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Reaching out to parliamentarians

The WTO Secretariat makes every effort to keep parliamentarians well-informed about the WTO and fully involved in WTO activities.

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Senior WTO management regularly attend key international meetings involving parliamentarians (including meetings held at WTO Ministerial Conferences); they often address parliaments in capitals and also meet with parliamentary visitors to Geneva.

Secretariat staff routinely arrange briefing sessions for parliamentarians. The Information and External Relations Division is increasingly working with parliamentary organizations, such as the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the Assemblée Parlementaire de la Francophonie. It organizes a number of outreach activities (funded through technical assistance) to inform and engage with parliamentarians on the Doha Development Agenda. This programme has included regional events in many parts of the globe, including Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Pacific and the Arab region.

Regional workshops

Ten workshops have been organized for parliamentarians in cooperation with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association:

• Antigua & Barbuda, February 2009, for the Caribbean and Americas region

• Nairobi, Kenya, from 29 to 31 May 2007, for African countries

• Fiji, from 23 to 25 October 2006, for the Pacific region

• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 27 February to 1 March 2006, for India/Asia/South-East Asia regions

• Kingston, Jamaica, from 8 to 10 June 2005, for the Caribbean and Americas region

• Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, from 25 to 27 July 2005, for various African countries

• Wellington, New Zealand, from 28 to 30 April 2004, for the Pacific region

• Singapore, from 8 to 10 November 2004, for the Asia/South-East Asia region

• Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, from 28 to 30 July 2003, for the Caribbean and the Americas region

• Cape Town, South Africa, from 19 to 22 May 2003, for various African countries.

Three workshops have been organized for parliamentarians in cooperation with the Assemblée Parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF):

• Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in December 2008

• Hanoi, Vietnam, in March 2007

• Marrakech, Morocco, in May 2004.

Three workshops have been organized for parliamentarians in the Latin American region:

• Costa Rica, 2008

• Uruguay, 2008

• Sao Paulo, Brazil, August 2003, in cooperation with Parlatino Americano.

Two activities have been organized for Arab parliamentarians in cooperation with the Arab Monetary Fund:

• United Arab Emirates, 2009

• United Arab Emirates, 2008.

In March 2007, a workshop for parliamentarians from developing countries was organized for the first time at WTO headquarters in partnership with the German foundation Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.

In addition to these regional outreach activities, a few national activities are regularly held at the request of WTO members. The Information and External Relations Division also organizes visits by parliamentarians to the WTO throughout the year. During these visits, parliamentarians are briefed on WTO issues as well as on progress in the Doha Development Agenda.