"Norway should advocate a democratization of global institutions," says Én Verden

On the occasion of its annual meeting that took place last week at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, the Norwegian non-governmental organization Én Verden decided to focus its work in the coming years on building support for the establishment of a parliamentary assembly at the United Nations. “We are convinced that making global governance more inclusive, more transparent and more democratic is one of the most important political projects of this decade. The creation of a UN Parliamentary Assembly would be a decisive step,“ said Én Verden’s Chairman, Kjartan Almenning. Én Verden’s newly elected President, Odd Einar Dørum, who served as minister of justice in the cabinet of Kjell Magne Bondevik from 2001 to 2005, suggested that “Norway has a long tradition in supporting democracy throughout the world. It would be logical and consequent if Norway would join the efforts to strengthen democratic participation in global institutions. I hope it will do so soon.“

At a seminar preceding the annual assembly, the Chairman of the Committee for a Democratic UN, Andreas Bummel from Germany, stressed that important decisions are increasingly being taken in international government foras “outside the reach of parliaments.“ “As global coordination and decision-making is inevitable in many fields, the only reasonable option to preserve democratic participation of the people in these decisions is to establish a parliament that represents them at the global level,“ said Mr Bummel. Mr Bummel’s visit to Oslo included several bilateral meetings with members of the parliament of Norway, the Stortinget.

Én Verden is a member organization of the World Federalist Movement and advocates world unity and federalism.