Breaking new ground: the global call for a World Parliament Now!

Over the past decade the world has faced various global problems, many of which have not been adequately dealt with by governments and international institutions. These have ranged from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, terrorism, wars, extreme poverty, unresolved environmental negotiations or gross human rights violations to unfair trade and investment practices.

Magalie Masamba is a DRC born, and South African trained lawyer. She completed an LLM in International Trade and Investment Law at the University of Pretoria, with an exchange semester at University of Amsterdam. Her key areas of focus are investment law, general corporate law, project finance and public private partnerships, development and project financing, mergers and acquisitions and commercial law. Magalie is passionate about the creation of sustainable business and investment models in African, world peace and prosperity, contributing to current global issues.

These unresolved problems have raised the fundamental question of whether individual countries and international institutions are adequate platforms to resolve the plethora of challenges that the world currently faces. It also raises the concern that there is a need to find solutions beyond the United Nations and which entail a process that fully and effectively involve global citizens.

As such there is undoubtedly a need for a world parliament. This need emanates from the notion that global problems require global solutions.

Further, the creation of a world parliament is the most pragmatic approach which can be taken to resolve global problems. Presently, many international instutions have faced heavy criritsim for furthering their own agendas, which do not allign with those of the citizens from the member states represented. The concept of a global parliament has the potential to expand the accountability space of these institutions and to introduce a model that better democratises global decision making by not only providing a platform for, but also encouraging active participation.

The idea of a world parliament is a fairly novel which holds the vast potential to shift the way global issues are presently handled. Today more than ever, there is a need to involve the ‘global citizen’ in the global affairs and decision making, especially as the past decade has revealed a gap that the current international institutions have not been able to fill.

Every citizen of the world should have their voices heard in matters that directly or even indirectly affect them. The Global Week of Action for a World Parliament is held from 17-26 October 2014. The Global Week of Action provides citizens and civil society groups an opportunity to participate in a variety of event to promote the establishment of a world parliament.

Let your voice be heard!