The United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) is a proposed parliamentary body within the United Nations (UN) system.
The Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (CUNPA) was launched in 2007 by Democracy Without BordersDemocracy Without Borders. https://www.democracywithoutborders.org/ (formerly Committee for a Democratic UN). As of December 2025, the campaign has received the support of over 1,800 members of parliament from 138 countries.CUNPA, Supporters: http://en.unpacampaign.org/supporters/ Retrieved 2 February 2020
Timeline
1920s Proposals for a parliamentary assembly within global organizations date back to at least the 1920s, when the founders of the League of Nations considered plans to include a people's assembly as part of the League's structure.McCarthy, Bill (March 2005). Democracy in the United Nations, UN Chronicle, p. 34. Retrieved 7 December 2007. 1940s In 1945, British politician Ernest Bevin proposed a people's world assembly, saying in the British House of Commons that, "There should be a study of a house directly elected by the people of the world to whom the nations are accountable."Zipp, Susan J. (2007). , Citizens for a United Nations People's Assembly. Retrieved 7 December 2007.
On 16 October 1945, before the UN Charter had entered into force, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Owen J. Roberts and former New Hampshire Governor Robert P. Bass held a conference in Dublin, New Hampshire, which passed the Dublin Declaration. It stated that the UN Charter was inadequate to preserve peace and proposed the transformation of the UN General Assembly into a world legislature, suggesting "Such a government should be based upon a constitution under which all peoples and nations will participate upon a basis of balanced representation which will take account of natural and industrial resources and other factors as well as population. It cannot be based on treaties in which the states act and vote as states".Declaration of the Dublin, N.H., Conference (16 October 1945). World Federalist Declarations. The Politics of World Federation, by Joseph Preston Baratta (2004). Preager Publishers. p. 540. . Retrieved 7 December 2007.
1990s-2000s In the post-Cold War era, several factors contributed to a more favorable environment for UNPA proposals.World Federalist Movement Text on NGOs and Democratization of the UN , World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy, October 1996. Retrieved 7 December 2007. A Trilateral Commission report notes that the shift from a world led by the two rival Soviet- and U.S.-led blocs meant a general diffusion of power. Growth of economic interdependence, proliferation of transnational actors, nationalism in weak states, spread of technology, and an increasing number of issues (such as global environmental problems and weapons of mass destruction containment) that are both domestic and international have generated a stronger incentive to develop international cooperation than ever before.Nye, Joseph S. (1991) Global Cooperation after the Cold War: A Reassessment of Trilateralism , The Triangle Papers: 41. Retrieved 7 December 2007.
In 2003, Freedom House counted 121 electoral democracies, compared to 66 in 1987Emmerson, Donald K. (29 January 2003). Global Spread of Democracy Poses New Challenge for the US, YaleGlobal. Retrieved 7 December 2007 and 30 in 1975 (although, by the mid-2000s, the trend appeared to have stagnated).Grier, Peter (21 November 2007). Global spread of democracy stalled. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 7 December 2007.
In early 1993, the House of Commons of Canada Standing Committee on External Affairs and International Trade presented a report stating, "By way of building the public and political constituency for the United Nations, the Committee recommends that Canada support the development of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly."8th Report of the Standing Committee on External Affairs and International Trade (PDF), House of Commons, Parliament_of_Canada, Spring 1993, chaired by Hon. Jon_Bosley, 1993. Retrieved 7 December 2007. The Campaign for a Democratic United Nations (CAMDUN), the International Network for a United Nations Second Assembly (INFUSA), and the Global People's Assembly Movement (GPAM), began circulating UNPA proposals around 1995, and other organizations, such as One World Trust, began publishing analyses of how to proceed in the current political situation.Berthoin, Georges & Luff, Peter (2007). The Reform of the United Nations (PDF). One World Trust. Retrieved 7 December 2007.Main Options for a UN Peoples' Assembly , Campaign for a Democratic United Nations, 1995. Retrieved 7 December 2007.
The World Trade Organization and similar organizations prompted concern among some observers as they seemed to be gaining more influence and control over trade disputes, yet were not accountable to the people;Watson, Graham (26 September 2007). The Case for Global Democracy: Cross Party Coalition of MEPs calls for a UN Parliamentary Assembly . Graham Watson MEP. Retrieved 7 December 2007. U.S. President Bill Clinton argued, "We must insist that international trade organizations be open to public scrutiny instead of mysterious, secret things subject to wild criticism."Clinton, William (19 January 1999). Clinton's State of the Union speech. CNN. Retrieved 7 December 2007. A "new diplomacy" seemed to be taking shape in which NGOs and governments cooperated to create new global institutions such as the International Criminal Court.Pace, William R. (17 July 1998) Statement of World Federalist Movement on behalf of the Coalition for an International Criminal Court. United Nations. Retrieved 7 December 2007.
