Statement from the IPU President

Statement by Ms. Gabriela Cuevas
Dear colleagues, dear friends,
Today – on 16 April 2020 – we were supposed to meet in Geneva at the opening of
the regular 142nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. As you know, the
Assembly has been postponed, as have practically all major multilateral meetings
planned for this time.
The human race faces a new global threat, the biggest challenge to date of the new
millennium: the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of people infected is already into
seven figures, and there are tens of thousands of victims all around the world. I am
absolutely sure that we all commend the heroic work of medical officers, scientists and
many other essential staff who are working to protect us from the most dangerous
threat to modernity, sometimes at the cost of their own lives.
The IPU, throughout its long history starting in the nineteenth century, has always
stood for the principle that global challenges require global responses. That means
that only through collective action and reaction can we confront threats to humanity:
dangerous diseases, climate change, international terrorism and unsustainable
development.
In that sense, our Organization has always seen its essential mission as bringing
together the parliaments of the world, whose role is steadily growing, not only in
strengthening the foundations of democracy at the national level, but also as platforms
for developing joint solutions to international problems. I recall in particular that last
October the IPU Assembly in Belgrade, Serbia, adopted a resolution on achieving
universal health coverage by 2030. In that resolution we noted the absolute
importance of building reliable primary health-care services and strengthening health
systems, highlighting also the role that such systems play in ensuring global health
security. As we can see, life has confirmed the relevance and practical importance of
our work.
I would therefore like to emphasize that this work should not stop for a day, even given
reasonable restrictive measures at the national and supranational levels. At this stage,
we look forward to all the planned activities of the busy 142nd Assembly agenda at
our next meeting in Rwanda in October 2020. In this regard, I believe it is important to
include in the programme of that Assembly a special session on combating pandemic
threats and on action taken by parliaments, best practices from countries which are
most at risk of disease proliferation, and proposals to support weakened economies
and health systems.
But even before the October session, I call on my colleagues from national
parliaments to relentlessly pursue our joint efforts on the most important topics on the
IPU agenda. Thus, in June we will once again celebrate the most important event in
our calendar – International Day of Parliamentarism – which is an important occasion
for us to “compare notes” and to mobilize the resources of international parliamentary
16 April 2020
Dansk Interparlamentarisk Gruppes bestyrelse 2019-20
IPU Alm.del - Bilag 9
Offentligt
2
diplomacy in the search for joint responses to the challenges of our time. And later on,
in August, the Speakers of the national Member Parliaments of the IPU will, we hope,
still be able to join forces in order to work out additional proposals at their Fifth World
Conference in Vienna, Austria.
At this time, our Assembly should have been meeting on the eve of a very important
date for all humankind – the anniversary of the end of the Second World War. The
victory over Nazism in the bloodiest war in the history of our civilization is the common
heritage of all humankind and should continue to be a guiding star for all of us in
rejecting any manifestations of intolerance, hate speech, discrimination, racism and
neo-Nazism.
75 years ago, the San Francisco Conference began in April and culminated with the
signing of the Charter of the United Nations, which entered into force in October 1945.
Since that time, the rule of international law has successfully prevented our nations
from entering into another global conflict and has contributed to the solution of many
other common problems of yesterday, today and tomorrow. The IPU has always
supported the activities of the United Nations, acting on many occasions as a
constructive and reliable partner.
I believe that all the joint victories and successes of humankind should constitute a
kind of “gold reserve” of our historical memory – the best examples of how a joint mind
and will can defeat common enemies, despite differences in ideology, political systems
and values.
I call on the IPU Member Parliaments to support international efforts to overcome the
barriers to pooling our planet’s resources against common threats. In particular, I
uphold the UN Secretary-General's call for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners
of the world, as well as for the creation of corridors for life-saving aid and, at least for
the duration of the pandemic, the waiving of unilateral sanctions imposed on countries
to ensure access to food, essential health supplies, and COVID-19 medical support.
Dear colleagues and friends,
I fully share the words of UN Secretary-General António Guterres: “This is the time for
solidarity not exclusion”. It also means that the time has come for active parliamentary
diplomacy.
We stand together. Our parliamentary solidarity is another important response to the
challenges of our time. Let us stay in contact during this demanding time of necessary
self-isolation. Let us support each other. This is the only way we can look with
confidence to the healthy and safe tomorrow that we all want and deserve.
Gabriela Cuevas, IPU President.