Expanding Interaction with Global Meeting of Parliamentarians

CGIAR participated in the 5th annual meeting of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank (PNoWB) held in Paris, February 14-17. Some 200 parliamentarians from 93 countries representing all regions of the world attended. The importance of the Network, said its Chair, Bert Koenders, a Dutch Member of Parliament, is that "Parliamentarians bring a much-needed ingredient to the mix: political capital." A CGIAR Exhibit was set up at the meeting, and the CGIAR Secretariat hosted an information briefing on "Mobilizing Science for Development." The CGIAR-hosted event was the best attended and generated a lively discussion.

CGIAR information display where multi-language publications were picked up and over 70 parliamentarians signed up for electronic dissemination of new materials.

The CGIAR's participation at this meeting together with the Ugandan parliamentarians meeting described in the adjacent article, reflect the renewed emphasis being placed on building partnerships with parliamentarians. This approach was warmly welcomed by Minister Grace Akello of Uganda during ESSD Week. The focus follows successful parliamentary briefings in Canada and India during 2003 which both contributed to strengthening ties with the CGIAR. Further briefings will be held with European members during 2004.

For more photos, visit http://www.cgiar.org/meetings/pnowb_2004_photos.html.