, writing that "a strengthened United Nations where all voices can be heard is therefore imperative. But to be heard, these voices must come not only from government functionaries but also from representatives of people.
WFM - Canada convenes government civil society dialogue ahead of ICC ASP
On December 6 2011, WFM - Canada and the Canadian Centre for International Justice convened a meeting of civil society representatives and Government of Canada officials ahead of the UN-sponsored Tenth session of the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court.
The ICC ASP meetings resulted in the election of six new judges, a new chief prosecutor, an ASP president, two vice-presidents, an 18-member Bureau (the executive committee of the ASP) and six members of the Committee on Budget and Finance. The complete results are available here.
Fatima Bensouda of Gambia was elected as the new Chief Prosecutor for the Cour, replacing Luis Moreno-Ocampo, whose term ends June 2012.
This coming July, Winnipeg will host both the International Congress of the World Federalist Movement and the national meeting of WFMC. Further details will be available soon.
The following note from the Hon. Lloyd Axworthy also appeared in the new issue of Mondial.
Dear Federalist Friends,
From July 9–13, 2012, the city of Winnipeg hosts the quadrennial International Congress of the World Federalist Movement, combined with national meetings of the World Federalist Movement – Canada and the U.S. Citizens for Global Solutions.
As International Co-President of the World Federalist Movement – Institute for Global Policy (WFM-IGP), I look forward to welcoming you to Winnipeg next summer for this historic gathering. Our movement has become a pivotally important civil society organization, one that is custodian to many of the most needed developments in global governance. These meetings take place at a time when the ‘responsibility to protect’ has come of age, when the pace of global democratization has accelerated and when the need to make globalization more democratically accountable is evident to citizens the world over.
The conference organizers and our team here at the University of Winnipeg will make every effort to enable both pleasant and productive outcomes, as we renew friendships and chart a course for the Federalist Movement for the years ahead. See you soon.
Sincerely,
Hon. Lloyd Axworthy, P.C., O.C.
Chancellor and Vice-President, University of Winnipeg
International Co-President, World Federalist Movement – IGP
Montreal Annual Meeting
On December 5th, Dr Walter Dorn, WFMC council member and Professor of Defence Studies at the Royal Military College and the Canadian Forces College spoke at the well-attended Montreal Branch AGM on “Innovations in Peacekeeping: Canadian Contributions.” Dr Dorn's book, Keeping Watch: Monitoring, Technology, and Innovation in UN Peace Operations was recently published by the United Nations University Press.
Parliamentary forum on nuclear disarmament
The first anniversary of the December 2010 all-party parliamentary motion to “encourage the Government of Canada to deploy a major world-wide Canadian diplomatic initiative in support of preventing nuclear proliferation and increasing the rate of disarmament” was marked on December 5th with a parliamentary forum on nuclear disarmament.
The background paper, Implementing the 2010 Unanimous Motions in the House of Commons and Senate, prepared by Ernie Regehr, for the forum is available.
The event was sponsored Canadians for a Nuclear Weapons Convention (CNWC), a group of more than 550 recipients of the Order of Canada who have signed a statement in support a nuclear weapons convention.
