SADC PF president urges proactive role for IPU in conflict resolution
THE president of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, Roger Mancienne, has challenged the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to be more initiative-taking in ending conflicts in various parts of the world, saying countries that have nothing to do with those wars were feeling the pain.
Mr Mancienne, who is also the Speaker of the National Assembly of Seychelles, made the call in an impassioned address to the General Assembly of the IPU over the weekend in Geneva, Switzerland.
“The conflicts that are ravaging our world today affect every one of our countries and our people, big or small, wherever we are. I come from a small island country which has no part in the causes of these various conflicts, but which feels the consequences.”
He explained that Seychelles depends on her relations with the rest of the world for her economy based on our tourism industry and for trade on which the country depend “for all of our necessities, be it food, clothing, medical supplies, machinery and everything else”.
He said conflicts of varying severity were adversely affecting the world, with the wars in Ukraine and Palestine hogging the limelight internationally.
“I do not want to put aside the other areas of conflict especially those in our African region notably the persisting strife in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the devastating civil war in Sudan,” he stressed.
Mr Mancienne said the conflicts were particularly frustrating for small countries with no capacity “to bring any sort of influence in the resolution of the wars.”
Even more exasperating, according to Mr Mancienne, was the powerlessness of “even the most august international organisation, the United Nations” in enforcing “any kind of conclusive solution.”
Yet all was not lost, according to the SADC PF President, and a concerted effort might make a difference.
“While countries cannot make any difference individually, the hope must rest in collective action,” he reasoned and proposed what the IPU could do differently to nurture effective parliamentary democracy for conflict resolution at international level.
“As the most vibrant global parliamentary network, the IPU is a source of hope, a voice that must be strengthened, sustained, and amplified. There is scope for a high-level body in the IPU to focus consistently on conflict resolution efforts,” he contended.
He acknowledged that the United Nations had made numerous and valiant efforts towards resolution of on-going conflicts but said “polarisation across the geopolitical divide, East and West” had thwarted those efforts.