The Parliamentary Centre in Asia

In Asia, governance reforms are unlikely to succeed without strong institutions to support them. The Parliamentary Centre therefore focuses on institutional strengthening and helps both parliamentarians and parliamentary staff. Taking into account the basic parliamentary functions of legislation, oversight and representation as well as governance values of accountability, transparency and participation, the Centre delivers technical assistance in legislative review, oversight, procedures/management and parliamentary staff development. The Centre also works in policy areas such as anti-corruption, poverty reduction and gender equality.

The Cambodia-Canada Legislative Support Program (CCLSP) promotes democracy in Cambodia by building the capacity of both the National Assembly and the Senate. The Project has completed three years of implementation and looks forward to continuing its work with MPs, Senators and staff of the Cambodian Parliament.

The China-Canada Legislative Cooperation Project (CCLCP)aims to improve governance and democratic development in China by enhancing the capacity of the People's Congress system in legislative drafting, citizen engagement and oversight. The Parliamentary Centre has negotiated a four-year contract with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and implementation of the Project was initiated in June 2004.

The Parliamentary Centre’s Asia Program continues to seek opportunities to further its work within the Asia region. Links have been formed with Parliaments and civil society organizations in Thailand, the Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh and various other countries. The Asia Programs is also involved in the facilitation of regional and international networks such as the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC), and its regional chapters. These initiatives are ongoing.

For additional information on the Asia Program, please contact:

Amelita Armit Vice-President, Programs armita@parl.gc.ca	Sonja Vojnovic Program Coordinator vojnos@parl.gc.ca

Tim Feng Program Officer fengt@parl.gc.ca	Patricia Rocheleau Administrative Officer rochep@parl.gc.ca

Irina Koulatchenko Program Assistant KoulaI@parl.gc.ca

News and Events

Visit to Cambodia by the Clerk of the Canadian Senate

In January 2007, Mr. Paul Bélisle, Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments, travelled to Cambodia as part of the Cambodia-Canada Legislative Support Program. More...

Successful Review of the Parliamentary Centre’s Program in Cambodia

In Fall 2006, the Cambodia-Canada Legislative Support Program (CCLSP) underwent an extensive review and evaluation. The draft report, released in January 2007, concludes, among other things, that the project successfully achieved significant output- and outcome-level results; was well strategized, planned, and managed, and well reported on; maintained exceptional relationships with the Government and Legislatures in Cambodia; and paved the way for increasingly open and better informed debate on some important issues, particularly in areas of social development.

The Parliamentary Centre submitted its report “Comparative Study of Knowledge Resource Institutions for Parliamentary Institutional Capacity Development” to the UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Centre in Bangkok in December 2006.

The report highlights the importance of adequate research and information services to an effective parliament and identifies current trends, practices and challenges in providing these services. A capacity development framework outlining issues for consideration in developing these services is also suggested. A key conclusion is that planning and programming for knowledge support services in the Asia-Pacific region, where countries are very disparate in size, resources, level of development, political culture and governance capacity; must take three key variables into account. The size of the information and research departments and the resources available to them are the most important variables as they shape the departments’ organizational needs and possibilities for enhancing their services. Size and resources are themselves shaped by the size of the parliament, its level of development and commitment and tradition within parliament towards information and research. A menu of capacity-building options, taking these variables into account, is described in the report.

For further information on the report please contact Arusha Stanislaus, Deputy Practice team Leader, Governance Practice Team, UNDP Regional Centre , Bangkok.

Corruption, Poverty, Growth and the Role of Parliaments
Africa-Asia Parliamentary Dialogue (Dar es Salaam, September 2006)

From September 25-27, 2006, parliamentarians from 14 countries of Asia and Africa met in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for the second Africa-Asia Parliamentary Dialogue. The first Dialogue was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 2004. The follow-up Dialogue provided an opportunity for participants to reinforce the networking and learning that began two years ago. More ...

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