Common Principles for Support to Parliaments

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Common Principles for Support to Parliaments

March 28, 2016

UNDP and the IPU – together with other partners – have developed a set of Common Principles for Support to Parliaments aimed at improving the quality of parliamentary development support made available to parliaments, through better cooperation and coordination. The Common Principles provide a benchmark that can be used in the design, implementation and assessment of parliamentary development activities. By disseminating these principles and good practices, the Common Principles are intended to have a positive impact on the quality of support to parliamentary development, and by extension on the quality of parliaments and democracy. The Common Principles are intended to be universal in scope, relevant to all countries and contexts in which support is made available to help strengthen a parliament, and applicable to all actors involved in parliamentary development. They pull together more than 40 years of experience, and are based on good practices that provide effective results. They underline the political nature of parliament, and the central role parliament must play in defining objectives for its development. The Common Principles provide a strong framework for more effective cooperation between parliaments and their partners, including from the UN system.