World Parliament not now
But a permanent ‘Global Citizens’ Assembly for People and Planet’ is to come
On the initiative of Swedish activists, the ‘Global Week of Action for a World Parliament’ has been held every October since 2013. During the first week of action
there were events in over 50 locations worldwide in support of the ‘Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly’. Group photos were usually published with the slogan ‘World Parliament Now !’. The ‘Now’ was probably intended to underline the urgency of the demand for democratisation of the UN. There is now a considerable collection of such photos. Unfortunately, a world parliament is not in sight.
This year's week of action, from 18 to 26 October 2024, is due to start today, according to an announcement by Democracy Without Borders. Unfortunately, I can't find any reference to any action. Nor do I see anything about it from the partners, ‘Young World Federalists’ and ‘Citizens for Global Solutions’. When asked, the YWF does not do anything either. The ‘Democracia Global’ website is not available and presumably no longer exists. Coincidentally, the activists around the Paris World Citizen Register are holding their ‘Assemblée des Citoyens du Monde’ on 26 October. But that's another story.
Now that, after all their efforts, the proposals of ‘We the Peoples’ have once again been ignored at the ‘UN Summit of the Future’, the frustration among world citizens and world federalists is possibly so great that their interest in the topic of a world parliament has fallen to an all-time low. But this was foreseeable, as I had already written in my article ‘The disappointment comes closer’. Democracy Without Borders’ also reported in an article that democracy plays no role in the “Pact for the Future” adopted by the UN Future Summit.
What is to happen next?
Do those in favour of the idea of global democracy want to continue treading water? Or do they have enough imagination and energy to take a new path? My proposal for a new world organisation, the ‘United Mankind Organisation’ as a counterpart to the United Nations, is on the table. The concept of a world parliament could be realised here. I have already written a lot about this in my article. Of course, that is by no means all that needs to be said. I don't want to pre-empt those who would possibly realise the idea in practice.
I find the concept of a permanent ‘Global Citizens’ Assembly’ extremely interesting. In this way, something like a world parliament would be practically feasible. To this end, the founding of the ‘Coalition for a Global Citizens’ Assembly’ has now been announced. I see this as a possible embryo of the ‘United Mankind Organisation’. Over time, a real, binding organisation would have to emerge from this, so that in the end we are not left with just another stillborn child. In any case, a loose coalition is not enough. There is a lot to do, let's tackle it!
With this in mind, this article is intended to be my small contribution - perhaps even the only one - to this year's ‘Week of Action for a World Parliament’.