On 8 February 2005, on the initiative of the Committee for a Democratic UN (today Democracy Without Borders), 108 Swiss Parliamentarians signed an open letter to the Secretary-General calling for the establishment of just such a body.Establishment of a Parliamentary Assembly at the UN (PDF), Committee_for_a_Democratic_United_Nations, 8 February 2005. Retrieved 7 December 2007. On 14 May 2005, the Congress of the Liberal International issued a resolution stating that "the Liberal International calls on the member states of the United Nations to enter into deliberations on the establishment of a Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations."Strengthening citizens representation on international level through an UN Parliamentary Assembly (PDF), Resolution adopted by the 53. Congress of the Liberal International on 14 May 2005 in Sofia. KDUN. Retrieved 7 December 2007. On 9 June 2005, the European Parliament issued a resolution that contained an item stating that Eurostar "calls for the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) within the UN System, which would increase the democratic profile and internal democratic process of the organization and allow world civil society to be directly associated in the decision-making process; states that the Parliamentary Assembly should be vested with genuine rights of information, participation and control, and should be able to adopt recommendations directed at the UN General Assembly; [...]", Strasbourg, 9 June 2005. Europarl. Retrieved 7 December 2007. In 2006, Citizens for a United Nations People's Assembly circulated a petition to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to "convene a High Level Panel to determine the steps required for the establishment of a Peoples' Parliamentary Assembly within the United Nations Organization" Citizens for a United Nations People's Assembly, 2007. Retrieved 7 December 2007.
In April 2007, international NGOs launched the International Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, the principal current movement for the establishment of a UNPA. Its secretariat is led by Democracy Without Borders. Over 150 civil society groups and nearly 1,500 parliamentarians are part of the Campaign.CEUNPA (2017). Appeal Support. Retrieved 7 June 2017. As of June 2017, thousands of signatories from over 150 countries have endorsed CUNPA's appeal, including parliamentarians, civil society leaders, leading academics, and others such as former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former President of the Pan-African Parliament Gertrude Mongella, actress Emma Thompson, author Sir Arthur C. Clarke, and former NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell.Appeal for the establishment of a Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
On 25 September 2007, the statement by H.E. Mr. José Sócrates, Prime Minister of Portugal, on behalf of the European Union, at the United Nations 62nd Session of the General Assembly, General Debate, stated, "We remain committed to the reform of its main bodies in order to enhance the Organization's representativity, transparency and effectiveness."Sócrates, José (25 September 2007). EU Presidency Statement – United Nations 62nd General Assembly: General Debate , European Union, at the United Nations 62nd Session of the General Assembly. 25 September 2007. European Union. Retrieved 7 December 2007. On 24 October 2007, the Pan African Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution calling for the establishment of a Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations, noting, "in contrast to regional international bodies such as the African Union, the European Union, the Council of Europe, or Mercosur, the United Nations and its specialized organizations is one of the last international fora lacking an integrated and institutionalized Parliamentary Assembly."Pan-African Parliament calls for UN Parliamentary Assembly. Committee for a Democratic United Nations. Retrieved 7 December 2007.Pan African Parliament (October 2007). A United Nations Parliamentary Assembly . 8th Ordinary Session of the Pan-African Parliament, Midrand, South Africa, October 2007, Committee on Cooperation, International Relations and Conflict Resolution, Motion introduced by Mokshanand Sunil DOWARKASING (Mauritius), Adopted by the house on 24 October 2007. Retrieved 7 December 2007. So far, four international conferences of CUNPA have taken place.Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
One of the most influential and well-known pro-UN organizations, UNA-USA, has been on both sides of the issue. In 2003, UNA-USA's executive director of policy studies, Jeffrey Laurenti, wrote an article, "An Idea Whose Time Has Not Come", arguing that there were important unresolved issues of inclusivity, authority, and efficiency with the UNPA. UNA's position seemed to reverse in November 2006, when the 38th plenary session of the World Federation of United Nations Associations issued a resolution stating that it "Supports the establishment of a United Nations parliamentary Assembly as a consultative body within the United Nations system as a voice of the citizens; Calls upon the governments of the United Nations member states, parliamentarians and civil society representatives to jointly examine possible steps and options to create a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly."PA38 Resolutions: Outcomes of the 38th Plenary Assembly. World Federation of United Nations Associations, November 2006. Retrieved 7 December 2007.
+Major regional parliaments and parliamentary assembliesName1st sessionDirect el.N.Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe1949N/AEuropean Parliament19521979Assembly of WEU1955N/ANATO Parliamentary Assembly1955N/AParliamentary Assembly of OSCE1992N/AAn election in Copenhagen politico.comArab Parliament2001N/APan African Parliament2004N/AMercosur Parliament2007N/A