The IAPG works with individual
members of parliament, all-party national parliamentary
groups and decision makers from different countries
in the Americas to raise awareness and mobilize support
in the area of population and development. At the
regional level, we work in partnership with three
parliamentary regional bodies: the Latin American
Parliament (PARLATINO), the Central American Parliament
(PARLACEN), and the Andean Parliament (PARLANDINO).
At the United Nations, the IAPG monitors the United
Nations international conferences and preparatory
committees to promote the participation of parliamentarians
and to ensure that their role
is included in the language of the UN outcome documents.
We also seek to foster the links between parliamentarians,
intergovernmental agencies, and local NGOs working
on sexual and reproductive health and rights issues
and women’s empowerment.
Our main activities include:
- Parliamentary Study Tours and exchange visits:
we organize visits where legislators from different
countries and regions can learn first-hand about reproductive
health programs in other countries and exchange
experiences, best practices and lessons learned with other participants.
Our most recent Parliamentary Study Tour included
legislators from Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia,
the Netherlands and Ireland, who visited Colombia
and Brazil to learn about adolescent emergency
contraception
programs.
- Workshops for legislators: the IAPG
has organized a number of workshops in the region
to sensitize
and raise awareness among parliamentarians and decision-makers
on our key issues. The workshops enhance the
formulation of concrete policy recommendations and
help identify
mechanisms for the effective replication of
successful initiatives. Some examples include: a
seminar for
parliamentarians and journalists from the Andean
countries (Peru, 1995); training workshops on emergency contraception
(Chile, 2002; Ecuador, 2002; Uruguay, 2003);
a meeting to discuss trafficking of children and
adolescents
(Brazil, 2003).
- International conferences:
The IAPG joined the Japanese Parliamentarian Federation
for Population
(JPFP)
in the organization of the International Meeting of Parliamentarians
on Gender, Population and Development that took
place in Tokyo, Japan, where a select group of 50 members
of national parliaments designed strategies
and evaluated their future contributions to the
Beijing Conference.
Also, in 1999 the IAPG helped organize the International
Forum of Parliamentarians on ICPD Review where
over 200 members of parliaments from around the
world
issued a joint Declaration of Commitment. More recently,
the IAPG served as the Co-Secretariat for the
International Parliamentarians’ Conference
on the Implementation of the ICPD Program of Action
in Ottawa, Canada.
- Technical Assistance: The IAPG provides
parliamentarians with information and assistance
on particular
issues related to population and development upon
request.
The IAPG is also the Operational Secretariat
of the Commission on Gender and Equity of Parlatino,
providing technical assistance and support
to the President and members of this Commission.
- Information materials: the IAPG
produces publications and other information materials
designed for
parliamentarians on issues of interest. For more
detailed information
go to the Resource section.
IAPG HAS CONSULTATIVE STATUS WITH THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
(ECOSOC) OF THE UNITED NATIONS.
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